June 23, 2025
San Rafael City Council
Mayor Kate Colin
Councilmember Maika Llorens Gulati
Councilmember Eli Hill
Councilmember Maribeth Bushey
Councilmember Rachel Kertz
RE: 620 Canal Street Acquisition
Dear Esteemed Elected Officials:
I am writing to express Canal Alliance’s strong support for the City’s acquisition of 620 Canal Street, to serve as a park and potential base of a bicycle and pedestrian bridge across the San Rafael Creek. For decades, Canal residents have advocated for more park and recreation amenities, and for a bicyclepedestrian bridge crossing to safely connect Canal residents to the schools, parks, businesses and transit hubs of Third Street and Downtown San Rafael and serve as a potential emergency evacuation route.
The Canal neighborhood is physically separated from the rest of the City by San Rafael Creek on one side and Route 101 on the other. Furthermore, a 2021 analysis by the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley identified the neighborhood as the most segregated Latino community in the Bay Area. The analysis found that highly segregated Black and Latino neighborhoods across the Bay Area region, such as the Canal, correlate with negative life outcomes for all people living in those communities, including rates of poverty, income, educational attainment, home values, and health outcomes. According to Marin County’s Priority Communities Data Explorer, which tracks community census data, the Canal neighborhood has some of the least healthy community conditions in Marin, and the highest (or near highest) rates of poverty, student poverty, and housing cost burden in the County. The expansion of park and recreation resources and the construction of a bridgeway across San Rafael Creek are planning imperatives and community priorities for the Canal neighborhood.
Acquisition of a canalfront property for park, recreation, and circulation purposes is identified as a priority in the City of San Rafael’s 2009 Canalfront Conceptual Design Plan, 2022 Canal Neighborhood Community-Based Transportation Plan, and 2023 Citywide Parks and Recreation Master Plan.
Importantly, these plans involved extensive community engagement and input. In developing the 2009 Canalfront Plan, for example, the City held a day-long focus group and a series of public workshops to solicit resident feedback on the barriers to recreation and connectivity, and opportunities for improvement.
2 In response, residents called out several critical needs that directly relate to this project (pp. 2-6):
• Improve park/plaza area at end of Canal Street
• Provide public access points to Canal
• Improve water quality and appearance of Canal
• Improve bicycle and pedestrian experience and safety
• Explore potential for a crossing location
• Improve streetscape amenities and lighting
In turn, the recommendations of the 2009 Canalfront Plan strongly support the project (pp. 2-17, 25):
• Develop mini parks in the Canal neighborhood
• Define access points to and along the Canal waterfront • Identify the most appropriate location and type of Canal crossing improvement(s) • Investigate the acquisition of a parcel of land….for a public park/plaza, and entryway to the Canal waterfront
• Investigate the feasibility of bicycle/pedestrian crossings at the mouth of San Rafael Yacht Harbor and at the end of Canal Street
Similarly, the 2022 Community-Based Transportation Plan found that it is particularly difficult for residents to get in and out of the Canal neighborhood on foot or by bicycle. Accordingly, the 2022 CBTP identified a bridge across the Canal as the desired remedy:
A canal crossing to the north of the Canal neighborhood has been a community request since the first CBTP in 2006. This improvement idea received more votes at the open house than any other improvement. Currently, the only way to walk or bike to the Montecito Shopping Center, San Rafael High School, and San Pedro Elementary School is by walking on Francisco Boulevard East to the Grand Avenue Bridge…[T]his route is lengthy for bicyclists and pedestrians and can add up to a mile (or 20 minutes) to the trip to Third Street destinations including schools, shops, restaurants, and community services (CBTP, 2022, p.28).
The City’s recent 2023 Parks and Recreation Master Plan restated the recommendations of the 2009 Canalfront Plan and 2022 Community-Based Transportation Plan, finding them essential to the quality of life of Canal residents (13, 22-24). The 2023 Master Plan also affirmed the City’s commitment to park equity, calling for equitable access to City parks because “[p]roviding accessible, affordable recreational resources to low income communities of color is a powerful tool for advancing social equity” (Goal D, p. 46, 69). The 2023 Master Plan involved extensive public engagement in the form of community surveys, meetings, and stakeholder interviews.
We now have a chance to turn these community-based plans into reality. When 620 Canal Street went on the market in 2024, community and civic leaders immediately recognized its significance. The property’s location at the far western end of Canal Street means it is highly suitable to become an accessible canalfront community park. And its direct proximity to San Rafael Creek makes it the perfect anchor property for a safe, reliable pedestrian and bicycle bridge connecting the Canal neighborhood to the full range of recreational, social, and economic amenities available to other San Rafael residents. 3 The City is already in conversation with the longtime owner of the property on the north side of San Rafael Creek where the bridge would connect to Third Street, and the owner is open to making his property available to the City to help complete the public bridge crossing. This larger park/bridge project will take several years to plan, develop, and implement, with time built in to ensure meaningful community involvement. To keep the property active and secure in the meantime, the City could explore compatible community benefit uses in the interim, such as a food truck park to promote social gathering, community building, economic opportunity, and small business development.
This project exists because Canal residents identified the need for – and consistently advocated for – more park space, equitable distribution of recreational amenities, and a safe, reliable connection to San Rafael parks, schools, jobs, and transit hubs. Until that happens, Canal residents will continue to be deprived of the recreational, social, and economic opportunities available to other residents. The community, Canal Alliance, City of San Rafael, County of Marin, and TPL have stepped up to show their support for this longstanding community vision, and we are looking to others to help us turn vision into reality. With this acquisition opportunity, we are as close as we may ever come to advancing a transformative park and infrastructure project that will respond to community needs, break down barriers, foster equity, and promote better outcomes for Canal residents. Let’s meet this moment by taking the first critical step together.
For these reasons, we wholeheartedly support this acquisition. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Omar Carrera
Chief Executive Officer
Cc: Cristine Allilovich, City Manager