POINT SAN PEDRO ROAD COALITION
“Promoting Quality of Life in our Community”
Box 449 369B Third Street San Rafael, CA 94901
www.sprcoalition.org [email protected]
June 22, 2025
Re: Point San Pedro Road Assessment District Engineer’s Report Dear Mayor Kate and San Rafael City Council:
On behalf of the Point San Pedro Road Coalition, we write to express our continued support for the Point San Pedro Median Assessment District and its role in maintaining the median landscaping that shapes the visual aesthetic of our neighborhood. We support the proposed 3% Operations and Maintenance assessment increase as outlined in the proposed Engineer’s Annual Report. The Coalition values its partnership with the City and the City staff’s openness to communicating with the Coalition regarding recommendations for improvements and oversight of the medians.
At the same time, we must state that the performance and results of the assessment-funded maintenance have fallen short of community expectations. When residents originally voted to establish the district and tax itself, it was with the justifiable expectation that the medians would receive a high standard of care. Unfortunately, we have seen that, particularly in the last year, the maintenance in certain areas of the medians does not reflect community expectations.
Many medians currently lack substantial landscaping, with persistent weed overgrowth in barren areas and plants visibly struggling or dying, often due to single points of failure on the irrigation system. But the issues with the single-line irrigation system do not absolve our contractor, Gardeners’ Guild, of responsibility to monitor and maintain the irrigation system, intervene when plants and trees are declining, and take steps to maintain a presentable and sustainable landscape.
Gardeners’ Guild has been retained for another contract term despite, unfortunately, little to no visible improvement in problem areas of the medians. Residents get frustrated every year because weeds are not kept to a visible minimum as the contract requires. We see tall weeds and dying or dead trees and plants, despite the existing plantings being hardy varieties that should be easier to care for. This year Gardeners’ Guild had extra teams out to hand-pull weeds that took over the medians, but they appear to have already regrown east of Main Drive. The Coalition is willing to offer our input to replace plant varieties that have failed with other species that are better suited to this environment.
The Coalition also agrees with the staff recommendation that the City begin setting aside funds for future long-term infrastructure improvements beyond regular maintenance critical to the medians. We support stricter enforcement of Gardeners’ Guild’s contractual obligations, a long-term plan to improve the irrigation and plants, and reevaluating contractor performance if we see little to no improvement in 2025 and 2026.
Coalition Directors
Co-Presidents
Denise Lucy
Bonnie Marmor
Secretary
Kati Miller
Treasurer
Kevin Hagerty
Directors
Winifred Dajani
Robert Sandoval
Standing
Committee
Chairs
Disaster
Preparedness
John Lenser
Communications
Alan Schaevitz
Pt. San Pedro
Roadway
Robert Sandoval
S.R. Rock Quarry
Denise Lucy
Wetlands
Winifred Dajani
Box 449 369B Third Street San Rafael, CA 94901
www.sprcoalition.org [email protected]
2 The Coalition remains committed to supporting the City’s management of the median assessment district and the goals it was created to achieve. We look forward to continuing to be good community stewards of the medians and partners with the City, but would also like to help City staff develop the specific program to rectify the medians over the next 12 to 24 months.
Best regards,
Robert Sandoval
Roadway Committee Chair, Point San Pedro Road Coalition