The Marin County Board of Supervisors' hearing on certification of the Amended FEIR
was held March 11, 2014 in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, Marin County Civic Center.

March 12, 2014: From Marin IJ:

by Nels Johnson

After four decades of controversy, more than $1 million in consultant studies and a court order that calls for a 43-lot development on a Tiburon ridgetop tract, the project remains in legislative limbo at the Civic Center.

In an unusual action, county supervisors said they cannot make a decision on whether an environmental analysis of the development is adequate until they have more specifics on how it will be designed. Instead, officials called for review of the merits of the project, saying they can reflect on the environmental report as hearings proceed.

Environmental reports are "certified" as adequate before merit hearings begin, but Southern Marin Supervisor Kate Sears said there were too many uncertainties involving the plan to give the analysis a stamp of approval. Read more at the Marin IJ

Marin Conservation League has reviewed the Amended Final Environmental Impact Report for the Easton Point (Martha Co.) development on the Tiburon Peninsula and issued comments on March 5, 2014. It is MCL's position that the Amended FEIR not be certified at this time, as the FEIR continues to fall short of CEQA standards for adequacy.

A previous hearing was delayed due to additional questions posed by the Supervisors re: impacts of traffic and construction truck activity, emergency access, neighborhood impacts and water supply and pressure issues. In February 2014, the EIR consultant responded to these questions in a memo, which is available at http://www.marincounty.org/depts/cd/divisions/planning/environmental-review/eir-current-projects/2008-easton-point

Scroll down to near the bottom of the page and under “Environmental Impact Documents” click on:  Memorandum: Response to Marin Board of Supervisors Request for Clarification<image001.png> (Martha Company)

Background:
Since the mid-1970s the Martha Co. has been trying to develop 43 estate-size homes on its 110-acre Easton Pt. property on Paradise Drive, Tiburon. The County Board of Supervisors, in fall 2012, authorized additional funds to study approval of 32 homes, rather than 43.

MCL has tracked this site for many years, and continues to believe that, given its high visibility, numerous physical constraints, and rich biological resources, it should have minimum clustered development with smaller residences on lower portions of the site only, leaving the majority of the site as a continuation of the adjacent Old St. Hilary’s and Tiburon Uplands Nature Preserves, both owned by the Marin County Open Space District.

Concerns include: safety hazards of construction equipment and traffic on narrow access streets and Paradise Drive; the removal of a large number of trees from an oak-bay woodland, many of them protected by ordinance; loss of most of a population of the protected Marin dwarf flax; impacts on the endangered California red-legged frog; and visibility on prominent ridges that are protected by county policy. Excessive size of the proposed homes on such a geographically constrained site is another concern.

Marin Conservation League supports efforts by the Tiburon Open Space Committee to preserve as open space all or parts of the Martha Co. property on Tiburon Ridge, through acquisition by a public agency or conservation organization. Watch the Tiburon Ridge video and see for yourself why this stunning property should be protected for future generations.