Bolinas Community Coastal Alliance

Our last communique in March described the full implementation of the Measure X ordinance, now in the final year of a two-year pilot with November, 2021 as its end date. At that time, we asked for your help to make sure this ordinance was enforced. The ordinance limits overnight parking on downtown streets to “autos, pickups and motorcycles”. The intent of the ordinance is to limit large vehicles and provide a message of deterrence to campers - not exactly what we had hoped for but a good first step. BCCA members continue to actively advocate for an effective ordinance.

However, the ambiguity for the definition of “automobile” renders it unenforceable, per the new Marin County Sheriff’s Watch Commander for our area, Lt. Collins. At the outset, Supervisor Rodoni did try to add a 22-foot limit, however members of the community rejected that idea as it would allow large vehicles such as Sprinter vans (which are usually under 22 feet) and allow pickups with houses on their beds, etc. A height, length and width limit suggested by BCCA would have helped, but the County declined to include it.

Enforcement in general is difficult, even without the ambiguity of the new ordinance, particularly during the Covid period as public health guidance is to not move people around. Sheriff deputies and law enforcement in general have backed off moving people if they claimed they had no alternative place to go. There is a small number of people in town stating this as a problem. Recent legal rulings have made it even more difficult. Without a clear and accessible alternative site, we are somewhat stuck on enforcement issues, which is why you still see some large vehicles parked overnight downtown. The requirement to address the concerns of a small number of those in need blocks effective controls for managing a worsening influx of visitors.

Even though enforcement of existing laws is spotty it is still important to contact the Sheriff’s office if you see something that is not right. Report A Crime - Marin County Sheriff's Office (marinsheriff.org) is one way to report certain non- emergency crimes online. The non- emergency phone number is 415-479-2311. The Sheriff’s office has to hear from members of the community in order to prioritize our needs.

WHERE ARE WE…LOTS OF BALLS IN THE AIR…

On a separate, but related track to the Measure X ordinance, BCCA asked BCPUD to form a permit parking plan committee to explore developing something that would work better than this new ordinance. Four BCCA members are on this committee – the first meeting was in December of 2019. The purpose is to develop a plan to manage the downtown parking situation, to find out if residential parking permits would be allowed by the California Coastal Commission (CCC), and to address the feasibility of operating such a program. Permits would exempt affected residents from any ordinance that controlled parking. The CCC, as most of us know, is fairly rigid in what they permit a town to do. Promoting access to the beach is their primary concern.

In December 2020, we presented our ideas to the BCPUD Board. The link to the Idea statement can be found on the BCPUD website https://bcpud.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Parking-Permits_BCPUD-Presentation-PDF-VERS._01_2021-1.pdf . If you really want to know what the committee is up to, meeting minutes are also on the BCPUD website. With a go ahead from the BCPUD board, committee members met with Supervisor Rodoni and County staff in March to go over these ideas. Subsequently, on our behalf, in April, the Director of Community Development had an informal meeting with CCC staff to confirm that permits would be permitted. The Director is a key link to CCC decision making. Per that meeting, day use permits were seen by CCC as more favorable than overnight restrictions and permits. As expected, a permit program would have to deal with the access issues and the concerns related to environmental justice. But yes, a permit program would be ok.

Who would administer the permit program? We advocate for local administration. What about enforcement, which as we first mentioned is lacking. We advocate for community enforcement, which brings us back to Measure X.

A second County meeting on this topic in May outlined the enforcement issues related to Measure X. Despite its difficulties, the County has decided to renew the ordinance in the fall. It will still need to go through a hearing phase. We support the renewal as a permit plan would not be ready by November. Many of the challenges related to enforcement of Measure X would also be faced by a permit plan, so we should try to resolve them now. Since May, Supervisor Rodoni has had regular internal meetings with relevant County departments including County Counsel and law enforcement to look at the feasibility issues of a permit program, and the renewal of Measure X - whether and how to beef up the current ordinance and whether Bolinas needs its own ordinance. He has indicated that we should get some answers soon. Once we get some answers, we can begin to canvas the community for their input on feasible options.

GOOD NEWS

After years of requests, we now have a stop sign at a dangerous corner on Brighton. Official County 20-minute zones are placed at key town service areas – the post office, market, etc. There is a pending request with Supervisor Rodoni to facilitate community meetings with the Department of Public Works for improved street safety. Measure X was implemented and in a small way acts as a deterrent. Finally, Bolinas Fire is having success in creating fire safety zones primarily in the red zone areas. Scofflaws who park in these areas face a much larger fine.

HELP - PLEASE JOIN US!

The Bolinas Community Coastal Alliance (BCCA) began when 6-8 people formed a steering committee to work on how to manage the increasing influx of visitors to the Our website Bolinas Community Coastal Alliance (bolinasalliance.org) documents the effect that the increase of visitors has had on Bolinas while detailing a history of over 2 decades of effort to solve this problem. We need more people to join BCCA or the BCPUD Parking Committee. At some point you may be asked to speak up at a meeting or write a letter - we need YOU to help us change the narrative. There are well over a 100 people on this distribution list, so we know that you are out there! Please share this email and contact us at BolinasAlliance@gmail.com

Thank you,

BCCA Steering Committee: Bruce Bowser, Sherry Hirsch, Chuck McParland, Al Minvielle, Lucy Reid, Michelle Sullivan