Marin Voice: Housing doesn't belong in Novato's Redwood Corridor

NOVATO'S NORTH REDWOOD CORRIDOR workshops were well attended by many.

Architects, residents, business and property owners, developers, city staff, council members and the mayor were enthusiastic about sharing their visions for this last remaining developable area in downtown Novato.

Much is at stake even in the midst of great hope.

The North Redwood Corridor — an area defined within Olive Avenue, San Marin Drive, Highway 101 and Redwood Boulevard — offers an opportunity to preserve an iconic landmark representing Novato's agricultural heritage and zone for commercial/industrial use with no additional housing.

Three plans were drawn by 14 volunteer architects.

The first plan included a repurposed Dairymen's Mill building with public plaza, a promenade the length of Redwood, and shops and restaurants within easy walking distance to downtown.

It includes approximately 195,000 square feet of retail and 50,000 square feet of office space over the retail. There was no additional housing.

The second plan presented a design with a roundabout in a tree-lined Redwood Boulevard at the entrance to a plaza framed by a mix of retail spaces of up to 20,000 square feet around Trader Joe's for a total of 110,000 square feet of retail.

This design includes additional housing.

Contrary to what was mentioned in the IJ's Sept. 1 story, "Residents share corridor hopes," additional housing is not a requirement for the North Redwood.

The last design included a Dairymen's Mill inspired outdoor theatre and retail plaza with shops and offices around Trader Joe's. Town houses are located at Atherton Ranch site and senior housing at the corner of Redwood and Olive.

This design includes 105,000 square feet of retail.

A majority of the participants who completed surveys for this corridor indicated overwhelming support for a lifestyle-retail center, including gathering and entertainment spaces with pedestrian bicycle friendly paths accessing the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit train.

Current zoning of our city includes residential 27%, mixed use <1%, commercial/industrial 5%, open space, parks and public land 68%.  In San Rafael, 17 percent of the land is devoted to commercial and industrial uses.

Novato poorly captures much-needed sales tax because many residents shop out of town. Property taxes alone are not enough to pay for city services.

Novato cannot afford to lose one of the last commercial/industrial zoned areas to more residential development.

Novato, with its history of providing affordable housing, has included in the 2007 through 2014 housing element, ten properties for building 1,241 units.

Novato has sufficient property zoned for housing.

Furthermore, the Redwood Corridor is surrounded by residential property west of Redwood Boulevard, east of Highway 101 and south of Olive Avenue.

The existing residential layout in the North Redwood corridor resembles Corte Madera's Town Center neighborhood before the shopping center was developed.

According to Bob Brown and the North Redwood Corridor Workshop Economic Panel, mixed use zoning is the least viable method of enticing funding for new commercial development.

In addition to lack of funding, "vertical" mixed use, where housing is placed above shops, works well in denser urban cities like San Rafael, but in suburban settings can present unexpected conflict between residents and shop owners.

Overcoming our budget deficit will require making sound zoning choices to generate increased tax revenue.

Novato Community Alliance supports the development of commercial/industrial only east of Redwood for this corridor, except leaving the opportunity site by Trader Joe's.

By doing so Novato improves the odds of success in developing this area and realizing a strong and healthy tax base.

Trish Boorstein of Novato is a member of the Novato Community Alliance.