Community Corner
SMART Board Rejects Failed Initiative, Moves Closer to Atherton Station
Wednesday's meeting of the Sonoma-Marin Rail Transit board also green lighted action in Petaluma, Rohnert Park that affect Novato
That green train is coming to town, just like the signs say.
The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) last made news when the RepealSMART initiative of signatures to bring the issue back before voters.
At their board meeting on Wednesday, SMART formally rejected the initiative that sought to bring the commuter train issue back before voters, according to a report in the Marin Independent-Journal.
Find out what's happening in Novatowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
At its meeting Wednesday, the SMART board cited the "failure" of the initiative and declared it invalid. If opponents had gathered enough signatures, the board would have likely taken the same action, but RepealSMART could have brought legal action against the train agency to force it on a ballot….
The SMART board took the action without comment.
Find out what's happening in Novatowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Of more direct bearing to Novato residents, the agreement of the board to move the Rohnert Park station closer to downtown means that the proposed n is now allowable under regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission rules, which require an average population density for funding.
that the Atherton station was back on a priority list for inclusion, but the higher population density of the new Rohnert Park location now brings the average up for the entire system.
“That allowed the Atherton Station back into the fold without additional housing needed in Novato,” the Marin IJ report concluded.
