Before development could take place on St Vincent's land it
would need to be annexed away from the county into the jurisdiction of San
Rafael.
No public vote on annexation would occur. The annexation
decision is made by the Marin Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO),
not by public vote.
The Silveira family need not agree to annexation for
it to occur. Under state law, St. Vincent's may
apply for annexation of both their property AND the Silveira lands. If there are fewer than 12
registered voters on both properties, the property owner with the greatest
amount of assessed valuation (conceivably St. Vincent's since they have
larger land holdings) may make application for both properties.
(If there are 12 or more registered voters residing
on both properties, there is a protest hearing for those voters only.
Depending upon the vote at the protest hearing, there may be a formal
election scheduled for those registered voters residing on the subject
properties only, not the general public).
To learn more about the annexation process, it
is suggested that you speak with Peter Banning, Executive Director of
Marin LAFCO at pbann@aol.com 446-4409.
LAFCO
will allow Annexation for the following 2
reasons:-
1. San Rafael needs it to meet its State
mandated goal of new housing.
2. The SR Gen. Plan of the 70's implied an agreement to allow development
east of Hwy101 in return for allocating 85% of Marin as Open Space.
So LAFCO can justify development,
despite its mission statement (below), based on a "Quid Pro Quo"
in the Countywide Gen Plan of the 1970's.
The problem is, a lot has changed since the
70's, in particular TRAFFIC.
What would be the consequences of the City
missing its housing goal?
Alternatively, there is some LAFCO policy that could apply to St.
Vincent's: -
Agricultural Lands Policies:- Land which is currently
engaged in the substantial production of food, fiber, or livestock, or is
identified as agricultural land under Williamson Act contract shall not
be annexed to a city or a sanitary sewer agency for the purpose of
promoting urban development. (Originally
Adopted: July 13, 1977; Revised: January 13, 1983)
Development of existing vacant or non-prime agricultural lands
for urban uses within a city's and/or special district's jurisdiction or
within a city's and/or special district's sphere of influence should be
encouraged before any proposal is approved which would allow for or
lead to the development of existing agricultural or open-space
lands for nonagricultural or non open-space uses which are outside of the
city's and/or special district's jurisdiction or outside of a city's
and/or special district's sphere of influence. (Adopted
July 13, 1977)
The first words on LAFCO's website are
"LAFCO was created to
discourage urban sprawl". http://lafco.marin.org/ Mission Statement:- Promotes and coordinates the efficient
delivery of local governmental services and encourages the preservation of
open space and agricultural lands
If LAFCO fails us - Can ACE or a Referendum be an
alternative to developing St Vincents?
The George Lucas development approval precedent.
"traffic policies that call for a
Level of Service D or better for peak-hour traffic along U.S. Highway
101"
Services: LAFCO
regulates the formation of cities and special districts.http://lafco.marin.org/lafco_revu.html LAFCO
operates under CA Code Section 56000, Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act
