You are here: Home > Planning

Archive | Planning RSS feed for this section

May 28 Hearing on Novato Solar Project

on March 3, 2013
las-gallinas pv project

This 850 KW solar project at Las Gallinas sewage ponds has been
quietly generating clean power for several years.

Greenpoint Nursery in Novato has proposed building a 660 Kilowatt solar PV project on the unused ground at the periphery of the nursery. (That would be a little smaller than the solar project at Las Gallinas Sewage ponds in the picture above.) This would be the second project in in the county to be built in response to the very favorable Feed-in Tariff offered by Marin Clean Energy.

MCE is offering a 20-year contract at above market rates to local projects of this size  (a few acres of panels – - much bigger than a home system but much smaller than “utility size” industrial systems.) That’s because construction of lots of “distributed” systems this size – - hundreds, maybe thousands of them; all over the state; all close to the end users – - is a critical part of the switch from fossil fuels to renewables.

The County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on this project on Tuesday May 28. Sustainable Novato has taken a position strongly Continue Reading →

Read full story

Video from “Plan Bay Area” Forum

on April 19, 2013

 

untitled-61-Edit

 On May 9, 2013 Sustainable Marin, along with Sustainable San Rafael, The Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative, The League of Women Voters, The Marin Conservation League and Dominican University sponsored our second forum on the topic of planning the future of our communities in the era of climate change. “Planning the Future We Want (part 2)” drew an energized and attentive crowd of about 200 turned out at Dominican’s Angelico Hall. Click here for pictures from the event (video below.)

This time a panel of experts drilled down into the specific implications of  Plan Bay Area: How it fits into the larger picture of the states efforts to reduce GHG emissions and fight climate change . . . How it continues a long history of enlightened local planning to protect Marin’s unique assets . . .Whether or not it threatens local communities’ ability to control environmental impacts and preserve their quality of life. Watch video of the complete event below:

This was the continuation of a discussion of the shape of Marin’s future that started last September 19, 2012 in a full-house forum at the San Rafael Community Center. (Click here to see video of that earlier event.)

 

 

 

 

Read full story

Sustainable Marin Urges Action on Climate Action Plan

on March 30, 2013

Sustainable Marin Logo

March 20, 2013

City Council
City of Novato
75 Rowland Way   #200
Novato, CA 94945-5054

Dear Mayor Eklund and Councilmembers:

Sustainable Marin applauds the leadership you showed in December, 2009 by adopting Novato’s Climate Action Plan.  Despite escalating signs of the effects of climate change such as Hurricane Sandy, the worst drought since Dust Bowl days and the most costly wildfire season on record, we continue to find no leadership coming from Washington.  That means it’s more critical than ever that local governments show the way and take responsibility for both reducing carbon emissions and being ready to respond to local climate vulnerabilities.

Novato already has a plan to respond to climate change in meaningful ways, but we are concerned that implementation has been slowed by the fiscal effects of the recession on local government.  We strongly recommend two steps to highlight and accelerate your implementation efforts:

First, we request greater transparency of your Plan implementation.  A good model is the City of San Rafael that holds quarterly community meetings to brief citizens on their accomplishments and efforts underway.  These meetings have become very collaborative with various community groups which share the concern about climate change and are contributing to local actions.  At a minimum we request that you receive an annual report on implementation of your Climate Action Plan in advance of your budget considerations, and that this report be made widely available to the public.

Second, we suggest that Novato collaborate with the other eight Marin jurisdictions that also have very similar Climate Action Plans to implement common programs in the most cost effective means possible.  A good way to do so would be to utilize the Marin Climate and Energy Partnership (MCEP) that your staff currently participates in with other Marin agencies.  MCEP has been instrumental in promoting green building regulations and energy efficiency measures, and is currently completing the 2010 greenhouse gas inventories for each jurisdiction, which will allow comparison with the 2005 inventories on which your Climate Action Plan was based and provide a statistical measure of success or heightened need to move implementation programs forward.

Again, thank you for your leadership in responding to climate change.  We look forward to hearing back from you on how best to move ahead with implementation efforts.

Respectfully,

Kiki La Porta, President
Sustainable Marin

Read full story

Neighborly Novato Honors Woolsey

on February 8, 2013

Social equity and affordable housing are definitely part of sustainable living, and on January 31 Stand Up for Neighborly Novato honored retiring Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey at a gala dinner. Fair housing was literally the issue that first got Woolsey into politics many years ago in Petaluma, and she is still both passionate and intensely practical on the subject.  Watch the video of her speech below.

 

Read full story

“Choosing The Future we Want” Forum

on February 15, 2013

On September 19, 2012, The Sustainables helped sponsor “Choosing the Future We Want “ A public forum  at the San Rafael Community Center. The purpose was to take a  “bird’s eye” view of Marin County and how it might change over the next 40 years.

Marge Macris, former Planning Director for Marin County (and a former newspaper reporter) wrote a great report of the meeting for the Newsletter of the Marin Conservation League.  Click here to read it (reproduced by permission.)

Presenters were BOB BROWN, former San Rafael Community Development Director;  NONA DENNIS, former President, Marin Conservation League;  THE REV. BETTY PAGETT, housing advocate, League of Women Voters, JOHN KING, urban design critic, San Francisco Chronicle.  The moderator was KATE SEARS, Supervisor, Marin County 3rd District.

Other sponsors were:  Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative (MEHC),  Sustainable Marin, Marin Conservation League and the League of Women Voters.

 

Read full story

Megaflood Coming to California?

on December 14, 2012

DROWNED: A 43-day atmospheric-river storm in 1861 turned California’s Central Valley region into an inland sea, simulated here on a current-day map.

On Christmas Eve in 1861 a giant Pacific storm moved into California.  It rained for the next 43 days, and when it was over the central valley had been turned into inland sea 300 miles long. The January Scientific American examines the history of this event.

For  most of the years since 1861 it has been viewed simply as a “freak storm,” and the public has largely forgotten about it.   However, climate scientists have recently gained a much more detailed understanding of how “atmospheric rivers”  (the infamous “Pineapple Express” is just one) create these super-flood conditions.  Further, they have uncovered solid evidence that storms of this magnitude have hit the state roughly every 200 years. Continue Reading →

Read full story