Corte Madera Town Council members are tired of being villainized and blamed for the 180-unit apartment complex under construction at the former WinCup foam manufacturing plant.
A Town Council meeting Tuesday night digressed into a heated exchange about the Tam Ridge Residences after community members spoke during open time about their hatred of the building. Frustrated by the comments, the council chose to engage with the audience — a move that is not typical with items not previously placed on the agenda for discussion.
Mayor Carla Condon explained that when the project was approved in 2012 the council faced a multitude of concerns, including having to set aside 244 units of housing in its 2007-14 housing element. She said the town feared being sued by low-income housing advocates if it didn’t set aside land to meet existing and projected housing needs, as required by the state.
In addition, Condon said town planning employees at the time told them they could zone for high-density housing — such as the 40 units-per-acre at the Tam Ridge Residences — to meet the housing element requirements, and still deny projects if the council deemed them too dense. The town later realized this could also open it up to a lawsuit.
“This was really a hard choice to make,” Condon said. “We relied a lot on legal advice.”
She said at this point the town just wants the project, which has been under construction by San Francisco-based developer MacFarlane Partners for more than two years, to be finished.
“Hopefully it will fill up and be part of the community,” Condon said. “It’s one of these things that folks, we’re just going to have to turn the lemons into lemonade.”
Finger-pointing
Community members pointed fingers at the Town Council, alleging the public wasn’t properly notified about the development. Councilman Michael Lappert said multiple Planning Commission, Town Council and workshop meetings were held before the project was approved.
The entire discussion about Tam Ridge Residences occurred during open time when the public is invited to make comments about items not on the agenda. Town Planning Commissioner Phyllis Metcalfe said the discussion violated the Ralph M. Brown Act, which states matters to be discussed at meetings must be posted on an agenda 72 hours in advance.
Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition, said Wednesday that people could certainly argue the town’s extended discussion was a violation of the act. However, he said he personally doesn’t have a problem with the proceedings.
“The First Amendment demands there be some flexibility for public officials, if they want, to respond to things that people are saying,” Scheer said.
Most of the 85 people in the audience, some of whom were forced to stand or sit on the ground, weren’t there to discuss the apartment complex. Of interest was the town’s draft housing element update for the planning period of 2015-23, in which the town needs to set aside sites equal to 72 units of housing.
It took the council 1-1/2 hours to get to the item, which exasperated attendees who sat through council member reports and a public hearing about an encroachment permit for two private parking spaces. Residents were so frustrated that they yelled from the audience, asking when they would have a turn to comment on the draft document.
When public comment time arrived after a presentation and more than three hours after the meeting began, fewer than 40 people remained.
Wornum extension
Locals were mostly concerned about the inclusion in the housing element of a 1.4-acre town-owned property known as the Wornum Drive extension, situated on Tamal Vista Boulevard. The site is directly across the street from the Tam Ridge Residences and was included in the last housing element.
Brenda Bercun, of Larkspur, said she is worried about additional housing being built in the area, which already has traffic congestion problems.
“I don’t even have a clue what the traffic is going to look like once it’s open,” Bercun said about the Tam Ridge Residences. “Where are they all going to park?”
Virginia Cunningham, of Corte Madera, said the community has been trying to get this property pulled from the list of available development sites for many years.
“That site floods when we have heavy rains,” Cunningham said.
Town officials said the town has no intention of actually building on the site, which bothered Councilman Sloan Bailey.
“Since we don’t actually plan to develop that property, I don’t think it’s right to put it out there,” Bailey said. “I don’t like the gamesmanship of it.”
After much discussion, the council ultimately directed staff to keep the remaining proposed housing sites in the document, but reduce the capacity of the Wornum Drive extension from 25 units of housing to 20 units. A revised housing element will be brought back to the council on Feb. 17.
“Everybody is invited back for part two,” Condon said.
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