Marin factions await voters’ verdict on San Geronimo Golf Course - Marin Independent Journal

Much like Democrats and Republicans wrangling over President Trump’s impeachment, the opposing camps on Measure D disagree on even the most basic facts, including what will happen if it passes.

The measure’s language on the March 3 ballot states that it would prevent the county from “changing the primary golf course use of San Geronimo Valley Golf Course without voter approval,” by amending the San Geronimo Valley Community Plan “to require voter approval for any change in the primary golf course use.”

The golf course was closed a year ago following its sale to the Trust for Public Land (TPL).

“Measure D is not going to bring golf back to the valley. It does not change any of the underlying economics associated with golf,” said Guillermo Rodriguez, TPL’s California state director. “Measure D accomplishes nothing; it just freezes the property in a state of fallow and limbo with no necessary direction.”

TPL bought the golf course property at the urging of the county to keep it from being purchased by a private entity. The county, which sought to acquire the property for public recreational use and for repair and preservation of wildlife and fish habitats at the site, contracted to purchase the golf course from TPL for $8.85 million by December 2018, or December 2019 at the latest.

The county’s purchase, however, was scuttled by a lawsuit filed by San Geronimo Advocates, a group of residents seeking to preserve the golf course. As part of its legal filing, San Geronimo Advocates asserted that the San Geronimo Valley Community Plan requires that the property remain a golf course, but Marin Superior Court Judge Paul Haakenson rejected that argument. The advocates then gathered 12,000 signatures to quality Measure D for the ballot.

Supporters of Measure D, which includes Marin’s Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers, asserts that taxpayers will ultimately end up paying to purchase the golf course from TPL, since the nonprofit typically does not hold onto properties.

“Do we plan to own it for a long period of time? No,” Rodriguez said.

Measure D supporter Kathleen Robertson said, “The Board of Supervisors reneged on their obligation to purchase the property from TPL and left them holding the bag. There is, we believe, a huge motivation and maybe even a legal obligation on the part of the county to try to make TPL whole.”

But Brendan Moriarty, a Trust for Public Land project manager, says there is no chance TPL will attempt to force the county to purchase the property.

“In fact, we cannot,” Moriarty wrote in an email, “as the Trust for Public Land specifically waived all claims against the County when we settled with the county and the San Geronimo Advocates in April 2019.”

Supporters of Measure D say Marin taxpayers could be affected regardless of whether the county reimburses TPL directly, since TPL is likely to seek state and federal grants, some of which are funded through voter-approved bond issues.

“They boast on their website that in their history they have successfully created over $70 billion in bond funding for projects,” Robertson said. “Grants and bond money are not free money. They are paid for by the taxpayers.”

Rodriguez said, “Taxpayers in Marin are already paying for those bonds. Here is an opportunity for Marin to competitively go after these dollars and bring these dollars into Marin.”

Rodriguez said if public grant money is secured it will also increase the chances of attracting donations from private donors. He worries that Measure D’s passage would make it harder to attract both public and private giving to the effort to reshape the 157-acre property.

Measure D supporter Peggy Sheneman said, “Water bond money is fought over by every region in the state. At some point, the people in Los Angeles and San Benito County are going to ask, why are we giving $10 million to the richest county in California to rehabilitate a golf course?”

Opponents of Measure D assert that its adoption will kill chances of building a new county fire department headquarters there. For three decades, the county has searched for a larger, centrally located parcel of land, but a lack of suitable properties has stymied efforts.

“I think if Measure D passes, the ability for the fire station to move into a better spot is really reduced,” said retired Marin County fire chief Ken Massucco, who opposes Measure D.

Sheneman, however, said, “This is an outrageous fraud on the voters because it is simply another way for the county to pay money to TPL and bail out their purchase price.”

Proponents of Measure D say that if it passes, TPL is more likely to be forced to sell the property to a private owner who will operate it as a golf course. They say the previous owner of the golf course paid $1.6 million in property and sales taxes during its last seven years.

“Practically speaking it would not be very difficult to reopen that golf course in a short time,” said Measure D supporter Josh Petit.

Rodriguez said, “It would take a significant financial investment to bring the property to a base level of playability. The entire irrigation system was never invested in over a period of time.”

Rodriguez said a new owner seeking to make golf economically feasible there might have to increase customer fees significantly or convert it into a private club.

Opponents of Measure D also question the wisdom of allowing the entire county vote on what is essentially a local community plan.

Former Marin supervisor Steve Kinsey, who initially opposed the county’s efforts to purchase the golf course property, now opposes Measure D. Kinsey says proponents of Measure D “are trying to turn our community plan on its head” by saying that TPL’s efforts to restore the land to a more natural state violate the plan.

“TPL’s mission reinforces the rural character of our valley,” Kinsey said. “In fact, the golf course is a remnant of an earlier vision of suburban sprawl in our county.”

What sometimes gets lost in the debate is the future of coho salmon and steelhead trout, both of which are on the endangered species list.

Measure D proponents discount the importance of San Geronimo Creek, which runs through the property, in preventing the fish’s extinction. But Jorgen Blomberg, a design director with Environmental Science Associates, which is working with TPL on restoration plans, said the creek provides a unique opportunity for fish to seek refuge during winter storms and rear their young.

Blomberg said, “Based on all the experts and scientists I work with no one is prepared to give up on this population of fish.”

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https://www.marinij.com/2020/02/01/marin-factions-await-voters-verdict-on-golf-course/

2020-02-02 03:23:34Z
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