Monday, July 16, 2012

Fwd: special favors #s 29, 30 31 and 32 of fifty-eight (58) special favor examples

From: Charles Sands <charlessands@aol.com>
Date: July 3, 2012 5:43:31 PM PDT
Subject: special favors #s 29,  30 31 and 32  of  fifty-eight (58) special favor examples

 
Bcc: 246 Homestead Valley neighbors
 
The following special favors #s 29,  30 31 and 32  of  fifty-eight (58) special favor examples, see Attachment A and source references, furnish examples of a few Marin County staff, with the presumed knowledge of their reviewing and approving supervisors, Directors and related and interested District #4 Supervisor, deliberately furnishing special favors and treatment in the form of deletion or omissions of any adverse fact or finding that may adversely impact review and approval of Marin Horizon School's Design Review and Use Permit application in order to ensure County Board of Supervisor approval of  resolution Marin Horizon School Design Review and Use Permit 2005-105.
                     
There are too many deletions and omissions of adverse findings and requirements to credibly believe them to be inadvertent.
 
The above Marin County staff actions avoided constraining Marin Horizon School in any physical or financial way by deleting or omitting any Environmental Initial Study finding, mitigating negative impact measure or  County requirement that required Marin Horizon School to conform to and comply with mandatory County Wide Plan. Tamalpais Area Community Plan, Title 19, Title 22, Title 24 including  Board of Supervisor resolution 2005-1005 Condition of Approval # 18, #47 and #50 and Marin Horizon's 2010 Traffic Management Plan.
  
# 29. MHS' E.I.S omitted to cite Tamalpais Area Community Plan Community (TAC) Goal # 7 which states: "Limit commercial development or redevelopment to uses that primarily serve the Planning Area residents (Homestead Valley) at a scale compatible with the semi-rural environment."
 
a)      Marin Horizon School (MHS) is a commercial, corporate, not for profit, private educational facility consisting of a nursery, kindergarten and elementary school (K-6) and junior high school (7-8) is on a sub-standard Department of Education, State of California kindergarten and elementary school site owned by Marin County and leased to the Mill Valley School District that cannot and does not conform to or achieve the goals, objectives and policies of the TACP.
 
b)      MHS is a commercial educational facility that primarily serves students living outside of Homestead Valley and therefore inconsistent with TACP Goal # 7 as MHS does not primarily serve the Homestead Valley residents..
 
c)   99.6% of MHS students live outside of Homestead Valley. Marin Horizon Headmistress, Rosalind. Hammar 2003.
 
d)     Community Planning and Design 101 teaches that land uses that generate traffic and parking not related to residential uses must be located outside of communities to avoid conflicts.
 
1.      Unlike Mill Valley School District's Park and Edna McGuire Schools located in the City of Mill Valley:
a)   Marin Horizon School is not located on a residential collector street to keep its traffic from penetrating the community it serves;
b)   Marin Horizon School does not comply with Marin County ordinance 24.04.335 (a) and 24.04.340 (p) which mandate on-site parking for MHS' related staff, part-time staff, special events, parent visitors and vendors  and;
c)   Marin Horizon School does not provide County ordinance 24.04.340 (p) mandated on site student drop-off/pick-up zone.
 
# 30. The following words in bold type were deleted from Tamalpais Area Community Plan (TACP) policy LU1.3 Compatible Design cited on MHS' E.I.S.  Page III.36 in order to read "New development shall be comparable and compatible with the scale (bulk, mass, and height) and appearance (colors, materials and design) of the particular neighborhood and integrated with and subordinate to the area's natural setting." 
 
a)      Since May 2005 the above deletions were brought to the attention of all responsible County staffs, Supervisor Kinsey and all other Board of Supervisors but no known action to reprimand the person (s) responsible for deleting the above words in bold type has been taken to correct this unethical and non-professional action.
 
b)      County staff deletions of the words "comparable', with and subordinate to" is another prime example of County staff omitting the text of  a County ordinance  requirement to suit MHS' architectural design of its proposed new classroom building which is not comparable with the scale (bulk, mass, and height) and appearance (colors, materials and design) of any existing building. See writer's emails to above individuals and record of BOS 16 August 2005 hearing.
 
c)      The writer knows it is professional unethical to revise a County ordinance' architectural design requirements to suit an applicant's architectural design in lieu of requiring the applicant to revise a proposed design in order to obtain Design Review approval and obtain a Negative Declaration and Board of Supervisors' approval of an applicant's Use permit it may well constitute a civil crime.
 
# 31. CDA and DPW staff reviewing MHS proposed expansion plan omitted to comment on MHS proposed construction of 7 new parking spaces in the SCA. New or expansion of existing parking spaces is not permitted in the SCA. See County Wide Plan EQ-2.5.
 
# 32. CDA and DPW staff reviewing MHS proposed expansion plan omitted to include MHS' Biological consultant comment that the County Wide Plan policy EQ-2.25 calls for MHS to enhance the appearance of Reed Creek's streamside environment and protect native vegetation and recommended that MHs be required to furnish a riparian enhancement program in the undeveloped portion of Reed Creek to mitigate the significant negative impact of MHS' proposed expansion plan. Biological Resource Assessment page 7 and 9.
 
a)      MHS' E.I.S does not include the above MHS' Biological consultant's assessment of MHS significant negative impact on Reed Creek or the riparian enhancement program necessary to mitigate the significant negative impact of MHS' proposed expansion plan
b)      Again CDA staff omitted to require MHS to provide recommend significant negative impact mitigating measures that may be expensive for MHS to implement.
 
The County's participants in the above examples of documented and source referenced deletions and omissions solely benefiting Marin Horizon School should be, but most likely will not be, censured, relieved from County office or County Employment for unethically granting special favors to Marin Horizon School.
 
Seems that Marin Horizon School has its own version of Bush era Fiends in High Places only in Marin it's Marin Horizon School  aka Marin Halliburton School.
 
 
Charles D. Sands
Architect and Urban Designer
12 Madrone Park Circle
Mill Valley, CA 94941
Tel: 415 381 6804
 
 


Charles Sands
charlessands@aol.com
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