Two days after winning re-election as Homestead Valley's representative on the Marin County Board of Supervisors, Steve Kinsey might be in store for an earful.
Kinsey, who defeated Corte Madera resident Diane Furst Tuesday, is set to appear at a public meeting at Mill Valley City Hall Thursday at 6 p.m. The focus will be the controverial plan to in an effort to make the street safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The meeting's intent is simply to lay out the schedule for the project, which the and is set to begin later this month. But Kinsey and county officials are facing continued opposition from neighbors who think the sidewalk is simply a bad fit for the street. Two months after the Board of Supervisors approved the project and sent it out to bid - and - emails lists and online forums continue to show that opposition among some neighbors remains strong.
The Board of Supervisors and directed county public works officials to put the estimated $1 million project out to bid. The county selected Ghilotti Construction Company. A $900,000 Safe Routes to Schools grant will pay for the bulk of the project, county officials said.
Thursday's meeting will focus on the project's schedule, its impact on neighbors and any questions residents have about that impact, according to Scott Schneider, an associate civil engineer with the county. In advance of the meeting, county officials staked the sidewalk layout in several locations to indicate its 5-foot width.
Heated debate has surrounded the idea of building a sidewalk along a 2,000-foot stretch of Evergreen, with much of it centering on and some residents’ resentment of the traffic the school brings to the neighborhood.
The sidewalk would extend from Mill Valley city limits (250 feet east of Ethel Avenue) to the intersection with Melrose, where the school is located. It includes curbs and gutters, six new crosswalks, 11 accessible curb ramps, 29 new driveway aprons and myriad drainage improvements.
Opponents of the project engaged in a largely Internet-driven campaign to get the project stopped in 2010, and county officials delayed it from its original June 2011 construction start in order to address community concerns. Residents over whether the majority of nearby residents supported the sidewalk or not, and county Public Works Director Bob Beaumont said a survey of property owners along Evergreen in 2011 indicated that “a very clear and strong majority of them support the sidewalk.”
The project seemed to get back on track with after a and the county’s decision to reduce the width of the sidewalk from 6 feet to 5 feet to lessen the impact on street parking and aesthetics.
County Principal Civil Engineer Ernest Klock said construction is expected to begin soon after Marin Horizon School ends its school year on June 8. County officials expect to finish the project by mid-August.
When we compared the numbers - County's "majority" county turned out to be 49% of 100%. County has not given residents a complete mock up to show how the North side will be affected.
All the property owners on the south side of the street will, in perpetuity, be saddled with the full cost of ongoing maintenance. Only the build cost is covered, and that is wrapped up in the larger project which includes street re-paving, now covered by the grant. Can you see a county interest here? I can.
It is the implementation of this particular sidewalk that is the problem. THIS IMPERVIOUS CONCRETE SIDEWALK is about money, political influence and "convenience." It was never about safety - because it MAKES NO SENSE to physically alter a road that has a 100% safety record, to make it more like an area where there was an accident. Marin County can afford to pave the road - they are just too CHEAP to give the DPW the funding - so they are accepting this $900,000 grant - which was awarded to an application that contained inaccurate and misleading information - to do it. Shameful, to say the least.
Supervisor Steve "Red Tag" Kinsey asked Mari Tamburo what the big deal was — asked her why she cared so much about the sidewalk. My answer to Kinsey was that if he had to ask the question, he couldn't understand the answer. Is that it for you, too? Is it that you just don't get it, or is it that you just don't care? Do you care about your dog? How do you feel about the endangered species of steelhead trout in the creek alongside the road? You care about that?
"that isn't going to happen near Marin Horizon if the parents feel the walking route is unsafe." Q: If the parents (and the school) feel that having their kids walking down the center of Evergreen Ave. is unsafe, why aren't they DEMANDING that the students walk on the existing grassway where the proposed illegal sidewalk is slated for? Every day Marin Horizon students walk on the street instead of on the grassway/gravelway. Picture this Fall when the $1 million dollar slab is baking in sun looking gleaming and inviting -- and all of the students are STILL walking down the center of the street. "Oh, the school will insist they use the sidewalk" I hear you propose. If the school can insist on sidewalk use in 3 months why won't they insist that the CURRENT alternatives to walking in the center of the road are utilized? Hey -- it's all arguing in a bag, folks. This deal was done YEARS ago. The only way to stop the bulldozers is with our naked bodies. Or Litigation.
As for getting kids out of their cars, that's never going to happen. That's up to parents, and over the years they've made it plain they find the walk from Whole Foods an intolerable inconvenience. Sidewalk or no, the number of kids and parents walking from Whole Foods isn't going to change. That will be painfully evident after the damage is done. What will you say to Evergreen residents then? "Sheesh?"
It's a very small, barely noticeable (how many even realized there was a sidewalk on Hawthorne?), 8" high pathway. From their bellyaching, one would think they're putting in an office building right smack in the middle of the street! The most humorous, and telling, aspect of this is they cannot accept they're in the minority, they cannot accept they're wrong. They blame all their failings on some mystical conspiracy theory of money, power and political influence. They don't have a shred of evidence of any of this (because it's not true). The only proof they offer is that they've lost so obviously the fix must be in. Childish. They keep threatening to sue. I really wish they do. Then a jury will pile on and show them to be in the wrong, again. Obviously the reason they aren't suing is because they know they've got a loser of a case. Truly laughable. And sad.
I find it very interesting that you comment on other Patch stories complaining about government interference and being over taxed, but still you continue to insist that it is OK for people who don't live on Evergreen to force this slab on property owners who don't want it. What's up with that??
The process could've been better but to say community input was not heard or adhered to, is completely false. Keith got 90 signatures that resulted in a year-long delay in the project. And most of what the they were asking for they got! Your problem is you didn't get your way and cannot live with it. You had ample opportunity to be heard on your perceived illegalities and you haven't been convincing. Do you really think the county lawyers haven't reviewed every issue, particularly after the way you've carried on the last few years? I know they have. And really, this is a major thoroughfare into and out of HV, everyone in HV should have a voice on this issue. Taking your point to its logical conclusion, you shouldn't have a voice either since the sidewalk is being installed on the other side of the street from you. If you really don't value the voices of non Evergreen residents, then why do you give any credence to Frank and Charles? Because they agree with you? (On another note, really why do you pay them any heed? They don't help your cause. I had a guy tell me just last week he initially was somewhat indifferent, 60/40, on the sidewalk but after the shenanigans you all caused he's 100% for it.)