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Community Input Key to Marin City Stormwater Plan: Engagement is crucial element in identifying flood risk reduction solutions

This spring, the Marin City community is invited to share its own ideas and first-hand experiences with flood control specialists tasked with reducing flood risk and related inconveniences for the area. During storm season and high tides, the unincorporated neighborhood near Richardson Bay is regularly impacted by flooding tied to challenging drainage issues. During storm season and high tides, Marin City is regularly impacted by flooding tied to challenging drainage issues. A new stormwater plan will incorporate community feedback, and public meetings begin soon.

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During storm season and high tides, Marin City is regularly impacted by flooding tied to challenging drainage issues. A new stormwater plan will incorporate community feedback, and public meetings begin soon. (Google Earth photo)
During storm season and high tides, Marin City is regularly impacted by flooding tied to challenging drainage issues. A new stormwater plan will incorporate community feedback, and public meetings begin soon. (Google Earth photo)

San Rafael, CA – This spring, the Marin City community is invited to share its own ideas and first-hand experiences with flood control specialists tasked with reducing flood risk and related inconveniences for the area. During storm season and high tides, the unincorporated neighborhood near Richardson Bay is regularly impacted by flooding tied to challenging drainage issues.

During storm season and high tides, Marin City is regularly impacted by flooding tied to challenging drainage issues. A new stormwater plan will incorporate community feedback, and public meetings begin soon. (Google Earth photo)

The Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District is looking to maximize resident attendance and participation at community meetings as it begins work on its Marin City Stormwater Plan. The first of three community meetings is scheduled for June 1 at a location that has yet to be determined. Meeting information will be made available soon on the Marin Flood District website’s project page.

Meanwhile, a local task force will assure that community interests and concerns are taken into account during the 18-month development of the stormwater plan. The task force was created in collaboration with the Marin City community and includes representatives from the Gateway Shopping Center (which manages the Marin City pond adjacent to southbound Highway 101), the Marin City Community Development Corporation, the Marin City Community Services District, the Sausalito Marin City School District, Caltrans, Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Floating Homes Association, the National Park Service Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Marin Water, and Marin County Parks. Residents representing upper and lower watershed property owners, local students, and young people have been invited to the task force as well.

There will be a total of five task force meetings and three community meetings over the 18-month process. The first task force meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 3. Outcomes of the task force meetings and community meetings will be posted on the District website’s project page.

“Public safety and awareness are top priorities, so community engagement is key to the success of the stormwater plan,” said Berenice Davidson, Assistant Director of Marin County Department of Public Works and the District. “The task force is going to ensure that community interests and concerns are being heard and that potential design options are in alignment with that community input. The heightened focus on community engagement is what makes this plan distinct from past studies. By community, we mean property owners, residents, nonprofits and public agencies; collaboration is crucial.”

The geography of the watershed creates complex challenges for developing flood risk reduction measures. During storms, rainfall channels its way from the surrounding Marin Headlands into Marin City and out to Richardson Bay. The densely populated area was built upon wetlands and stormwater runoff can overwhelm the neighborhood’s aging drainage system and lead to localized flooding, particularly when storms and high tides coincide. The flooding can slow or prevent first-responders from assisting people in need and limit residents from accessing essential goods and services.

The Marin City Stormwater Plan will build upon findings from several prior studies, addressing the locations where water flow is hampered, and recommend improvements that reduce flood risk, improve drainage, and maintain public access. Plan completion is targeted for summer 2024.

Once complete, the stormwater plan will provide detailed recommendations for potential projects that could then be implemented by local or state agencies. The plan would also be used as a basis for grant funding applications and associated environmental review requirements.

The estimated $785,000 cost of the plan is funded by the District’s Flood Control Zone 3 (Richardson Bay) budget. The District plans to coordinate with Caltrans as it develops its sea level rise project for State Route 1 and U.S. Highway 101 between the Manzanita Park & Ride lot (owned by Caltrans) and Marin City.

For updates on the Marin City Stormwater Plan, please check the project webpage regularly for new information.

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Activism

Community Opposes High Rise Development That Threatens Geoffrey’s Inner Circle

City Council chambers were full for the May 17 Planning Commission hearing, and almost all the 40 speakers who had signed up to make presentations talked about the importance of the Inner Circle as part of Oakland and Geoffrey Pete as a stalwart community and business leader who has served the city for decades.

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Geoffrey Pete went to City Hall to appeal the city Planning Commission’s approval of the high-rise development that threatens the closure of his 44-year historic cultural mecca. Photo by Jonathan ‘Fitness’ Jones.
Geoffrey Pete went to City Hall to appeal the city Planning Commission’s approval of the high-rise development that threatens the closure of his 44-year historic cultural mecca. Photo by Jonathan ‘Fitness’ Jones.

By Ken Epstein

An outpouring of community supporters – young, old, jazz lovers, environmentalists and committed Oakland partisans – spoke out at a recent Planning Commission hearing to support Geoffrey Pete and his cultural center – The Inner Circle – an historic Oakland landmark whose future is threatened by a proposed skyscraper that out-of-town-developer Tidewater Capital wants to build in the midst of the city’s Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD).

City Council chambers were full for the May 17 Planning Commission hearing, and almost all the 40 speakers who had signed up to make presentations talked about the importance of the Inner Circle as part of Oakland and Geoffrey Pete as a stalwart community and business leader who has served the city for decades.

The speakers argued passionately and persuasively, winning the sympathy of the commissioners, but were ultimately unsuccessful as the Commission unanimously approved the high-rise to be built either as a residential building or office tower on Franklin Street directly behind Geoffrey’s building.

Mr. Pete has said he would appeal the decision to the City Council. He has 10 days after the hearing to file an appeal on the office building. His appeal on the residential tower has already been submitted.

Mr. Pete said the Planning Department still has not published the boundaries of the BAMBD. “Tidewater’s applications and subsequent applications should not be approved until the Planning Department fully acknowledges the existence of the BAMBD,” he said.

“This (proposed) building poses a grave danger to the historic (Inner Circle) building next to it, arguably Oakland’s most meaningful historic building,” Pete said.

“We’re here to advocate for what’s best for the African American district and community that has gotten no representation, no advocacy, as of yet,” he said. “The (commission) is guilty, the City of Oakland is guilty, and Tidewater is guilty.”

One of the first speakers was Gwendolyn Traylor, known as Lady SunRise, who directly addressed the developers.

“With all due to respect to your business, it’s not a need of this community. I would like to ask you to reconsider the location …What is being (promised) here does not add to the healing of this community,” she said.

Naomi Schiff of the Oakland Heritage Alliance emphasized that Geoffrey’s Inner Circle is a treasure of Oakland’s history.

“Our first concern is the integrity of the historic district, in particular the former Athenian-Nile Club, now Mr. Pete’s equally historic venue, which has been the location of a great number of important community events,” she said. “It would not be OK with us if the integrity of the building were damaged in any way, no matter how much insurance (the developer bought) because it is very difficult to repair a historic building once it’s damaged.”

The Inner Circle was previously owned and operated by the Athenian-Nile Club, one of the Bay Area’s largest all-white-male exclusive private membership club, where politicians and power brokers closed back-room deals over handshakes and three martini lunches.

Cephus “Uncle Bobby X” Johnson pointed out that commissioners and the city’s Planning Department have “acknowledged that you went through the entire design review process without even knowing that the Black Arts Movement and Business District existed.”

The district was created in 2016 by City Council resolution. “At the heart of the opposition to this building is the desire to further the legacy of local Black entertainment and entrepreneurship exemplified by businesses like Mr. Pete’s … a historical landmark and venue (that serves) thousands of people who listen to jazz and other entertainment and hold weddings, receptions, and memorial services,” said Uncle Bobby.

This development is taking place within a context in which the “Black population in Oakland has decreased rapidly … because of the city’s concentration on building houses that are not affordable for people who currently live in Oakland,” he said.

John Dalrymple of East Bay Residents for Responsible Development said, “This project will result in significant air quality, public health, noise, and traffic impacts. He said the city has not adequately studied the (unmitigated) impacts of this project on the Black Arts Movement and Business District.

“This project is an example of what developers are being allowed to do when they don’t have to follow the law, and they don’t have to be sensitive to our city’s culture and values,” he said. The commission should “send a signal today that we will no longer be a feeding ground for the rich.”

Prominent Oakland businessman Ray Bobbitt told commissioners, “Any decision that you make is a contribution to the systemic process that creates a disproportionate impact on Black people. Please do yourself a favor, (and) rethink this scenario. Give Mr. Pete, who is a leader in our community, an opportunity to set the framework before you make any decision.”

Though the City Council created the BAMBD, the 2016 resolution was never implemented. The district was created to “highlight, celebrate, preserve and support the contributions of Oakland’s Black artists and business owners and the corridor as a place central historically and currently to Oakland’s Black artists and Black-owned businesses.”

The district was intended to promote Black arts, political movements, enterprises, and culture in the area, and to bring in resources through grants and other funding.

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Activism

Community Meeting on Crime and Violence

Join Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb to discuss the uptick in crime and violence in District 1 and across Oakland. Representatives from the Oakland Police Department will be in attendance. This event will be held in-person and online.

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Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb
Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb

Join Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb to discuss the uptick in crime and violence in District 1 and across Oakland. Representatives from the Oakland Police Department will be in attendance. This event will be held in-person and online.

Tuesday, May 30, 2023
6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Oakland Technical H.S. Auditorium
300-340 42nd St.
Oakland, CA 94611

For more information, contact District 1 Chief of Staff Seth Steward: ssteward@oaklandca.gov, 510-238-7013.

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Bay Area

UniverSoul Circus Opens in Richmond

Described by show organizers as a highly interactive combination of circus arts and theatre that spans musical genres, UniverSoul Circus will feature flipping motorcycles, stilt dancers, Fire Limbo Benders, ancestral carnival characters, clowns, flamboyantly costumed dancers and more “in a celebration of energy.”

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Clowns who perform with UniverSoul Circus. Photo courtesy UniverSoul Circus.
Clowns who perform with UniverSoul Circus. Photo courtesy UniverSoul Circus.

By Kathy Chouteau | The Richmond Standard

UniverSoul Circus kicked off its Bay Area run under the Big Top at Hilltop Mall last week with the performances continuing during various times through Sun., June 19.

The UniverSoul Circus is a single ring circus, established in 1994 by Cedric Walker and Calvin “Casual Cal” Dupree, an African American man who had a vision of creating a circus with a large percentage of people of color performing. He began searching for people from all around the world with incredible talents. Richmond police Chief Bisa French and City Manager Shasa Curl were set to be guest ringmasters for the opening night show.

Described by show organizers as a highly interactive combination of circus arts and theatre that spans musical genres, UniverSoul Circus will feature flipping motorcycles, stilt dancers, Fire Limbo Benders, ancestral carnival characters, clowns, flamboyantly costumed dancers and more “in a celebration of energy.”

“Get ready to be amazed and frightened at the terrifying, gravity- defying acrobats on the Wheel of Death or the bold, breathtaking daredevils on the High Wire,” said UniverSoul Circus in a statement about the show.

This season’s theme is, ‘We All Belong,’ according Walker, the circus founder and CEO. “We all belong to one human race. Everyone is coming together, different cultures, different people, a new transcultural fusion, a new generation inclusive and together in a UniverSoul Experience!”

Venue:
Hilltop Mall
2200 Hilltop Mall Rd, Richmond, CA 94806

Showtimes:
Thurs-Fri: 7:00 p.m.
Sat: 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m.
Sun: 11:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m.

Box Office Hours:
Tues: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Wed-Fri: 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Sat: 9:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Sun: 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Mon: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Memorial Day)

Tickets range from $27.50 to $60 depending on your seat and you can purchase them on Ticketmaster. Visit www.universoulcircus.com for more info.

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