Dick Spotswood: Marin Transit, San Rafael have chance for win-win with bus yard

For local governments to work well, interagency cooperation is essential. Without it, the inevitable result is that some of those agencies’ constituencies are winners, while others are losers. When there is collaboration and community involvement, the results can be win-win. That’s what excellence in government is about.

Marin is about to see where such collaboration can work leading positive outcomes (not just for positive results for the involved local governments, but the public at large and the neighbors most impacted).

For years, Marin Transit has searched for a spot to locate a storage and maintenance yard for diesel and new electric buses. It recently purchased a vacant parcel in San Rafael for such a facility. It’s on Francisco Boulevard West, near its intersection with Bellam Boulevard and across from a car wash.

City officials zoned the land for commercial uses. A bus yard is typically sited in lands zoned for industrial use. California law exempts governmental agencies from complying with local zoning. That’s the letter of the law. Most governing boards understand that what goes around comes around. The smart way to act is through collaboration.

Marin Transit operates intercounty buses. They’re not part of Golden Gate Transit though its employees are contractually provided by Golden Gate. It’s governed by a board consisting of the five members on the Marin County Board of Supervisors and two council members, Fred Casissa of Corte Madera and Maribeth Bushey of San Rafael.

The city zoned the land for commercial purposes. Its preferred use is a tax-generating, job-creating hotel. The Mission City’s general plan and land-use designations were developed with intense public input from those communities most impacted, in this case, the Canal neighborhood. Ninety percent of Canal residents identify as Latino. There’s also a vibrant Vietnamese American community. Eighty percent of these mostly lower-income folks are renters.

San Rafael Mayor Kate Colin has been eager to work with Marin Transit to create a new bus facility on the site’s ground floor. She points out that the air rights above the garage can be used to meet the needs of Canal and all San Rafael residents, including affordable housing.

The use of air rights over transit is common. In San Francisco, it’s an aspect of the project to upgrade Muni’s Potrero bus yard. “‘Podium housing’ will add both affordable housing residential units and workforce housing residential units located above the bus facility. These buildings can begin construction only after all bus yard construction is complete.”

Like most Marin municipalities, San Rafael has a longstanding commitment to neighbor engagement and community-driven planning. That’s what the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency did when it created its Potrero Yard Neighborhood Working Group. There, “community members worked with SFMTA staff and the Potrero Neighborhood Collective developer team to shape public outreach, weigh in on elements of the project design, and inform the design and program of joint development (for housing above the yard).”

San Rafael has requested that Marin Transit agree to a formal collaboration agreement. Until this week, progress in making the deal has been slow. Now, the agency’s board, led by Supervisor Mark Sackett (the board president), has seen the light. Sackett represents large parts of San Rafael and has a keen interest in her constituents’ views. This is how governing and politics should work when the aim is for excellence.

“This isn’t just about a bus parking lot, it’s about public agencies engaging in a meaningful, community-driven process that ensures investments actually benefit the people most impacted,” Colin said.

The formal agreement between San Rafael and Marin Transit is smart. It’s a model of win-win collaboration between government and the impacted public that should resonate in Marin and ideally even in Washington.

Columnist Dick Spotswood of Mill Valley writes on local issues Sundays and Wednesdays. Email him at spotswood@comcast.net.