San
Rafael’s Economic Vision starts
the booklet titled:
Adapted for Canalways from the booklet:
ACCEPTED
BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
ON JULY
21, 1997
Economic Visions and Strategies
FOR THE CITY OF
SAN RAFAEL
On page 5 of the Economic Vision section, East San Rafael is covered.
As the largest single parcel
remaining in East San Rafael, Canalways can help
produce the Economic Vision for which the City hopes.
To produce some of the beneficial
economic and life quality changes the City envisions may require education
regarding the site status and changes in land use and developable acreage.
The pictures and bolded and italicized sections that
follow have been added to the following East San Rafael Economic Vision section.
These added sections briefly express some of the ways Canalways help
produce the economic vision hoped for.
The Canalways group welcomes the
opportunities to further explain these ideas to you or your organization.
East San Rafael
East San Rafael
has three distinct business sub-areas; the area from Bellam Boulevard to the
Richmond Bridge, the San Rafael Canal waterfront, and the Canal area.
Bellam to
the Bridge
San Rafael from Bellam to the Bridge
is our area of greatest change and growth because it contains the majority of
the City's developable land. Traffic and circulation constraints have been
removed by cooperative and creative actions of the City and the business
community. Now the area is filling with community targeted and desired
businesses that contribute significantly to our economic base. Many existing
local businesses have relocated and expanded here, and low intensity uses such
as self storage facilities have redeveloped. Development consists of well
designed groupings of office and industrial facilities with appropriate parking
and landscaping. Office buildings orient to views of the Bay and wetlands,
which are respected environmental amenities. The freeway frontages developed with
uses that capitalize on the freeway exposure, and provide high revenue and high
job opportunities.
The 100
acre Canalways parcel (including 15 acre City pond) provides:
the last
significant link needed to complete the Shoreline Master Plan Park.
the Kerner
Blvd. connection
potential
dredge disposal site for San Rafael Creek
potential
school site
potential
public/private joint venture to turn City owned corporation yard into a larger
park using San Rafael Creek dredge
materials
potential
ideal high tech campus
potential
mixed use development
opportunity
to enhance the degraded open space environment and species environment
San Rafael
Canal Front
The San
Rafael Canal waterfront is a major community discovery. A public walking path along
the water's edge has given views to the water and to the active working boat
services area, yacht harbors, Montecito Center and the City's own Beach Park.
Restaurants and other uses that benefit from the water view and access to the
public path are scattered throughout the area. People stroll along the path for
the views and use this as an alternative walking route to Downtown and
Montecito Shopping Center and it also connects to the popular Shoreline Park.
Turning the Canal around and
enhancing its attractiveness to pedestrians, as Petaluma’s Canal does to a
degree for its Canal, would provide tremendous opportunities to East San
Rafael’s community. This should only BE DONE IF AFFORDABLE HOUSEBOAT LIVERS ARE
NOT DISPALCED BY THIS MODERNIZED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
Of course, there are nagging, long
standing financial problems the Canal
property owners would appreciate the City caring for first as they pursue a
grand, long range vision. Canal
property owners would:
Every 5-6 years the Canal should be
dredged. Dredge disposal costs are
supposed to be covered by the City, but with dredging costs rising those costs
have been passed on as dredge fees to Canal property owners.
Instead of relaying on privately
bid and more expensive clamshell
dredging.....
a one-time suction pipe hook-up could be laid in the Canal and
dredge materials could be suction pumped to Canalways.
The benefits:
lives up to the preferred
environmental mandate of the Federal Governments 1998 released Long Term Management Study for the Bay
Region
ensures
beneficial reuse of dredge material, avoiding less environmentally sensitive
Bay and ocean dumping
provides
clean material for possibly adding park land for kids
supplies upland fill, avoiding the environmental
effects of trucked in fill
bolsters levee and Shoreline Park
path with fill.
With cost contained, the Canal
property owners and City could concentrate their energies into
turning the Canal into a thriving
gathering spot. Again, as
long as this development did not endanger those living on affordably priced
houseboats.
Canal Area
The Canal area found its voice and
emerged as a vigorous business district and re-vitalized residential
neighborhood. Scores of small businesses, both industrial and auto related uses
with skilled labor jobs and entry level positions, have remained. A vigorous
auto sales area on the East Francisco Boulevard frontage reflects the auto
sales area on other side of the Freeway.
Local neighborhood serving retail
businesses are located near the residential areas, and many of these are small,
entrepreneurial start up businesses unique to the area. The local workforce is
fully utilized. Economic Vision July 1997 Page
5