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San Marin Improvement Association

Monday, October 29, 2018

San Andreas Site


Dear San Marin Neighbors, 

Upon learning that NUSD is looking at possible uses of the San Andreas School Site located just south of the San Marin Drive, San Marin Improvement Association held a meeting on September 19th with NUSD, the Stakeholder, presenting and City of Novato, assisting, for our neighbors to get firsthand information from the source. 

Approximately 50 neighbors attended the meeting.  The meeting was interactive, with lively discussions and concerns for NUSD and the City to address.   

We learned from the meeting that the site has sat vacant for quite some time and it is time for NUSD to look at potential use of the site, especially with the declining school enrollment.  NUSD did a survey, first with NUSD employees and then included the City as well as Novato Fire District, to see if the employees would be interested in workforce housing.  The response was favorable.  The sites being considered include the San Andreas school site and the adjacent smaller city site, which is currently used as a  park (collectively called San Andreas Site).    

The plan is for NUSD to conduct a feasibility study of what can be done to the site.  An update of the feasibility study will be presented on November 13 at the joint meeting of the City of Novato and NUSD.  These are very preliminary discussions of  possibilities, such as workforce housing +/- market rate housing, possible sale of the lot and have workforce housing elsewhere in the city, etc.  Nothing is definite and no further action will be taken until after the feasibility study is completed with favorable results to go forward.  

If any project should go forward, the City of Novato said that proper development approval procedures will be followed, including full environmental review through the required CEQA (California Environment Quality Act) process to make sure the site is suitable for housing.  Workshops will be conducted to inform and receive feedback from Novato residents as well as San Marin neighbors. 

The San Marin Improvement Association feels strongly that San Marin neighbors should learn facts from the source.  As discussed in the meeting, we are waiting for the results of the feasibility study to be presented to both the NUSD Board of Trustees and the City Council.  We will arrange a San Marin Neighborhood meeting after that for NUSD and the City to come and present the findings and what their next steps might be for the property.

Thank you for your patience and we will be in touch once we hear from NUSD and/or City of Novato.

Questions and/or concerns about the site, the meeting, and the process, please contact Leslie Benjamin, NUSD Communications and Community Engagement Director, at LBenjamin@nusd.org  
Sylvia Barry
San Marin Improvement Association   




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