Sea Level Rise will not Wait for Marin County’s LCP
On October 11th, the Marin County Planning Commission (Planning Commission) considered proposed amendments and modifications to the Local Coastal Program (LCP), specifically Amendments Nos. 3 (Implementation Plan related to agriculture) and 7 (remaining Implementation Plan sections), Land Use Policy C-PK-3 and related LCP map changes. In advance of the hearing, EAC submitted written comments highlighting our concerns with the County’s proposed language modifications.
The Planning Commission moved to recommend to the Board of Supervisors that the LCP amendments move forward as amended, making one addition to the language, adding “reasonable” to the discretion of the County Community Development Agency Director, concerning the definition of ongoing agriculture.
At the October 11th hearing, EAC’s Conservation Director stated:
“Our suggested revised language is intended to modify the County proposed language to avoid adverse impacts to coastal resources, and to ensure consistency with the Coastal Act, and past Coastal Commission actions and documents…”
Planning Commissioners had questions concerning EAC’s position on suggested changes to the language in Land Use Policy C-PK-3 and the related Implementation Plan sections. Terence Carroll, EAC board member, clarified EAC’s perspective on these language modifications:
“… EAC does not favor commercial development over residential development. The Coastal Act does. What we were pointing out is that the commercial core area maps don’t solve the problem of there being two principally permitted uses.…”
Mr. Carroll later clarified that we were making a “a point of law and policy.”
EAC’s Conservation Director concluded “with a plea for action on the environmental hazards sections” and a quote from the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) press release:
“The decisions we make today are critical in ensuring a safe and sustainable world for everyone, both now and in the future…. The next few years are probably the most important in our history.”
