For Immediate Release
Point Reyes Station, CA (July 14, 2021) - Yesterday, the Marin County Board of Supervisors (Board) voted to finalize their Local Coastal Program (LCP) update and retain 40-year old policies to inform land-use and development for environmental hazards. The finalized LCP will go into effect 30-days from the Board’s decision, on August 13, 2021. The Environmental Action Committee (EAC) – a grassroots local environmental organization working to protect the unique lands, waters, and biodiversity of coastal Marin – has been advocating to the County for 13-years to comprehensively update their LCP including environmental hazards policies, which has only become more urgent in the face of the mounting climate crisis.
EAC and the Surfrider Foundation submitted comments to the Board in advance of the meeting asking for the County to complete the missing hazards chapter before finalizing the LCP with concerns that the incomplete plan will result in inconsistencies, set a negative precedent in the state for other jurisdictions to ignore planning for the impacts of the climate crisis, and that the implementation of the LCP required more time for public education and outreach.
“We are disappointed by the Board’s decision to finalize 13-years of community planning with hazards land-use policies that were written in the 1980s. The hazards chapter is especially important for coastal communities, as we are already experiencing impacts of the climate crisis with increased wildfire risks, rising sea levels, and emergent groundwater. It’s unfortunate that Marin County continues to herald themselves as national leaders on climate change planning and adaptation, yet, they are comfortable with setting a statewide precedent for coastal communities to ignore and delay updating policies to address these challenges,” said Morgan Patton, EAC Executive Director”
LCPs are basic planning tools used by local governments to guide development in the coastal zone, in partnership with the Coastal Commission containing the rules and regulations for future development and protection of coastal resources. The environmental hazards chapter was the last chapter to be updated by the County prior to LCP finalization and is intended to enhance the safety of residents in potentially hazardous areas, while allowing carefully planned and designed sited development that does not exacerbate hazards.
The County has delayed completing the hazards chapter since 2015 and changed their intention at the 11th hour. When they embarked on updating the LCP 13-years ago the intention was for one complete update. The adoption of a resolution to finalize the LCP without environmental hazards was a new concept introduced only months ago.
Yesterday’s adopted LCP package concerns several inconsistencies and at least 11 references to hazards policies that no longer exist. These missing references show that it was never the County’s intent to finalize the LCP without hazards.
Prior to the hearing, the California Coastal Commission submitted a letter to the County to clarify the procedural status of the LCP proposal by County staff. The Commission staff explained that since the County was only approving previously certified amendments and continuing to use the outdated hazards chapter, the County did not need to submit another LCP amendment package to the Commission.
At the hearing, the County staff provided a brief informational update on the LCP process and requested a change to the resolution that the public had not had a chance to see in advance of the hearing to finalize the LCP with the 1980s policies as a final action with no further Coastal Commission review.
Following the County staff presentation, public testimony was given by EAC, and other community and organization representatives from the Seadrift Homeowners Association, Coastal Village Associations, and the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin.
During the hearing, concerns were raised including that the environmental hazards sections will be further delayed and that the County will fail to stick to meet their proposed schedule to submit a hazards draft to the Coastal Commission by December 2021/early 2022.
EAC raised several concerns with inconsistencies in the plan where the 1980s policies conflict with the LCP chapters that were finalized in 2019 and urged the Board to direct the County staff to focus on finalizing the environmental hazards chapter rather than implementing an incomplete plan. EAC pointed out that the County has failed to prioritize the hazards chapter since 2015. The County has delayed, withdrawn, and prioritized small amendments to other chapters of the LCP updates, while promising the public for six years that the hazards chapter would be updated.
Following public comment, Supervisor Rodoni presented an amendment to the resolution that would delay implementation of the updated LCP policies until after the environmental hazards chapter was submitted to the Coastal Commission for review at the end of 2021. This would have allowed the County staff additional time to update policies, develop public outreach materials, and focus on community outreach to update the environmental hazards chapter as a priority.
Supervisor Moulton-Peters advocated for immediate implementation of policies and noted that if we have learned anything over the last year, the implementation of policies could be delayed potentially due to wildfire. The irony of a hazard like wildfire delaying completion of policies meant to plan for hazards like sea level rise and wildfire was clear.
Supervisor Rice excused delays by the County staff to update the hazards policies as important, specifically acknowledging that the County’s famed C-SMART (Sea Level Rise and Marin's Ocean Coast) process was important to finish to help inform the County’s work on hazards. EAC notes that Phase II of the C-SMART effort was never officially completed.
“We have sufficient scientific data on sea level rise and coastal hazards to plan for the coming decades, there’s no excuse to delay action. If we don’t start planning now, we may lose our coast - our beaches stand to disappear completely along with the recreational, economic and ecological opportunities they provide. Marin County should be a leader in adaptation, rather than kicking the can down the road. We have a window of opportunity now to put policies in place that will preserve the coast but it’s quickly closing,” said Mandy Sackett, California Policy Coordinator, Surfrider Foundation ”
Two motions were presented for the Board to consider: 1) supported by staff, that would allow the LCP update to be implemented within 30 days, using outdated hazards policies, and 2) an option presented by Supervisor Rodoni, whereby the implementation of the update would occur 30 days after the County met its promise to submit a hazards draft to the Coastal Commission by early 2022 (approximately five months from now).
Supervisor Rodoni expressed concern that while not all staff’s fault, there has been a lack of performance from staff during the last five years. He also mentioned the delays he has observed during his 4.5 year tenure and acknowledged the very contentious nature of the hazards policies. County staff acknowledged that implementation of the LCP update will take significant time and staff resources and noted additional time for implementation could be helpful.
Supervisor Rice, also a California Coastal Commissioner, introduced a motion that was passed to finalize the LCP and implement it in 30 days without new hazards policies.
“We appreciate Supervisor Rodoni’s effort to ensure updating environmental hazards remains a County priority, acknowledge the concerns raised by the public on lack of trust in the process, and note that planning for hazards is difficult work but it is essential. We thank him for taking a stand as a leader in climate action,” said Ashley Eagle-Gibbs, EAC Conservation Director.”
EAC remains hopeful that Marin will plan for environmental hazards and will continue to advocate that this long process is finalized as soon as possible with the widest public participation, and we will hold the County to their purported commitment to complete hazards in 2022. The public needs to hold our Supervisors and County staff accountable for their actions and inaction if the hazards chapter is not updated and we are left with unclear and inconsistent planning and development guidance in the face of the climate crisis.
More Information:
History of the LCPA Update Process on our main page: www.eacmarin.org/marin-lcp
Read EAC & Surfrider’s July 12, 2021 Letter to the Board of Supervisors
July 13, 2021 Board of Supervisors Agenda (See Item 17), Hearing Video (starting at 2:50:30)
EAC’s Mission is to protect and sustain the unique lands, waters, and biodiversity of West Marin through advocacy, education, and engagement opportunities.
