Many voters see Measure D, the San Geronimo Golf Course initiative, as their chance to express their outrage over the county’s failed effort to buy and close the popular course and turn most of the 157-acre West Marin site into parkland.
That’s understandable. It may have been the most unpopular open space purchase in the county’s history. It certainly has been reflected in the steady stream of readers’ letters we’ve published since the supervisors in late 2017 voted to buy the site.
In the supervisors’ rush to acquire the property, they also exempted the move from any, even minimal, environmental review. That was their legal and political undoing.The county lost the multi-million state grant it was counting on and was forced to back out of the $8.8 million deal.
It also probably lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money spent on staff time — much of it behind closed doors before the $8.8 million purchase was hurried to approval — and legal costs, as well as maintaining the property while it was still a partner with the Trust for Public Land.
All that left TPL holding the bag — and the property’s future.
Measure D on the March 3 ballot is an attempt by steadfast opponents of the deal to lash out at the county’s clumsy effort and to force TPL to re-open the golf course. Measure D aims to force TPL to win voter approval in a countywide vote before changing the use of the 57 acres into anything but golf links.
TPL says it has no intent to re-open the golf course and has let the grounds grow wild.
Its plan has, so far, focused on turning most of the property into public open space, “rewilding” the site and widening the creek to enhance its salmon habitat. TPL also remains open to plans to move the county firehouse in Woodacre to a new building on the property, which fronts Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.
TPL points to a similar project in Carmel Valley, where it helped the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District buy the Rancho Canada golf course, save the land along the Carmel River as open space and turn the old clubhouse into park district offices and classrooms for environmental education.
TPL acknowledges that it doesn’t plan to hold onto the San Geronimo site, but will be looking to sell it to another entity that shares its vision.
As TPL’s state director, Guillermo Rodriguez, said, “Measure D is not going to bring golf back to the valley.” In fact, he said, more people are using the property today as parkland than when the site was a golf course.
What Measure D would do, he said, is slow down TPL’s planning process and possibly scare off philanthropic interests in acquiring the site.
The county’s deeds could haunt its efforts to win voter approval for extending Measure A, the 2012 quarter-cent sales tax for parks and open space.
Supervisors would be wise to include language in that future proposed extension to require a more open and transparent land-acquisition process.
Measure D is not a guarantee the once popular golf course will reopen. It’s been sold and has a new owner with other plans.
As political punishment, Measure D does more harm to TPL than the Board of Supervisors. It wasn’t TPL’s charge to determine public support for the purchase. It had the county supervisors’ 5-0 promise that the county would buy the property. That promise was broken.
TPL has been left holding the property and has cash invested in acquiring and maintaining the site. The long chapter of this site being a public golf course is over, it is highly doubtful, given its landowner’s longstanding mission of protecting open space, it will return.
Measure D simply imposes an onerous and unfair planning hurdle. The IJ recommends a no vote on Measure D.
