Field of Dogs, across from the Civic Center

The County is proposing to construct a new Emergency Operations Facility (EOF) on an 8-acre site on the Marin County Civic Center Campus, near the intersection of North San Pedro Road and Civic Center Drive.  The 110,700 square-foot facility will accommodate public safety needs and serve as a vital communications center in the event of a major disaster.  The county’s information technology will also be housed in the facility, and San Rafael’s Firestation #7 may be replaced.  The facility will replace landscaped petanque courts and a dog park and will back up to a modest residential neighborhood.  Numerous previous studies dating back to 1998 analyzed the feasibility of alternative sites and  considered design options for the facility, resulting in the selection of the preferred site.  Community meetings were held in 2005 and 2006; the neighboring community expressed major concerns over traffic, lighting, noise, visual, and other impacts on adjacent residences and mounted a campaign to change the location.  These continue to be legitimate concerns to be studied in an upcoming Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

On January 14, 2010, the County held a “Scoping” session for the EIR in Room 266 in the Civic Center. The purpose was to give the public an overview of the project and solicit comments on the scope of the EIR.  MCL believes that the alternative sites should be revisited in the EIR, and that the EIR should also place considerable emphasis on mitigating potential impacts of the massive facility on the neighborhood, if the preferred site is selected.

2009 Documents and Correspondence

• November 24, 2009, MCL letter to County regarding EOF scoping