Marin IJ Readers’ Forum for Nov. 9, 2024

Lesh did much to support our Jewish community

I want to share my thanks to IJ music columnist Paul Liberatore for his ode to Phil Lesh (“Remembering Phil Lesh and the community spirit of Terrapin Crossroads,” Nov. 1). Liberatore captured how, over the years, Lesh fostered a spirit of community among Marin’s music fans.

Lesh also created a sense of community, in an alternative way, for a different (and undoubtedly overlapping) group. Namely, he supported his fellow Jewish Americans in Marin by organizing huge Passover Seder feasts at his Terrapin Crossroads restaurant and performance space.

May his memory be a blessing.

— Lawrence Kaplan, Mill Valley

San Rafael leaders should reject Northgate mall plan

I think the San Rafael Planning Commission’s acceptance of what appears to be a flawed environmental impact report for the proposed Northgate mall development to be unconscionable (“San Rafael commission signs off on Northgate mall project,” Oct. 31). From my perspective, it reflects a city leadership willing to forfeit their constituency’s rights.

Below are reasons that underlie my opposition, some brought to fore at the recent commission meeting:

• The EIR does not account for the impact of added traffic on the entire Terra Linda community from other residential developments in the planning stages.

• The EIR used hypothetical data for traffic analysis which does not in any way reflect the current or future impact on our roads when you add almost 3,000 residents to a current Terra Linda population of 10,912 (30% increase).

• The developer is not made accountable for paying for road improvements based on the above two points. I worry it will result in higher property taxes to current residents, since most of the new housing is for renters not subject to property taxes.

• Light and noise pollution from an oversized mass of three- to six-story buildings could destroy the peaceful character of the neighborhood. It might deter the natural patterns of birds.

Even those of us who object strongly to the Northgate development are still pro-housing for low-income people. However, this is mostly market-rate housing, with only 10% designated “affordable.” Developers never provided a realistic scale model nor story poles to disclose the true height and mass of the project. Instead, bird’s-eye views of the developed property appear to have lured otherwise sensible people into approving a project with short-term gains and permanent diminishment of the quality of life of thousands of taxpaying residents of Terra Linda.

— Candiece Milford, San Rafael

Northgate plan will help address housing crisis

I used to feel the same way as the people concerned about the impacts on traffic congestion via new housing. So I understand the arguments of Northgate mall neighbors opposed to housing for thousands of new residents (“San Rafael commission signs off on Northgate mall project,” Oct. 31).

I still hate traffic, but now I have bigger problems. After losing my rented room in Fairfax, I have been forced to sleep in my car when working in Marin. When I am not in Marin for work, I stay with friends several hours away. I have been unable to find an affordable room to rent anywhere nearby.

It’s understandable that people living near Northgate would not be pleased about a large development, but I firmly believe that the housing we don’t build today will threaten to create more unhoused people tomorrow.

Some of us aren’t coming from elsewhere. Some, like me, were raised in this county. By refusing to approve new housing, we are, in many ways, denying our children the chance to stay in the community.

— Peter Roscoe, Fairfax

Marin drivers need to stay safe, do their part

Recently, I was driving eastbound on Lucas Valley Road attempting to get onto Highway 101 southbound after attending a meeting. A blaring siren and red lights caught my attention. After looking into my side mirror there it was — a fire engine responding to an emergency.

I moved over. However, the engine crew (seemingly assuming I would not move over) opted to travel the westbound lanes in the opposite direction. I watched the engine turn on to 101 southbound.

Once I got on the freeway I heard another siren. This time it was a California Highway Patrol car traveling south in the fast lane with red lights and siren. It took a very long time for motorists to move over and let the patrol car pass.

Look, I’m not a great driver, but when I see and hear first responders trying to get somewhere, I move over. Maybe it’s just me, but I think Marin drivers are becoming more aggressive. Many drivers cut off others. It’s as if some drivers want pedestrians to gamble when they attempt to cross.

Let’s all take a deep breath and pay attention.

— Ron Naso, Kentfield

Keep mountain bikes off MMWD watershed trails

Marin Municipal Water District watershed trails absolutely should not be open to mountain bikes (“Marin judge blocks expanded bike access on Mount Tamalpais,” Oct. 5). When heading downhill, they carve up and damage existing trails and the surrounding natural areas from their continuous braking — especially on switchbacks and bends.

Mountain bikes represent an actual threat and danger to hikers, runners and equestrians. I know of some who have been hit.

As a former ultramarathon runner, I’ve had the opportunity to race and run trails all over California, including Marin County, since 1994. During that time, I’ve witnessed what were once runnable and hikeable single-track trails carved into wide, rutted, ankle-twisters by mountain bikes.

While training for the Western States 100-mile race years ago, I was hit by a speeding downhill mountain biker on a fire road in Southern California. Fortunately, I suffered no broken bones. A fellow runner I know was hit during a trail race in the Santa Ana Mountains, where signs were posted at trailheads warning that a race was in progress and urging them to keep their speed safely slow. He suffered a broken collarbone as a result of the collision.

As mountain bikes have increasingly taken over some trails, some hikers and equestrians feel forced to avoid those areas in fear of an incident. The reality of trail damage, the safety risks that bikes pose to other trail users and the wholesale appropriation of public trails by mountain bikers leads me to support a policy of prohibiting them within the MMWD watershed.

Let’s continue to keep trails safe for the greater public.

— Bill Ramsey, Terra Linda

Do more to address climate-change crisis

The United Nations environmental program recently concluded that the world’s average temperature is on pace to reach 5.6 degrees above pre-industrial average temperatures. That’s much higher than the number in the Paris Agreement at the 2015 climate-change summit.

I think the amount of worldwide damage that will result is incalculable. The U.S. will experience it in more and bigger disastrous storms (like recent hurricanes Helene and Milton), damage to agriculture (resulting in permanently higher commodity prices) and increasing illegal immigration pressure from migrants who can no longer live in their home countries. The lesser-developed world will see all of this in addition to more wars as countries try to protect or increase their access to water.

I do not see any possibility that the U.S. will increase its supply of renewable energy fast enough to offset this. I do not see any possibility that the U.S. and other rich nations will finance poorer nations in increasing their supply of renewables either.

Additionally, artificial intelligence will, indirectly (and ironically), help offset some of the worst consequences. But AI takes an enormous amount of electricity for data centers which are now undergoing rapid expansion. I worry they are having trouble finding the power and will turn to unsafe nuclear power.

— Chet Seligman, Point Reyes Station