Spotlight Photo
CAPTION: Marin County Fair, San Rafael
Photo Credit: Walter Gonzalez, City Manager’s Office
Last Quiz Question
Congrats to Lester Yagoda for being the first to respond correctly to our mystery photo in the last Snapshot Quiz. The photo featured a staircase that is located at the Falkirk Cultural Center in downtown San Rafael. Be sure to check out Falkirk for all your special event needs. Congratulations Lester, and thanks for reading Snapshot!
Scroll down for this week’s quiz and be the first to answer.
San Rafael City News
Proposed Housing Development and Urban Lot Split Ordinance
On Monday, July 18th, the City Council has an important housing-related item on the agenda. The City Council will consider actions to amend the Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Ordinance to implement provisions of SB 9, the California Home Act. The bill, which took effect on January 1, 2022, consists of two primary components:
- SB 9 Housing Development (Government Code Section 65852.21). Provisions to allow development of up to two primary residential units on lots in single-family zoning districts; and
- Urban Lot Splits (Government Code Section 66411.7). Provisions to allow the subdivision of lots in single-family zoning districts into two lots.
This ordinance would establish local regulations to implement provisions of SB 9.
Read the Staff Report HERE
Proposed Leaf Blower Ordinance
On Monday’s City Council meeting, the Council will consider a proposed leaf blower ordinance that would ban the operation of gas-powered leaf blowers within City limits starting on October 1, 2022, based on direction and feedback from the City Council at the previous Council meeting. The ordinance will also include aspects such as allowed hours of operation. At the previous City Council meeting, the Council was in favor of the ban on gas-powered leaf blowers and restricting hours of usage for all leaf blowers. The agenda item on Monday night would begin the formal process to make these changes.
Read the Staff Report HERE
Third Street Improvements
Third Street Rehabilitation and Improvements
This week construction crews will conduct the following work on the Third Street Rehabilitation and Improvements Project:
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IMPACTS:
- The stairway from 2nd Street to Jessup Street (south of Ida) is closed.
- For the Lane Shift on 2nd St. the posted speed limit is 25 mph, drivers should be aware of changed conditions and be alert.
- Traffic Controls (temporary signs, message boards, traffic cones, delineators and detour signs) will be placed to direct motorists through all work areas.
- Curb parking spaces will be marked “No Parking.”
- There will be intermittent lane closures on 3rd Street and detours on A Street, B Street, C Street, D Street, and E Street. For businesses in this section of 2nd Street, contracting crews will help facilitate deliveries by providing traffic controls and flagging.
The hours of work will be 6 am – 6 pm and lane closures 6 am – 3 pm on Third Street and Second Street westbound, and 9 am – 6 pm on Second Street eastbound.
Visit the Third Street Improvements Project website to learn more about this critical effort, and sign up here to receive weekly email updates.
COVID-19 Updates
COVID-19 Updates
According to the Marin County Department of Public Health, as of July 12, Marin County had 597 “Active Cases” (cases confirmed in the previous 10 days) bringing the total confirmed cumulative cases to 38,382 since March 2020. These numbers continue to highlight the remaining threat of COVID-19 in our communities, and the need for all community members to remain diligent in their efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Please follow the links below regarding the appropriate steps to follow if:
COVID-19 booster shots and vaccination appointments continue to be offered at all Marin vaccine clinics. If you need transportation assistance to get vaccinated, please visit the following links about Lyft’s Vaccine Access Program and GoGoGrandparent. As always, if you are experiencing any COVID-19 like symptoms, please get tested as soon as possible, even if you are fully vaccinated.
TALES OF THE CITY— Vivalon Healthy Aging Campus Breaks Ground
On June 3rd, Mayor Kate, City Councilmembers, and City staff joined Eden Housing, Vivalon, and other supporters to break ground at 999 Third Street in Central San Rafael. The future Vivalon Healthy Aging Campus will provide support services, activities, and wellness, as well as a central meeting place for older adults, as a means of extending independent living and supporting quality of life for aging adults in the community. The housing component of the project, known as San Rafael Seniors, will occupy the four upper floors of the building, while the Vivalon Healthy Aging Campus will occupy the first two floors. When completed, the six-story building will provide 66 studio and one-bedroom apartments at extremely low and very low rents to current and future community members age 62 and older. Around 14 of the apartments will be reserved for older adults at risk of or formerly experiencing homelessness.
At the Last Council Meeting on July 5, 2022
As of the April 18, 2022 City Council meeting, the City Council has returned to in-person meetings combined with a virtual real-time public comment on agenda items.
At the July 5, 2022 City Council meeting, the Council:
- Approved Consent Calendar items
- Accepted an Informational Report on the Status of Homelessness in San Rafael
- Accepted Report and gave direction on a Draft Leaf Blower Ordinance
- Accepted a Report and Approved Staff Recommendations on an Alternative Response Team for mental health-related calls for service
- Adopted Resolution for the Baypoint Lagoons Assessment District Approving the Ordering the Levy and Collection of Assessments for FY 2022-23 (PW)
- Adopted a Resolution for the Point San Pedro Road Median Landscaping Assessment District ordering the Levy and Collection of Assessments for FY 2022-23 (PW)
- Presented Proclamation Supporting Park and Recreation Month
City Council meetings are held every first and third Monday of the month. City Council meetings that fall on a holiday are rescheduled for the following Tuesday.
Running for office in the Upcoming Election
With election season around the corner, there are two Councilmember seats up for election for District 2/Western and District 3/Eastern, and two Board of Education Trustee seats up for election for Trustee Areas 2 and 4. The nomination period opens on July 18th and you can schedule an appointment with the city clerk HERE or by calling 415-485-3066. If you’re interested but not exactly sure what it takes to run a campaign, be a councilmember, or become and official candidate, you can check out this video about how to run for office.
Learn more about how to run for office on our website.
Events
Let’s House San Rafael! 2023-2031| Housing Element Update
July 14th and August 16th 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm | ONLINE: SANRAFAELHOUSING.ORG
Join us for upcoming community meetings and Housing Element updates. Let’s House San Rafael is a City-led effort to engage with everyone interested in helping to guide San Rafael housing policies so that everyone who lives, works, or enjoys the City will be able to do so. Please join us at a community meeting to learn more about potential sites for new housing in San Rafael. This is a chance to share your ideas about creating additional housing opportunities in the city. We hope you can join us and look forward to your input. There will be live Spanish and Vietnamese translation.
Call for Artists – Deadline is July 18 | Theme: Art to Amuse & Delight
Exhibition Dates: August 19- September 23, 2022
Entry Deadline: July 18, 2022 (11:59pm Mountain Standard Time)
Falkirk Cultural Center invites artists residing within the nine counties of the San Francisco Bay Area to submit up to three separate pieces of original work completed in the past two years, not previously shown in a Falkirk Cultural Center exhibition. Please provide at least one digital image per 2D work AND/ OR 3D work.
Click here for more details and to submit your artwork
Community Forum on Wildfire Prevention and Response
July 16, 2022, 10:00am to 11:30am | St. Luke Presbyterian Church 10 Bayview Drive
The City of San Rafael Fire Department’s Emergency Management and Wildfire Prevention staff is presenting a 90-minute community forum to discuss the City’s wildfire prevention and response program.
They will take questions and seek your input on how the City, neighborhoods, and individual homeowners can meet the increasing threat of wildfires in our community. For more information, contact: John Lenser (john@lenser.com), Chair, Coalition’s Disaster Preparedness Committee
Conservation Corps E-waste and Tire Collection Event
July 30, 2022, 10am – 2pm | San Rafael High School, 150 3rd St, San Rafael, CA 94901
The North Bay Conservation Corps will be hosting an E-Waste and Tires collection event at San Rafael High School.
For additional information please contact, Matthew Simmons (msimmons@ccnorthbay.org) Zero Waste Events & Organics Coordinator
National Night Out
August 2nd, 2022, 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Wish you knew your neighbors better? Have some new people on your street you haven’t met yet? Neighborhoods throughout San Rafael are being invited to join forces with thousands of communities nationwide for the “38th Annual National Night Out” (NNO) crime prevention event.
From 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm on August 2nd, residents in neighborhoods throughout San Rafael and across the nation are asked to turn on outside lights and spend the evening with neighbors and San Rafael public safety professionals. Many neighborhoods will be hosting a variety of special events such as block parties, cookouts, contests, youth activities, and more. This is a night to send a powerful message about neighborhood unity, crime prevention awareness, safety, and police-community partnerships – and it is also a lot of fun! Let’s show that San Rafael is united and dedicated to building a safer, more caring community.
Quiz
Where is this dock located?
