The Sheriff’s Palace vs a Modest Neighborhood

I walk down my street, returning from the Santa Venetia Market. Children from the neighborhood are riding bikes and others are playing with their neighbor’s small dog. Our sidewalks are mostly unpaved and crowded with vehicles, some under the care of sidewalk mechanics.

Often in the summer this scene changes with events at the Civic Center, most dramatically for the Marin County Fair when large signs stand at the entrance to this street and those nearby ineffectually blocking access except to residents. Hordes pass through our community eagerly in the morning and tired after the fireworks.

There are gates now that keep traffic on the Presidents Streets from entering the jury parking lot but not the foot traffic. One of the wonders of this neighborhood is the closeness of the lagoon and its aquatic birds and broad lawns, and of the tidal marsh of San Pablo Bay. Often we hear the yaps of coyotes in the evening and twice now I have seen a mother hunting for her pup.

When I speak to my supervisor, Susan Adams, about the Sheriff’s new palace, literally fifty to a hundred times larger than the nearby homes, I come away from the conversation hearing only that the costs to the county have to be considered. There is no mention of the many people who live in these mostly small 1950 homes.

No mention of what impact the intense radiation will have on the children. No mention of the employees that will fill the tens of thousands of square feet our sheriff wants. Because of the increased traffic our streets will need to get paved sidewalks, our cars will need residential parking stickers limiting parking for many of us. Our nights will be dominated by the glare from the building and the din of the sheriff’s cohorts.

It is not just Susan Adams’ responsibility but all of Marin’s to consider the impact this facility will have on the lives of the residents of Santa Venetia. How will Marin protect this mostly quiet, very affordable and walkable community?