The median on South Point San Pedro Road is an overgrown, weed-strewn eyesore, a safety problem and a fire hazard. It is a sad introduction to what should be the proud residential and commercial community through the Point San Pedro Peninsula.
Relandscape the median with attractive, hardy, drought-tolerant, low-maintenance plantings that will provide an appealing introduction to the Point San Pedro residential and business community.
Raise the funds to conduct the ballot needed to have an assessment district. Use the funds from the assessment district to fund the landscaping, irrigation and maintenance of the median.
Having a ballot to create an assessment district depends on donations from residential property owners, commercial property owners and business friends of the San Pedro Community. Once created, the assessment district will provide the tax revenue for the landscaping, irrigation and maintenance of the medians.
What can I do to help?
PROBLEM
Why are the medians so deteriorated?
During the drought of 1976, the water was turned off for three years. When the water was turned back on in 1979, the irrigation system had deteriorated. The medians were watered by trucks until the County and then the City ceased funding the watering.
How many medians are there?
There are 27 medians on San Pedro Road between Union Street, where Whole Foods and Montecito Shopping Center are located, and China Camp State Park.
Who owns the medians?
Approximately two thirds of the medians are owned by the City of San Rafael.
One third of the medians are owned by the County of Marin.
Why doesn’t the City or County do something?
Neither the City nor County now have the funds to landscape or maintain the medians. There is no expectation that the City or County will have the funds to landscape or maintain the medians in the foreseeable future.
What happens if I don’t support the process?
The medians will continue to deteriorate, providing an unsightly passage through the Point San Pedro Peninsula Community.
What happened to the previous median improvement effort?
The effort to create an assessment district in 1998 failed by a 40 to 60 vote. Creation of the district was opposed by an outside taxpayer organization and opposed by some of the businesses within the San Pedro Road community. Voter turnout among residential landowners was modest. Whatever expectations existed in 1998 that the City and County would step up to landscape and improve the medians are now gone. Only a cohesive, community effort will improve the Point San Pedro Peninsula community.
GOAL
What is the landscaping goal?
The goal is an appealing median of trees, shrubs and plants that are drought-tolerant, hardy, low maintenance and consistent with the environment. Visit our Downloads page to see the proposed design.
What about the design?
Two local landscape architects, DJ Johns and Don Blaney, who have extensive experience in road median landscaping have donated their time and expertise to create a preliminary, attractive design for the median. Visit our Downloads page to see their design.
What does it mean to have hardy, low-maintenance plantings?
The plant selection has been limited to those which thrive locally and do not need much pruning. Trees that are vulnerable to disease will be omitted from the design as built.
Who makes the final determination on trees, shrubs and plants?
The City will provide oversight of final plan development and MMWD must approve the final design. Given the City’s prior experience with the architects used for the preliminary designs, it is expected that the final design will be based on the preliminary plans developed under the guidance of the Medians Committee.
What about the medians on San Pedro Road that were re-done by the Glenwood HOA?
The maintenance of the median that was improved by the Glenwood Home Owners’ Association will be incorporated into the project.
What about the line-of-sight safety issue?
A clear line of sight for turning on and off San Pedro Road will be provide by installing pavers or very low growing plantings in the median for an appropriate distance on either side of each intersection to assure line-of-sight safety.
What about maintenance?
The City will contract with a private contractor to maintain the entire length of the median.
How have medians in other communities been improved?
Sir Francis Drake Boulevard through Greenbrae and Kentfield and Tamalpais Boulevard in Corte Madera were both completed by special assessment districts.
Will the improvement of the medians extend to the sidewalks?
Weed control and landscape maintenance in some City- and County-owned areas will be included as part of the district responsibility. Sidewalk-landowners along San Pedro Drive will be encouraged to improve weed control and maintenance as part of the project.
Will the improvement of the medians include the power poles?
PG&E has been approached regarding the replacement of the wooden poles with metal poles. A representative of the San Rafael Department of Public Works has also contacted PG&E about the poles and has filed a request for action on the matter. Burying the power lines is not part of this project due to the considerable cost entailed in doing so.
When would construction start?
If the ballot is conducted in the Spring of 2011, the work on the medians should begin mid-summer or early fall of 2011.
How long will the maintenance of the medians last?
Upon successful vote by the community, the landscape and annual maintenance of the medians will last a minimum of 30 years.
PROCESS
Why have an assessment district?
City and County funding is not available. State and federal funding is not available. An adopt-a-median program would not provide a sustainable basis for improvements and maintenance. An assessment district provides a stable and equitable basis for raising the needed funds.
What is an assessment district?
An assessment district can be created under Proposition 218. The taxes from an assessment district are used to finance a bond for the support of the initial landscaping and to provide on-going funds for irrigation and maintenance.
How is an assessment district created?
An engineering study is conducted when an assessment district is proposed. The engineers refine the scope of the district, determine who benefits from the district, and calculate the weighting of votes and the assessment (the amount of additional taxes per parcel) for commercial landowners and residential homeowners in the district.
What is needed to have a ballot to create an assessment district take place?
Homeowners and businesses have to raise approximately $50,000 to fund the balloting process, the engineering study and educate the community. As of March 1st, $68,372 has been donated by 215 of our neighbors. In addition, the City of San Rafael has contributed with “in place” resources.
Who votes to create an assessment district?
All residential and commercial landowners in the assessment district will vote. There are approximately 2,600 homeowners on Point San Pedro. There are approximately 15 commercial landowners in the proposed assessment district. The exact number of households and businesses that will be part of the district will be determined by a new engineer’s study.
How are the votes determined?
The engineer’s study will determine the weighting of the votes in a new election. In the prior 1998 election, each homeowner was allocated one vote and commercial landowners had up to 20 votes.
How is the vote conducted?
The vote will be conducted by mail. It is extremely important that you vote when you receive your ballot in the mail.
When will the vote occur?
The vote will occur in early 2011. Work should start next summer.
Who counts the votes?
The ballots are returned to City Hall and sequestered by the City Clerk. When the ballot period is over, all ballots will be opened and counted by the City Clerk and staff.
What vote is needed to create the assessment district?
A simple majority of votes is required to form a benefit assessment district. The majority is determined by the votes actually cast, not by the number eligible to vote.
What commercial properties will be included in the assessment district?
The commercial properties included in the assessment district are projected to be those along San Pedro Road starting at Union Street and extending to the country club in Peacock Gap.
Will absentee property owners be contacted?
Ballots will be sent to the owners of all properties in the proposed assessment district based on the tax records.
Can apartment renters participate?
Apartment renters can support the project but are not eligible to vote.
Can businesses outside the assessment district support the effort?
Business friends of the projects who are outside the assessment district can support the project by making contributions at Donate Now.
FUNDING – THE BALLOT MEASURE
Why is $50,000 in donations needed to start the process?
The $50,000 is needed to cover the costs to pay for the engineering study, all legal work, public meetings, community education and pay for the cost of the mail-in ballot.
What is the time line to raise the $50,000?
The Medians Committee hopes to raise the entire $50,000 by the end of July, 2010.
How can contributions be made?
Contributions can be made specifically for the median improvement process here Donate Now through the Friends of San Rafael. The Friends of San Rafael is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that accepts contributions to support City-related activities.
Is it important to make contributions to support the proposed assessment district?
Yes. Without your support, there will be no ballot to support the assessment district.
Are contributions tax deductible?
Yes. Your contributions to a 501(c)(3) corporation are tax deductible. You will receive a receipt from the Friends of San Rafael for your contribution.
Will there be any refund of the initial $50,000 raised?
In the event the cost of creating the assessment district is less than the funds raised, the surplus will be used to improve the medians. If for any reason the process of forming an assessment district should not go forward, any funds not spent on the effort will be used by the City of San Rafael to improve and maintain the medians.
FUNDING – THE IMPROVEMENTS
What are the cost alternatives?
The Medians Committee has developed three design options which had corresponding high, medium and low costs of approximately $75, $55 and $40 per year for residential landowners. The high-cost option of approximately $75 per year has been used for the public presentations made by the Medians Committee. The lower cost options have fewer trees, shrubs and other plantings and more hardscape.
How were the costs calculated in advance of the actual bidding for the work?
The costs were estimated by the landscape architects based on general standards and the costs of improving medians in other nearby communities. The Medians Committee believes that these cost estimates are very realistic and achievable. Please see Construction Cost estimates and Project Cost Estimates on our Downloads page.
What happens if the bids for the landscaping are higher than expected?
The landscaping will done pursuant to a fixed cost contract that requires the contractor to complete all work within the amount of the contract. If the bids exceed the estimated cost, the scope of work under the contract will be modified as necessary to result in a total cost that adheres to the project budget. This will ensure that the funds correspond with the scope of work to be done.
Does funding for the District come out of my existing property taxes or will it be an additional tax?
The funding for the district is an addition to the existing property tax you currently pay. The tax will be divided into two line items on your tax bill. One tax is to pay the bond used to fund the improvements, the other tax is to pay for maintenance costs. At this time, the Committee estimates that the tax for the improvements will be $45 per year and the initial tax for maintenance will be $30 per year. The total is now estimated to be an average of $75 per year per homeowner.
How are the taxes converted into the funds necessary to pay for the improvements?
The assessment district will sell a bond to provide funds for the initial landscaping. The taxes from the assessment district will be used to pay off the bond. The City of San Rafael will administer the process of selling the bond. The tax for the bond that funds the landscaping will not increase in the future. Maintenance is a separate assessment from the bond assessment. The tax for maintenance will increase over the years by approximately the annual rate of inflation.
What tangible return will I get for the taxes I pay?
The value of homes in any community is influenced to some extent by the general condition of community common areas. The first impression of our community is the drive on Point San Pedro Road. Ask your neighborhood realtor about the benefits of an improved median.
Will the City and County contribute to the assessment district?
The City and County have to contribute if determined by the engineering study to be general beneficiaries of the district. In the 1998 proposal, the City would have contributed 8% and the County would have contributed 4%.
Can the funds from the assessment district be used for any other purpose?
Funds raised by an assessment district are controlled by Proposition 218 and can only go to the purpose for which the funds are raised.
Who administers the funds?
The City of San Rafael is expected to administer the funds and project for the entire length of the road under an agreement with the County. The County will forward the funds it receives to the City for administration.
Who will do the maintenance?
The City of San Rafael will contract with a private firm to do the maintenance. The maintenance contract will be competitively bid to ensure that it is cost effective.
Will the maintenance of the medians include replacement of trees that die or trees hit by automobiles?
Maintenance of the medians will include some provision for replacement of trees or plants that die. Claims can be filed for reimbursement of damage caused by drivers.
Who will be responsible for paying for future irrigation?
Because the Marin Municipal Water District water meters in the medians are owned by the City and County, water will be provided under their allocation. Funds from the assessment district may be used to pay for the actual water consumed.
Will businesses which operate in the assessment district be asked to support the project?
All of the businesses in the proposed district will be contacted by members of the Medians Committee to ask for their support. In addition, other businesses that provide service to our community such as realtors will be contacted and asked for initial financial support.
HELP
What can I do to help now?
Contribute today at www.friendsofsanrafael.org to support the ballot measure.
Contact your homeowner’s association and ask them to support the project.
What can I do to get my neighbors involved?
Ask them to look at the www.medianbeautification.com.
Give them the flyers that are downloadable from our Downloads page.
Most important, ask them to contribute at Donate Now.
What can I do in the future?
Show your support by attending meetings of the Medians Committee.
Volunteer to assist with the Medians Committee’s efforts to educate the community.
Volunteer to be a neighborhood captain when it comes time to vote on the ballot.
Please regularly check the website www.medianbeautification.com for additional information.
