Coastal Commission Accepts EAC’s

Tomales Dunes Appeal:

Hearing Scheduled for March 2010

On November 17, 2008, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved a new Master Plan and Coastal Permit for Lawson’s Landing. The permit was animprovement on current conditions at Lawson’s Landing, in that it reduced the number of RV camping units from 1,233 to 583, moved camping outside of wetlands and upgraded the septic system. Unfortunately, the Supervisors weakened some the key protections or wetland buffers and sensitive natural resources, which the Planning Commission had added after months of hearings and negotiation.

Because the permit violated the California Coast Act and Marin’s Local Coastal Program, EAC and
other groups appealed Marin County’s decision to the California Coastal Commission. The Commission accepted our appeal, which means it will review and decide the Lawson’s Landing Coastal Permit application itself. There are a number of ways the California
Coastal Commission could improve the Master Plan, including:

1. Eliminating RV camping in wetland buffer zones, as required by Marin County’s Local Coastal Program.

2. Speeding up the timeline of the new septic system. (Under the County’s plan, could take over a decade to complete.)

3. Requiring the restoration of damaged dune and wetland habitat.

4. Putting an effective adaptive management plan in place to protect sensitive and endangered species.

Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, the Commission will not hear the appeal until December
2009, at the earliest. In the meantime, EAC has urged the California Coastal Commission to impose interim protections to protect water quality, wetlands and other environmentally sensitive habitat areas. We are also asking the County and the Regional Water Quality Control Board to monitor the existing primitive septic systems to protect Tomales Bay. Until the hearings occur, we will be keeping close tabs on the process and working to ensure that the Commission understands the importance of protecting Tomales Dunes and enforcing the Coastal Act. We have offered to work with the Commission staff and the Lawson family to find creative solutions that will protect the environment and enable the Lawsons
to continue their family business.

Your support has enabled us to keep up this struggle for more than ten years now. Thank you for all you have done to save the dunes! We are nearing the home stretch.

To donate to the Tomales Dunes Campaign, click here.

Learn more about Tomales Dunes