In August, Marin County finalized a 13-year process of amending the Local Coastal Program (LCP); a project EAC has been involved in since the beginning. However, the County failed to update the critical environmental hazards (EH) policies written over 40 years ago, which we believe is irresponsible and neglects the public’s responsibility to protect and advance healthy, safe, and equitable communities. The danger of rising sea levels and flooding was not considered in the 1980s planning documents, and we vehemently disagree with maintaining outdated EH policies in the face of the climate emergency. Unfortunately, the County ultimately decided to finalize a partial update and is now coping with how to implement the outdated policies alongside the updated policies as development permit applications are submitted.
LCPs are the basic planning tools used by local governments, in partnership with the California Coastal Commission (CCC), to guide development in the coastal zone and contain the rules and regulations for future development and protection of coastal resources. The CCC delegates authority to local jurisdictions to develop LCPs, but they must be approved by the CCC to ensure Coastal Act compliance.
So, where are we in the process of updating hazards? The County has drafted an EH chapter, but has not negotiated an agreement with the CCC staff to ensure Coastal Act consistency within the draft, which is necessary to finalize the document. In addition, the County’s Coastal Communities Working Group, has provided limited feedback to the County on draft language.
Overall, we are concerned the County will fail to meet their ambitious schedule to update the EH chapter in early 2022. This chapter is incredibly contentious, since it forces us to make hard decisions about private property in the coastal zone. The goal of the chapter is to provide guidance for development without exacerbating vulnerabilities in coastal communities that will be impacted by rising sea levels, erosion, flooding, and fire. Updating the EH chapter requires comprehensive and forward-thinking planning efforts to cope with the impending and unavoidable impacts of the climate crisis, while also balancing the protection of coastal resources (including sandy beaches, public access, and community character).
Despite this frustrating and delayed process, we remain steadfast in our advocacy to work together to draft and finalize a EH policy to be approved by the CCC. We will continue to engage on the completion of the hazards chapter, while also focusing on adaptation planning like preservation of wetlands, blue carbon sequestration, nature-based feasibility studies in Tomales Bay and Stinson Beach, and continued preservation of equitable public access to our local beaches. You can take action on this issue by contacting Marin County, and encouraging them to finalize the EH policy, and ask to be placed on their LCP update list.
* This article was also published in our Winter 2021 Print newsletter
