At its November 14, 2019 meeting, the Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency (RBRA) presented the long-awaited mooring assessment study, conducted by Merkel & Associates of San Diego. The study examines the ecology of Richardson Bay and the feasibility of installing a mooring field to possibly accommodate anchor-out vessels.
About a week later, on November 20, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) Enforcement Committee held a meeting where both the RBRA and Sausalito gave reviews of their progress in dealing with the anchor-outs, including the number of boats recently removed from the Bay and an overview of the RBRA’s new mooring assessment study.
Although the BCDC approved of the progress made by the city of Sausalito, it made clear that the RBRA must comply with state laws and ratchet up its law enforcement efforts:
1) RBRA must remove all unoccupied, unregistered and debris vessels from Richardson Bay by the end of March 2020;
2) RBRA must present a plan to BCDC by March 2020 for the removal of ALL vessels from the area.
Concerned floating home residents, and residents of Sausalito, Mill Valley, Tiburon, Belvedere and Marin County, are encouraged to attend the next two important meetings, both on Thursday, January 9, 2020:
1) 9:30 AM – BCDC Enforcement Committee, 375 Beale Street, Suite 510 in San Francisco;
2) 5:30 PM – RBRA, Tiburon Town Hall, 1501 Tiburon Boulevard in Tiburon.
Public comments will be accepted at both meetings.
Now that the RBRA’s mooring assessment study is available for public review, and the BCDC is beginning enforcement proceedings to remove anchor-out vessels from Richardson Bay, these two upcoming meetings will likely play a decisive role in shaping the direction of this important issue in our backyard. Please attend these meetings and raise your voices!