The February 17 FHA Annual Meeting on Zoom was was recorded for viewing later. You can find the link by clicking on News on the FHA website’s home page, then clicking on the paragraph beginning “Did you miss the 2022 FHA annual meeting…” to expand it. You will see a passcode which must be typed (not pasted) in to log onto Zoom.
A highlight of the meeting was a discussion on sea level rise (SLR). The following is a brief summary:
Jen Gennari, ex-co-chair of the FHA Environmental Committee, introduced Mayor Janelle Kellman of Sausalito, who said she decided to run for city council due to concerns about the lack of planning for climate change and SLR. Every newspaper is reporting that we can expect an uptick in SLR in the next 30 years equivalent to the change in SLR over the last 100 years. She also stressed the importance of the Working Waterfront Coalition and Sausalito’s Housing Element Advisory Committee.
Sea level rise is going to continue around the globe. We can’t stop it, but we can learn to adapt to it. Mayor Kellman acknowledged the participation of East Pier residents Wilford Welch and Terri Thomas on the Sea Level Rise Task Force which is working to determine how vulnerable Sausalito is to SLR and what can be done about it. She shared slides depicting the effects of different SLR scenarios, showing how floating home marinas as well as onshore infrastructure will begin to be impacted, and provided immediate, short term and long-term recommendations.
Jen shared a map showing how the multi-use path will be re-routed to provide a wetland buffer against SLR. She also discussed a program to rehabilitate the retention pond in Marin City which currently overflows during storms.
In response to a question, Mayor Kellman said that Sausalito is exploring the option of adding more floating homes as a way of providing more affordable housing, as well as coping with SLR.
Terri Thomas introduced Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters who described herself as closely aligned with Mayor Kellman’s values and concern about SLR. She mentioned the BayWAVE project, a collaborative of all 11 Marin cities and towns and the County working together to prepare for SLR. Chris Choo, a planning manager for the County, shared an interactive story map of where SLR is going to happen in Southern Marin and the impacts it will have on transportation, which affects everyone. Supervisor Moulton-Peters announced that Caltrans is now studying what can be done about the low-lying approaches to Highway 101 at Manzanita, Tam Junction and the Marin City exit. She emphasized that she wants to include the floating homes community in these studies. She is pursuing a grant to do an adaptation plan for the entire county. Right now, we can get involved in our flood zone meetings. The next Zoom meeting for zone 3, which incorporates all of the Richardson Bay watershed, will take place on March 18. Contact Stephanie or her aid Doreen Gounard with any questions or comments.
Links to additional resources are posted in the Zoom chat window.