At the beginning of the year, a partnership of veteran vendors of the Civic Center Farmers’ Market have taken out a lease on the grounds of the Marinwood Plaza. The organizers, Kelly Smith and Ron Gradinger envision this as a grassroots community venture that will give back 5% of the proceeds to the local Dixie School District. It will also feature a six morning a week coffee cart where residents can walk or drive through to get lovingly made cup of coffee. As soon as the word went around about the possibility of a Farmers’ Market, you could feel the excitement in the neighborhood. There is even talk of a community garden.

Some felt that the Civic Center Farmers’ Market is a great “destination” market that has gotten too crowded to comfortably shop. Residents who worried about daily and nightly additional traffic and parking with other development ideas, could handle additional traffic and parking a half a day a week.

When Smith and Gradinger made a presentation at the January 12th Marinwood CSD Meeting, and the organizers of the Marin Farmers’ Market also showed up as well. The Marin Agricultural Institute representative Brigette Moran, along with representative farmers,  claimed that there were already too many farmers’ markets in Marin and it threatens to spread farmers’ too thin.

Moran claims that they did look into having a both a large or small farmers’ market at the Marinwood Plaza site and, “After meeting with the property owner, and evaluating the site, our board decided that our markets are too large for the site and we would heavily impact the neighborhood with parking and traffic…A year later, our board considered a smaller market on that same site, but came to the conclusion that the site was too close to the Sunday and Thursday Marin Farmers Markets, and that even a small market would negatively impact those farmers.”

I think as the January 30th Community Clean Up Day at the Marinwood Plaza site illustrates our community has the demographics and spirit to support whatever or whoever decides to make a go of it in that spot.  I believe they made a mistake in passing us by, but that was their call. Instead, they had decided to open a market in Marin City, which makes having one in Marinwood now somehow impossible.

My support for the Farmers’ Market in Marinwood only has to do with being a Marinwood resident and fighting to keep Marinwood Plaza a
commercial/retail site that fits our needs.  Ultimately, someday, there will be a small retail development there because the community
came together an embraced a grassroots solution to a problem of blight in our neighborhood.  An out-of-the-box solution is needed during a time where commercial, retail, and residential development money is not quite ready to take the leap.  It will be up to our community and surrounding communities of South Novato, Terra Linda, Mont Marin, and Lucas Valley come out and support the farmers and vendor who will serve our community. This is our opportunity to show everyone that our community can support a thriving retail center that we deserve.

Competition is usually a good and very American Apple Pie-ish thing, isn’t it? If farmers are having difficulty going to all these markets, then adjustments need to be made.  In  this economy everyone who wants to stay in business is rethinking how they do business. You have to be nimble to changing circumstances.

I am like Tim Gunn on Project Runway, I say, “Make it work, people.”

Then, there is the politics behind this whole thing. Our Supervisor Susan Adams is up for re-election and some blame her for trying to put through affordable housing units in plans for Marinwood Plaza. Then last fall candidates for the Marinwood CSD tangled over claims that another stood in the way of getting a plan with a market.This whole thing is bigger than any one candidate.

There is the property owner, Gerald Hoytt, who some say his prop 13 protected property gave himthe ability to sit on the sidelines and wait for deal he wanted. It is a hard sell to anyone who would consider developing  anything given the declining state of the property and the chemical spill from dry cleaners past (which they say they are going to clean up).  Somehow, Smith and Gradinger are able to work with him and residents seem willing to see what happens.

Marinwood is a community of people who come here to escape high density in a county that is hard pressed to find places for infill high-density development. There was a point where some Marinwood residents would tolerate some high density residential for the sake
of a market, but then the Novato Whole Foods Market happened.  One morning, after being excited about a Whole Foods Market selecting downtown Novato, residents woke up to find the multi-story monstrosity. At the last big meeting about the Marinwood Plaza, people were asking how high this development was going to be. You could literally feel the momentum for the whole project die that night.  It really brought up the downside of using the promise of a market and a community space while de-emphasizing the residential component that comes with it. You cannot unbuild a monstrosity once it is built.

Then there was the whole practical matter of parking and traffic that came with the residential component. In order to fit the residential units, Marinwood Avenue would have to be narrowed and then the school buses wouldn’t be able to turn around as they absolutely needed to. There was problems with traffic flow that CalTrains didn’t want to deal with to make adding about 200+ cars to the neighborhood tolerable.

This Farmer’s Market is a modest plan that can get the property in good enough shape and proof of concept for a proper retail down the road. It is temporary, scalable, and gives the community a really needed lift in morale.

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You have a sad story of deaths in Mexico of swine flu and these people make it about illegal immigration even though we know that climate change is going to bring a growth of epidemics.

You have to be a very angry person to criticize ICE raids for not breaking up more families, or wonder why illegals keep going to clinics and do not consider birth control.   There are so many things to be outraged about and they pick poor and powerless people to pick on. Very sad.

So Maven impulsively spent time offering a different pov not to change these guys’ minds but to at least let others know there are dissenting views.

Blech. After spending Saturday with like-minded folk at the California Democratic Party, what a jarring experience.

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66% of the women incarcerated have minor children, and 80% in prison have substance abuse problems. The documentary film, “Moms Living Clean” by my friend, Sheila Ganz shares startling statistics and moving stories of women bravely trying to put their lives together. The film highlights a wonderful program in San Rafael, Center Point, a residential program for mothers that allows them to live with their children. The film is a three year journey of six women.

This film is an important film that needs to be supported so it can promote this needed program.

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Bright Horizons at Marin Commons

As a working mother of a pre-K son, I understand the value of high quality childcare and pre-school. In the Spring of 2005, when our son was 15 months old, we decided as an only child he needed to be socialized with kids his age outside of the home environment. We lucked out because Marin Day School in St. Vincent’s was just opening its doors to the public as its sponsor, Lucas Films moved to San Francisco. What drew us was the engaged and effectionate staff, the age appropriate activities, and a wonderful playground. Our son has really thrived there and is ready for Kindergarten.

What I like about my son’s experience there is that the staff allows the children to be children and follow their interests. They allow the kids to explore, create, and even ride a large Tonka truck down the small hill in the playground. Kids learn about creating dams in the sand and are allowed to float from Our World (dress up and pretend play), Science Rocks!,  and Art Smart. More than all that I really appreciate the time they take in developing relationships with other children and how to make good choices. As kids get older they are encouraged to take on more responsibility, independence, and to work out their disagreements and get help when they cannot. You can go to work and know that your child is in a wonderful place where they will blossom.

Plus, they don’t have any requirement that your child has to be potty trained nor do they charge extra for those kids who haven’t been potty trained. They believe as we do that it is far better to let potty training happen organically when the child is ready. Arbitrary deadlines only stress the parents and kids when you have to tie badly needed child care to when your child is potty trained. The staff is willing to support parents and kids during potty training, and believe that it is moved along by kids seeing the older kids go on their own.

Opening around August 2009, Marin Day School will change its name to Bright Horizons (the name of the Corporate Headquarters)  and move from St. Vincents to Marin Commons. Marin Commons is just off the Lucas Valley exit next to the YMCA on Los Gamos Rd. While they won’t have the amazing play yard that they had at St. Vincents, they will have far more room in the classrooms and their outstanding staff will be there. Bright Horizons at Marin Commons will be located at 1600 Los Gamos Drive, Suite 230, Lobby C in San Rafael. You can contact them now at 415-492-2262 or marincommons@brighthorizons.com. Let them know that Marin Maven sent you.

The classrooms will be seperated in four groups: Infants (6 weeks – 18 months with a 1:4 ratio), Toddlers (18 months to 30 months with a ratio of 1:6), Twos (30 months to 3 years), and Pre-school/Pre-Kindergarten (3 years-5.9 years).  The center is open from 7:30am to 6:30am, which allows parents enough time to drop off and pick up their children.

This is my way to thank all the teachers and staff over the years for enriching our son’s life and allow him to grow into the boy he has become.

Wine Auction for Huckleberry Youth Programs in Terra Linda

For 40 years, Huckleberry Youth Programs have been making a difference in the lives of at-risk adolescents and their families.  On Saturday, May 9th at  4pm to 7pm, you can show your support and be whisked away to a 5-acre estate overlooking Lucas Valley. There will be valet parking, hors d’oeuvers from Insalata’s, wine tasting, and bid on wine — all for a $75 donation for a great cause.

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Special thanks to one of my favorite bloggers over at Marin Real Estate Bubble. This blog is the place where we can have an intelligent discussion of Marin real estate and the consequences of the housing bubble. Even though the data points to home values plummeting, and the sense is that the correction has some way to go. One poster has heard bystander of a Tiburon resident behaving badly, “There’s a lot of people in Marin who way overpaid for their houses and now they’re all freaking out.”

By way of Anna’s Cool Finds, a way-cool Marin County restaurant diva, we find that Chevy’s Northgate has closed down.

According to the MarinIJ, San Rafael Elementary and Ross Valley school districts agreed this week to issue pink slips to 53 staffers, all but two of them teachers.

What’s up with these sewage plants and their polluting ways? Can’t we find more competant systems of taking care of our business?

Signs things are really bad, Seagulls are pickpocketing.

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