Ideas from Community Brainstorming Sessions

AIR

• Creating clearly designated bike paths
• Extended bus service to West Marin (more than 2/day)
• Establish a policy to prevent microwave towers from being built in Fairfax
• Look into the electromagnetic levels that are present in Fairfax and their health effects
• Create a ride share program/ electric shuttle
• Monitor air quality/ develop a notification system for when quality is poor, plan for effective action
• Efficient weekend/summer transportation to coast
• Support efforts to investigate effects of industrial pollution in the Bay Area
• Look into possibility of town rebates for bikes/electric bikes (Look at Santa Cruz plan)
• Get local merchants involved in providing incentives for riding bikes, not using pesticides, etc.
• Honor committed bicycle riders (GGT discounts, awards?)
• Make commercial areas more pedestrian-friendly - heavily-trafficked (benches, trees, microparks)
• Statement about air (what it is, how it connects us, sustains us)
• Go Geronimo - master plan for county - bike trails, buses
  • Money from Healthy Start Program
• David Enwhite - www.lesstraffic.com - "Reclaiming Our Streets"
• Mike Jones - head of bike plan - 482-8660
• Historical Society - use of films showing local electric train, other resources
• Noise- maintain a green belt buffer to decrease noise pressure on wild life and ourselves

FIRE

• Go Geronimo connected to Fairfax with incentives
• Local power source - start with businesses
• Incentives through building permit process encourages use of more sustainable designs and materials - supportive of new building technologies
• Community to City - Golden Gate transit only source more efficient - vans to feed from neighbor hoods during commute hours. Computer hookups, coffee, etc. in vans. Feed to GGT and/or feed to city
• More education - The joys of conservation
• Compact fluorescent lights in common places
• Consciousness and incentives - how to lower costs
• Make conservation interesting - remembering the charms of simple living
• Bring down the costs of conservation incentives for landlords/renters
• Bond for energy program
• Old buildings in town need efficiency programs - owners of businesses are not owners of buildings - intervention needed
• Promote energy efficient design
• Linking block grants to energy efficient design and use of new technology - downtown store owners - (Niccolo wants to work on block grants)
• Ozone - how to address as a community - what chemicals are still being used that effects ozone
• How are refrigerators dealt with?
  • Appliance Buyback - Fairfax sponsors mass buy for appliances
• Teas hosted in town by Paul DeShone - what's up in Fairfax, used to fund raise also
• Start in January - post on web site
• Write letters or e-mail Fairfax town council to support resolutions and statements - post on our web site
• Support TURN when Community Choice reaches state level
• Support businesses that use each others' wastes as resources

EARTH

Bioengineered Foods

• Support local organic sources - www.foodsafetynow.com - sign petition at Good Earth
• "Franchise-free zone"

Pesticide/Herbicide Use

• Awareness of watershed
• Create policies/General Plan (banning sales, making it illegal)
• Organic Approach
• Contact other sources and Organizations that have management programs
• Education (adults and children in Springtime - Fair to heighten awareness with booths and music...
• Contact master gardeners
• Contact Storm Water Pollution Prevention Program
• Making Fairfax "Pesticide-free zone"
• Water subsidies and incentives
• How will local businesses be affected?

Town and Country Club

• Multi-use
• Minor impact
• If housing, low-scale and fully sustainable
• Organic Approach
• Traffic impact

Recycling Bins in Fairfax

• 100% doable
• Hand-painting for beautification - get students involved
• Network with Drake High
• Gray Dean Proposal (recycling)
• 100% recycled and tree-free paper cooperative for city government and large organizations (schools) in town.
• Community bulletin board/ e-mail site for all recycled materials i.e.: clothes, building materials, etc.…

Stopping Pollution at Source

• junk mail
• 7-11 straws - get them to fund education/ litter pickup
• reduce packaging
• Investigate product longevity - awards for good products
• How can Good Earth help us?

Building

• No new development
• Bike and Pedestrian friendly
• Accessibility to all service needs i.e.: dentist, haircut, lawyer, shoe repair, men's clothing (so no need to get in car)
• References to other cities that don't use cars
• Block Planning Commission to ban service providers along Broadway/Bolinas
• Alternative Building - educate
  • -RESOURCES: Energy efficiency, Water catchment, Passive solar, Hydrogen Fuel Cell
• Erosion Control
• Reuse of building materials
• -local resource guide
• -used resource yard in town or county
• Monitor debris box materials (where do they go?)
• MISCELLANEOUS · Free Box in town
• Encourage free-bees at curb side
• population- 140,000 more people projected
• MTBE - impacting Fairfax environment- used at local gas stations
• Asbestos- education- what's in place

Water

Big Picture:

• Fairfax is the headwaters of Corte Madera Creek and watershed and part of larger watershed
  • Head towards pristine condition
  • understand the responsibility we owe to those downstream
  • (+2g)
• What does water mean to our community?
  • Functions it provides - how does it effect us?
  • How do we effect it?
  • part of the quality of life
  • natural habitat - sustaining wildlife (animal, plant, etc.)
  • cleanses our community
  • beauty
  • recreation - kayak, hiking, inner tubing, swimming, nature watching, (fish, bugs, etc.,) meditation.
  • Safe place for homeless to sleep in the summer months
  • headwaters of bay/estuary - what happens in Fairfax effects downstream.
  • Water cycle - gray water
  • swimming area - what plans does town have for a recreational swimming area - keep people in the community
  • think of Corte Madera Watershed in Regional terms
  • drought conditions - how do we prepare besides MMWD
• Pollution problems - residential - homes and streets

General Plan Applications:

• Fairfax should think of watershed in regional terms
  • cooperate/communicate with other towns
• How do we monitor local water quality?
• Wetlands protection - MTCC

Restoration

• Restore/maintain creek bed and banks to natural state i.e.
  • concrete walls
  • concrete dams
  • restore natural plant life
  • how far do we build from creek banks - allow for meander over time
  • pollution from
  • how do dams effect Corte Madera Creek system
  • haul out large garbage - metals/cars etc.
• How do we deal with street side pollution into creek and household pollution.

Legal Protections

• Regulation of homeowners who pump water from creek to water gardens in summer
  • how it effects water level, wildlife etc.
  • What agency is responsible - Fish and Game?
• What laws offer protection currently?
• Monitor variances given for creek disruption, for example, Care Meridian facility
• Planning process should take into account health of creek as a priority.

Pollution

• Write in protections against use of pesticides/herbicides/pumping etc.

Education / History

• How long is creek?
• Creek Care:
  • pollution
  • clean up
  • bank erosion
  • pesticides/herbicides/fertilizers
• Ross Valley Reporter - Creek History column “Currents”
  • weekly articles about all points, for example, Concrete Dams - Leo Cronin
• Restore fish stencils annually and publicity to alert citizens participation and awareness (sewer drains)
  • How we take water from Russian River
  • More frequent and thorough creek cleanups/walks for example, organize larger groups and involve schools.
• How to live sustainably over a long period of time?

Protection

• enforce state permits
• what laws offer protections currently
• monitor variances given for creek disruption i.e. care meridian facility
• where does plan to divert Corte Madera Creek water onto MTCC wetland field stand?
• how are current laws enforced or ignored?
• what are jurisdictions?
• Instruct town not to use pesticides/herbicides near creek
• How water effects development issues.

Recycling

• Gray Water and current legislation
• water treatment - where is sewage treatment plan located?
  • Where is Fairfax in the evolution of sewage treatment systems?
  • Example: running through ground
  • Example: John Todd’s system of water treatment
  • catch water basins - residential, building
  • impact
  • conservation
  • Reservoir water - drinking water
  • how often do we take from Russian River? How much?

Conservation

• Future pipeline from Russian River (MMWD 1992 plan)
• Drought years
• How water is currently delivered from Russian River (25% of our water usage currently)

Source:

Most of Fairfax's water comes from Ken Lake and Nicasio Reservoirs. Currently there is a pipeline which runs south from Sonoma (Russian River) paralleling Hwy 1, which supplies areas along Hwy 101 in Marin. Russian River water is used in Fairfax on emergency basis

Return to the Implementing Sustainable Policy in the Fairfax General Plan page...