Contact the City NOW to Express your Concern about the Safety of the Proposed 50 Unit Development
About Us
A Neighborhood Coalition
We are a group of more than 300 citizens who live, work and play in the Dominican Valley area of Central San Rafael. A small group of neighbors initially joined forces in May 2023 following the sudden sale by Dominican University of a 21-acre parcel of undeveloped land that lies at the northern edge of the campus. Our coalition has rapidly grown to encompass concerned neighbors from the surrounding area, as well as Marin families and individuals who regularly use the open space for family walks, nature hikes, dog walks, hiking and biking.
Our Goals
We ask that any proposed development not compromise the health and safety of, and continued enjoyment by, residents and visitors. At a minimum, any development should be fully compliant with city, state and federal laws and regulations.
To that end, any approved development needs to:
- Incorporate appropriate safety measures for the community in the event of fire, flood or other emergency. This may include but is not limited to, expanding ingress and egress as required, following setbacks between built structures to minimize the rapid spread of fire, retaining permeable/ vegetative surface area to minimize flooding, and ensuring adequate infrastructure for water access, water pressure and expanded sewage.
- Continue the >100 years of access to open space along with the parking needed to access it, important for physical and mental health of residents.
- As required under California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), State and Federal laws, ensure the environmental integrity of the land, including protecting the habitats, trees, canopy cover, streams and riparian zones for wildlife protection and land stabilization.
- Ensure that the developer bears the full cost of any impact of their development including road widening, increased water and sewer infrastructure and fire/safety upgrades so that these costs, if required, are not shifted onto taxpayers and neighboring homeowners.
Napa False Indigo
Douglas Iris
California Poppies
Gaidner’s Yampah
Checker Mallow flowers
Sticky Monkey Flowers
Blue Eyed grass
Shooting Star Flower
Mt. Diablo Cottonweed
Essential INFO
Formal Application:
As of December 6, 2023, Dominican Valley LLC has submitted a formal application to the City of San Rafael Planning Division for 50 homes, which includes 27 single family homes, 17 townhomes (14 with junior ADUs) and 6 duplexes:
On January 4, 2024, the city sent the developer a 28-page letter informing them that their development application was incomplete and setting forth the issues that needed to be addressed before the application could move forward.
The city has also updated the project page for the Dominican Valley project, which can be found here: https://www.cityofsanrafael.
On January 24, 2024, SDV sent the City a response to their Letter of Incompleteness detailing why the Builder's Remedy does not apply and requesting that the City formally inform the Developer of such. Click here to see the letter sent to the City.
Fire Safety and Infrastructure Concerns
Dominican Valley and the surrounding neighborhoods are designated Wildland Urban Interface areas in the 2023 Marin County Unit Strategic Fire Plan & Community Wildfire Protection Plan. As such, the county considers them to be hazardous in terms of fire access and protection.
The area's proximity to open space, the very narrow roads and limited ingress and egress routes have been noted by the San Rafael Fire Department as concerns in the event of an emergency.
The proposal for 50 homes contemplates adding 119 allocated spaces. There will be more than that number of resident vehicles, not to mention the large increase in daily traffic from service and delivery vehicles. This is an enormous safety issue for walkers, runners and bikers and will overwhelm the already severely limited parking in the area. In addition, it will further exacerbate the concerns regarding evacuation and emergency vehicle access in the event of fire or other natural disasters
California Tortoiseshell Butterfly
Northern Spotted Owl
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Western Fence Lizard
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Honeybee
Lady Beetle
Anise Swallowtail Butterfly
Jack Rabbit
Coyote
Spotted Towhee
Buttons Banana Slug
Black-tailed Deer
American Badger
Grey Fox
Bald Eagle
Gopher Snake
Golden Eagle
California Newt
Cooper's Hawk
Deer Mouse
California Slender Salamander
Dominican Valley
Dominican Valley is in Central San Rafael on the northern edge of the Dominican University campus. It is bounded by Gold Hill Grade, Locust Ave, Deer Park Ave, Margarita Dr. and Highland Ave.
The land includes 2 frequently used open space trails; the Highland Spur which starts at the intersection of Highland Ave. and Margarita Dr., and Gold Hill Grade located at the end of Locust Ave.
These trails provide public gateway access to the contiguous open spaces of Harry Barbier Memorial Park, San Pedro Mountain Preserve and China Camp State Park.
Coast Live Oak trees
California Oak Tree
Manzanita
Madrone Trees
Blue Gum Eucalyptus
