San Rafael approves Northgate housing plan

San Rafael has approved a proposal to redevelop Northgate mall with 1,422 residences around shops and restaurants, capping more than three years of planning and contentious hearings.

After a four-hour hearing Monday, the City Council voted unanimously to certify an environmental impact report, as well as approve a zoning amendment and project entitlements, clearing the plan to move forward.

“The approval of Northgate Town Square opens the door to new housing, dynamic community spaces, and renewed retail opportunities,” Ross Guehring, spokesperson for Merlone Geier Partners, the mall owner and developer, wrote in an email. “This once-in-a-generation project is a testament to the strong collaboration with the City and a dedicated coalition of community members. We couldn’t be more excited to bring this vision to life as we move into the execution phase.”

The hearing on Monday, like prior ones, had residents packing City Hall to provide their comments. Detractors objected to the size of the complex and the influx of new residents they said could create traffic and safety issues in the neighborhood. Supporters praised the project for creating needed housing.

“This is the right place for development,” Vice Mayor Eli Hill said. “As to the magnitude, I want to recognize that there is distress in the community.”

“At the end of the day, this is an opportunity for us to have a thriving part of San Rafael,” he said. Regarding the traffic and safety concerns, Hill said, “I have a belief that it may not be as bad as people might imagine.”

Merlone Geier Partners, a real estate investment firm in San Francisco, bought the Terra Linda property in 2017 and filed a project application in 2021. The project has undergone several revisions that increased the number of residences at the 45-acre site.

The project will redevelop the mall to include six residential parcels with a mix of townhomes, apartments, shops, and restaurants over two construction phases. Buildings would range from two to seven stories. Developers plan to spread 143 “affordable” apartments and for-sale homes throughout the site.

The City Council approval came just weeks after the Northgate Century Theater closed at the mall. The redevelopment plan had envisioned an upgraded theater as a central attraction.

Now the future of the 45,000-square-foot space remains unclear, and the issue was not addressed at the meeting on Monday.

Guehring said Tuesday that the company had heard interest from prospective tenants.

At the council meeting, city officials praised each other, the applicants, and the consultant team for bringing a complicated project to the finish line.

Micah Hinkle, the city’s economic development director, said the redevelopment of the mall had been contemplated since the Sears auto center closed more than 10 years ago.

Since then, the city has developed a general plan for 2040 to provide a blueprint for housing, community, and commercial development.

“Northgate is a catalyst project, setting the next chapter for San Rafael,” Hinkle said.

The presentation largely focused on the 1,480-page environmental impact report, or EIR, which the City Council needed to certify in order to approve a zoning amendment and project entitlements.

The state-required report found that any greenhouse gas emissions and noise from the project would be significant and unavoidable.

The EIR faulted the project for failing to meet the requirements of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to ban the use of natural gas. The project seeks to use natural gas lines for commercial kitchens.

“I would like you to seriously think about why the Bay Area air quality board has proposed to discontinue any indoor gas stoves,” Pam Reaves, a member of the Marin Conservation League, told the council, “and to realize that prioritizing fast-food restaurants over the health of our people, the health of our climate, the health of our Earth, is just so wrong thinking.”

Much of the public comment centered around a traffic analysis performed by David Parisi, a Parametrix consultant working for the city on the EIR. According to Parisi, the project would result in fewer vehicle trips than a fully occupied mall would during peak afternoon hours.

“This is because residential trips generate fewer trips than commercial uses,” Parisi said.

Critics bashed the analysis for assuming vehicle trips generated by full mall occupancy as a baseline for comparison.

“I want to be blunt with you: I don’t think your staff has served you well with this project’s EIR,” said Gloria Smith, an attorney representing the group Responsible Growth in Marin, whose members have scrutinized every detail of the project.

“So according to the EIR, adding more than 1,400 new homes, as well as more than 200,000 square feet of commercial space, would somehow reduce daily car trips compared to the existing mall?” Smith said. “In my view, relying on this inaccurate baseline has been an unforced error by the city and has generated some ill will among parts of the city because they don’t trust this analysis.”

Shirley Fischer, a Terra Linda resident and member of the same group, said, “This is not just a matter of convenience, it’s a matter of safety. Terra Linda is a bottle with one way out, and Northgate is the cork.”

The group asked the City Council to require followup traffic studies, a condition that officials ended up adding to their approval.

A large contingent of project supporters are members of the Marin Organizing Committee, a group that advocates affordable and workforce housing.

“If we want our teachers, doctors, EMTs, health care workers and firefighters to live in Marin, then we need more housing,” said Victoria Holdridge, a member of the group.

Regina Bianucci Rus, representing the League of Women Voters of Marin County, said her organization supports the project.

“The project will make a meaningful impact on housing supply in Marin,” she said. “The project has strong connections to transit and will reduce car dependency in Marin. The project provides housing that is more water- and climate-sustainable than the current housing stock or new single-family homes.”

Some labor unions also voiced their support.

“This project will be a cornerstone for our community, not only bringing new businesses, housing and amenities to San Rafael, but also creating substantial job opportunities,” said Chris Palomo, field representative for the NorCal Carpenter’s Union.

The City Council enthusiastically supported the plan.

Mayor Kate Colin said the 1997 North San Rafael Vision Plan, a city planning document, had contemplated housing at Northgate.

“So what I see in that is our community has always been willing to say, you know what, we get that times change and change is going to be hard, but we want to have the ability to meet that moment and to meet where the future is going,” Colin said.

“It’s the vision of being able to live and work, and being able to gather in one place, which I think can really bring vibrancy and new energy to Northgate,” Councilmember Maika Llorens Gulati said.

“Instead of fearing change, I choose to meet it with curiosity and excitement and commitment to building something remarkable together,” Councilmember Rachel Kertz said, endorsing the plan.

“I’m very proud of the product that has come out of this long and painstaking, and maybe even at times painful, process,” Councilmember Maribeth Bushey said. “But we’ve got a great project here that will be a catalyst for hopefully reverberating throughout our community, and will bring the vision we want for our future, for our young people.”

A second reading of approvals is planned for the City Council’s meeting on Dec. 16.

Merlone Geier Partners expect to start demolition by early summer, Guehring said.