Marin County finalizes purchase of former San Geronimo Golf Course

Marin County supervisors have given final approval for the $4.5 million purchase of the former San Geronimo Golf Course, bringing to an end a seven-year saga.

The supervisors also approved an environmental study that clears the way for building a new fire station on a 22-acre portion of the 157-acre site.

The conversion of the site was vigorously resisted by residents who wanted to preserve the golf course and hoped to see a wastewater treatment facility built on the property.

On Tuesday, Supervisor Dennis Rodoni, whose district includes the San Geronimo Valley, thanked the Trust for Public Land for the prominent role it played in the purchase.

“I want to thank the Trust for Public Land for holding this amazing asset and sharing it with the San Geronimo Valley community while we were able to to get our ducks in a row,” Rodoni said.

The trust bought the golf course property in December 2017 at the urging of the county to keep it from being purchased by a private entity. The county, which sought to acquire the property for public recreational use and for repair and preservation of wildlife and fish habitats at the site, contracted to purchase the golf course from the nonprofit for $8.85 million by December 2019.

Opponents of the conversion took legal action to block the purchase. In October 2018, Marin Superior Court Judge Paul Haakenson ruled in their favor, requiring the county to prepare an environmental analysis of its plans for the golf course before purchasing it from the trust.

The opponents gathered the 12,000 signatures necessary to qualify a measure for the March 2020 ballot. If the measure had passed, it would have required voter approval for any change in the primary golf course use of the property. It failed to get the majority support it needed.

In 2022, the Marin Open Space Trust (MOST) purchased a conservation easement from the Trust for Public Land on 135 acres of the former golf course for $3.2 million. The easement limits use of the 135 acres to passive recreation such as hiking, biking and equestrian access.

“Trust for Public Land applauds the Marin County Board of Supervisors decision today to unanimously approve the acquisition of San Geronimo Commons,” Guillermo Rodriguez, the Trust for Public Land’s California director, wrote in an email Tuesday. “With strong community support, this decision will permanently preserve this cherished space for everyone’s enjoyment, provide crucial habitat for endangered salmon, and enhance community climate resilience.”

With the sale of the property to the county, the Trust for Public Land has recouped about $7.7 million of the $8.85 million it spent to purchase the property. It also had to pay interest on the loan it took out to pay for the former golf course and expended resources conducting dozens of one-on-one and group meetings with community stakeholders and others to determine the best use for the property.

One project opponent commented during Tuesday’s supervisors meeting.

“The countywide plan calls for one public golf course for every 25,000 citizens,” said Michael McLennan. “With the closure of the San Geronimo Golf Course we are left with one course for every 86,000 citizens.”

McLennan also lamented the county’s failure to move forward with the construction of a wastewater treatment plant at the site. A 2019 study by Questa Engineering determined the property would be the best location for a facility serving residents in Woodacre and the San Geronimo flats.

“To date,” McLennan said, “the valley continues its annual sewage pollution onslaught that should have been solved years ago.”

Fairfax Councilman Chance Cutrano, however, thanked the board for moving forward with the purchase “for the protection and restoration of fragile habitats in the San Geronimo Valley, but also to support a new critically needed fire headquarters that will serve the entire county.”

Rachel Reid, the county’s environmental planning manager, said the environmental initial study, which supervisors also approved on Tuesday, examined both the environmental impacts of the proposed county purchase and the future development of a county fire headquarters at the site.

Reid said all impacts identified in the study could be reduced to less-than-significant effects when coupled with 11 recommended mitigation measures.

“This means that a mitigated negative declaration may be adopted,” she said “and that an environmental impact report is not required for the project.”

Nevertheless, Buffy McQuillen, tribal heritage preservation officer for the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, wrote in an email to Rodoni on Tuesday, “We are registering our objection to the board approving the mitigated negative declaration for this project.”

In her email, McQuillen said the county conducted only one consultation meeting with the tribe, on Oct. 12, 2023. She said during that meeting the county informed the tribe that a report by an archaeologist had been done, but that it covered only the southern portion of the property.

“Unfortunately,” McQuillen wrote, “the county did not contact the tribe again. The county cannot make a determination regarding tribal cultural resources without the tribe. The action by county staff disrespects the tribe and attempts to diminish our tribal sovereignty.”

Robin Fies, a county environmental planning aide, told supervisors that when the county met with tribal representatives in October, “They did indicate they had concerns about recently identified cultural resources within the vicinity of the project.”

Fies, however, said that the tribe “did not feel comfortable at that time sharing the location of those resources.”

Following that meeting, Fies said, the county spoke to two archaeologists who have done work in that area. One, Heidi Koenig, an archaeologist with ESA Associates, said she wasn’t aware of any cultural resources in the area that would be disturbed by the project. The other, Mark Castro, an archaeologist with California State Polytechnic University, said that he had identified some cultural resources related to the tribe on the opposite side of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard from the project.

“That confirmed that the resources that Buffy McQuillan was referring to during our conversation was likely that discovery,” Fies said, “and that it wasn’t likely to be impacted by our current proposed project.”

Marin County fire Chief Jason Weber talked about the county fire department’s need for a new headquarters and the advantages of locating it on the former golf course.

Weber said the current headquarters at 33 Castle Rock Ave. in Woodacre, which was built in the 1940s, is antiquated and too small to accommodate both personnel and equipment. Weber also said the golf course location would improve response times.

The new facilities would include a state-of-the-art fire station, warehouse/storage and vehicle maintenance and repair. The former golf course clubhouse building would be repurposed to serve as the administrative offices and training center for the Marin County Fire Department.

Issues have been raised, however, regarding the project’s planned footprint: a nearly 20,000-square-foot main building, a five-story fire training tower, accessory structures, paving and outdoor lighting.

Weber said there will be more community engagement before any design decisions are made.

“At the end of the day,” he said, “we want something that the entire community out there can be proud of — something and that fits the character of the valley.”