The Strawberry Community has been consistent in portraying our neighborhood as family oriented and environmentally friendly.  We are a somewhat landlocked community so traffic is a large issue for us as well as the communities of Tiburon and Mill Valley due to high traffic levels at the Hwy 101 interchanges. However, we have been forthright in expressing the following views.

We support intergenerational development – a child care center, affordable housing, walking trails, open spaces and a small graduate educational facility – are all a part of this intergenerational approach.

Our neighborhood, unlike many in Marin, is largely made up of multiple family dwellings (roughly just over 50%) as well as single family homes. We continue to support this development particularly as it pertains to affordable housing and also housing for graduate students and their families.

Given the foregoing, we support a graduate educational institution not to exceed 200 students, half of whom will live on campus.  We support a Continuous Care Retirement Center of the size proposed (150 units in total).  We expect that all current passive open space will remain so and any sports and activities such as a fitness center will be for the sole use of residents of Strawberry. 

In order to maintain a reasonable neighborhood nature, we expect that traffic will not be increased beyond 3,000 daily trips (50% more than today) and all residents will pay their fair share of property taxes for schools, fire, police and other County services that they will enjoy.

The North Coast application would amount to giving the developer a blank check. The Seminary is one of the most significant redevelopment sites in the Bay Area and it requires thoughtful planning. But the current application lacks basic information that is fundamental to any proposal, such as the identity, size and operations of the proposed school. 

In the Strawberry Community Visioning process that Supervisor Kate Sears convened, Strawberry residents cited increased traffic, school overcrowding, and loss of neighborhood character as their primary concerns. All of these issues are directly related to the potential use changes at the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. You can view the entire report here.