Adopting new coastal plan makes sense

Marin County’s adoption of a new coastal plan — with a green light from the California Coastal Commission — is an example of long-sought political progress.

Instead of continuing their costly and time-consuming loggerheads, the two legislative bodies have reached an agreement on an updated plan — or at least all but one important section of the new plan.

The county moving forward and putting into place those sections that both agencies endorse is a practical action.

But some local advocates’ worries that the plan is weak without the section detailing stricter building restrictions respecting the threat of rising tides should be able to trust their locally elected officials who have made that concern a priority.

There are key differences between the county’s and the

commission’s approach, but at this point it is important to put agreed-upon sections of the plan on the books.

For instance, the commission had pushed that its ap

proval would be necessary if a property owners’ building plans involved a change of 50% or more to the existing structure. It wanted to set 1977 as the benchmark for that equation, which would trigger the need for commission approval and its costly planning process for significantly more properties.

But setting the stage for requiring many more multitiered bureaucratic approvals may discourage property owners from making needed improvements or getting permits.

The county Board of Supervisors has pledged that it will continue to work to resolve any differences with the commission and will soon be holding hearings on proposed changes to the environmental hazards section of the plan.

Once approved, that section will then move forward to the commission for its certification.

Some planning organizations pushed for delaying county approval and criticized that it is tantamount to the county kicking the can down the road, sidestepping tough, but necessary decisions.

But their worry ignores strong public sentiment on the board regarding making sea-level rise a key factor in the county’s building requirements and approvals.

Marin Supervisor Stephanie Mouton-Peters, for one, has made planning for that climate-change threat a top priority.

It is also important to note that the county board’s vote included support from Supervisor Katie Rice, the North Bay’s representative to the commission.

The supervisors’ action simply puts the county’s updated plan in place, rather than waiting for the commission’s review and OK.

After 13 years of trying to win full approval, too much time and hundreds of thousands of taxpayers dollars have been spent getting to this point. It’s about time the county makes practical use of that investment, those important planning standards where consensus has been found and move forward.