As bulldozers break ground for the proposed French Ranch subdivision in Forest Knolls, a group of San Geronimo Valley residents are trying again to stymie the project, this time by petitioning the State Water Resources Control Board to disallow the development's septic-system permit.

Opponents of the project have also requested an immediate halt to construction - construction fences have already gone up along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard - as the state water board may take up to a year to review the appeal.

Robert Miller of the State Water Resources Board said it may take between a month and a year to decide on what to do with the appeal, and that the matter has yet to be assigned to a water board attorney. He added that no hearing has been set yet on whether the permit should be stayed until then.

Miller added that the board "very rarely" takes up an appeal (in this case, of a waste-discharge permit) of any regional water quality control board decision. Appellants would have to show that the regional board abused their discretion in an "egregious" manner - a tough standard to meet, he explained.

The petitioners assert that the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board departed from its own regulations by allowing the County of Marin - instead of a specified sewer district - to take legal and financial responsibility for the subdivision's collective septic system.

"This entire process has been a backroom deal pushed by Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey and developer Bruce Burman," said Elena Belsky, a board member of Save the Valley, the organization opposing the septic permit.

The appeal was filed by Bolinas lawyer Dotty LeMieux, a two-time candidate for county supervisor, and John Sharp, a San Rafael lawyer representing petitioners Toni Brumbaugh and Mark Warner of Forest Knolls.

County Counsel Patrick Faulkner said this week that the French Ranch developers are required to pay for ongoing maintenance and repair costs through a homeowner's association, and the county is permitted to place liens on French Ranch property if those funds are insufficient.

"I think there are sufficient protections in the requirements that the taxpayers are not at risk," he said.

This arrangement is sufficient for the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, said the board's ombudsman, Wil Bruhns, because it assures the financial resources will ultimately be available to pay maintenance costs over the life of the system.

Meanwhile, Lagunitas School District expects to start construction of its own sandfilter septic system on French Ranch property by next week.

"Hopefully, we cannot become too entangled in a protracted legal battle over this issue," Superintendent Larry Enos told trustees this week.

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