After two hours of public comment in what technically wasn't a public hearing, county planning commissioners on Monday endorsed a sweeping environmental-impact report for filmmaker George Lucas' plans to enlarge his Nicasio-based empire.
Lucasfilm will now enter the final stretch of an eight-year effort to expand its film and computer technology company at Skywalker Ranch east to Big Rock and Grady ranches.
Planning commissioners later this month - the meeting is tentatively set for Wednesday, Sept. 25 - will consider the merits of Lucas' project itself before forwarding it to the Board of Supervisors for final approval.
The project is one of the largest commercial building proposals ever to come before Marin County planners. It calls for 607,500 square feet of new buildings covering 108 acres with room for 640 new jobs.
The remaining 2,048 acres of the Grady and Big Rock ranches would be dedicated as a permanent conservation easement.
Planning commissioners on Monday voted 6-0 to send the EIR to supervisors for certification, but only after they were assured by county planning staff that many of their policy questions can be raised at the upcoming public hearing on the expansion project.
"I find these numbers of grading to be excessive," said commissioner Arlene Evans, who noted that the county tends to frown on projects that require large amounts of dirt to be removed from hillsides.
She said she was disappointed that the EIR didn't discuss alternatives that would decrease grading on the site.
County Environmental Planner Tim Haddad responded by insisting that the Grady alternative would have done far more damage to the environment.
"I felt boxed in by some of the mitigations [in the report] myself," said Commissioner Deborah Rowland, noting that the report suggested building huge dirt berms to help hide the tall structures rather than just shorter buildings.
"I don't think we've ever had so many crucial policy issues going into the merits hearing," Rowland said. "Notwithstanding this discussion, it is a usable document."
Commissioners allowed people to comment only because of changes to state open-meeting laws, which county attorneys have interpreted to mean that the public can comment on any agenda item, whether the meeting be a public hearing or just a meeting of the Planning Commission.
On Monday the project drew praise from some Marin business owners and flak from some environmentalists, while the various environmental lawyers, land-use planners, and elected officials who chose to speak seemed evenly split.
Lauding the EIR were Leland Jordan, a former city councilman and city attorney who lives in Lucas Valley; former Marin planner Neil Sorensen; San Francisco environmental attorney Chris Locke; and former Assemblyman John Knox, who helped author the state Environmental Quality Act.
Those arguing against certifying the EIR were Mill Valley planner Don Dickenson, who was the county planner on Lucas' original Skywalker Ranch project; former Marin Planning Director Marjorie Macris; and former Marin Planning Commissioner Ron Marinoff.
Marinoff, a Lucas Valley resident, argued that county planners have done a baffling about-face on the project's consistency with the Countywide Plan, Marin's guiding land-use document. He said Lucas' first and more ambitious expansion plan, which was derailed in 1992, would have required an amendment to the countywide plan.
That argument has provided the backbone of a well-organized effort by some residents of Lucas Valley to thwart the expansion.
However, the detractors have tested the patience of county planners, who have repeatedly told them that compliance with the Countywide Plan is not an environmental-review issue. "Policy inconsistency is itself not an [environmental] impact," insisted county Environmental Planner Tim Haddad on Monday.
"Is that what this Planning Commission wants to be remembered for - destroying the county master plan?" asked Lucas Valley resident Emily Johnson. Added neighbor Judy Rodich, "You can be remembered as the planners who saved western Marin or the ones who threw it away."
Project planner Dean Powell on Tuesday told The Light that the Countywide Plan designates Grady as a residential area and Big Rock as an agricultural area. However, he said, the plan lists numerous allowable uses for those ranches, such as offices, schools, and hospitals.
Lucas' application for master-plan and use permits are not legislative actions, Powell insisted.
Other Lucas Valley residents, however, hailed Lucas for treading lightly on the environment and generally being a good neighbor.
Several environmentalists blasted the EIR as being inadequate. Barbara Salzman, president of the Marin Audubon Society, criticized the report for giving short shrift to the planned diversion of six percent of the water flowing into Nicasio Reservoir.
She called the EIR a "major step back in this county." She was joined in her opposition by the Marin Group of the Sierra Club and the Environmental Forum of Marin.
Lucas Valley resident Joy Dahlgren even argued that county planners have committed a "serious denial of due process" by not allowing neighbors to lay out all their concerns.
Nonsense, countered Lucasfilm President Gordon Radley. The executive noted that people have had two years to comment in numerous public hearings and scoping sessions. He added that the final EIR included 233 letters and 1,090 comments.
If the Lucas proposal goes through without a zoning change, "a Sony or Fair-Isaac [corporation] could look at Flanders Ranch and argue that it could have similar buildings," warned Frank Binney of Woodacre.
Others expressed concern that demand for housing in the valley would increase with Lucas' 640 new employees, as the development would be just over the ridge from the San Geronimo Valley.