Sausalito's Measure X divides residents over future of city's waterfront
A measure on the November ballot in Sausalito is dividing the quaint coastal town.
Measure X is also known as the Arts, Industrial & Maritime Preservation and Improvement Initiative. It would change the way part of Sausalito's waterfront is developed in the future.
Some say this is long overdue, while others say they feel it would destroy the character of the city.
It was standing room only, as people packed the town hall meeting on Measure X. The measure was created by a group called Sausalitans for a Thriving Waterfront led by Sharna Brockett.
"We're looking around our town and looking at things we can improve," Brockett said. "How to make it better and more vibrant."
Brockett says Measure X aims to change the way land use decisions are made on the waterfront, north of the Spinnaker Restaurant. According to the city, rules were put into place in 1985 to stop the building of offices in the area. Since then, In order to make any structural changes to a business, it has to go through a lengthy and costly ballot measure process.
"All we want to do is bring these land use decisions back to the normal process that we use throughout Sausalito," Brockett said.
While backers of Measure X say the area will still be zoned as waterfront industrial, opponents say relaxing the rules could lead to unwanted growth.
"To me, it's a reckless course to just go ahead and upzone or allow much larger buildings on this waterfront in Sausalito from this parking lot to the end of town," Sophia Collier said.
Collier is one of the lead opponents of Measure X. She says it will change Sausalito's character and make an already bad problem worse. The traffic going in and out of town.
"We have one little road called Bridgeway that goes in and out of here," Collier said. "It's 2.9 miles and that's all we have. We can't make it wider. We can't have a double-decker road. Everybody knows it's already heavy with traffic."
With campaign signs being stolen and people getting into heated arguments over the issue, Mayor Steven Woodside hopes the town hall answers people's concerns.
"My job is to calm the waters," Mayor Woodside said. "Yes, I'm in favor of Measure X, but I'm trying to make sure people see the truth and the whole truth."
