Parking Shortages
Our commitment is to foster a vibrant and resilient community that values its natural surroundings and works collaboratively to address environmental challenges.
light PoLLUTION
noise POLLUTION
traffic CONgestion
wildlife PROTEcTION
Parking Will Overflow Onto Residential Streets
Marin Catholic’s parking lot and neighboring lots at St. Sebastian church are not large enough to accommodate the cars for evening events (Marin Catholic’s current stadium capacity is over 1600 while it has only 280 onsite parking spots, and it leases 60 more from St Sebastian).
To address the significant onsite parking shortages that would occur on game nights or other public events, MCHS plans to just let spectator parking spill over into the neighborhood streets including along Bon Aire Rd, potentially impeding access to/from Marin General Hospital, and other residential streets such as Via Hildago, Corte Comoda, Manor Road, Wolf Grade Rd., Dinah Court, and McAllister Avenue. These residential streets are already narrow and crowded with parked cars at night and countless new visitors would only exacerbate this already serious problem. In addition, this conflicts with provisions of the county code, which requires that parking spaces be “provided on the same site as the use to which they relate.”
MCHS also suggests that cars should be able to park at the Elementary School lot or in nearby business parking lots, but there’s no assurances that owners of these private businesses have or would agreed to allow MCHS spectators use of their parking lots.
Converting residential neighborhoods into short term parking for a private school’s frequent nightly events makes for some truly unsafe situations, especially for the young children and families who live on those streets. The local residential streets are often narrow and winding, and were specifically designed to discourage thru-traffic and on-street parking.
Additionally, sporting events are controlled competition among rivals, and that gets people excited. When emotions run high, that excitement can continue after the competition is over, and not always with good results. All too often, the parking areas associated with sporting events can become an arena for fights, assaults and other dangerous behavior. Parking lots are where more than 7 percent of violent attacks at sporting and other large crowd events take place, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. MCHS’ proposal to just let spectator parking spill over into the neighborhood streets is not only inconsiderate, it is dangerous.
MCHS does not propose to hire any parking or traffic enforcement personnel – instead, they intend to exploit out community for yet another private benefit by requiring the local sheriff’s department to manage traffic and parking for the 135 or more nighttime events each year.
About The Parking
Marin Catholic Stadium Capacity: 1600+
Marin Catholic Parking Spots: 340
(280 Onsite + 60 Leased)
MCHS does not have sufficient parking to accommodate the cars for evening events.
MCHS plans to let parking spill over into the neighborhood streets including along Bon Aire Rd, potentially impeding access to/from the Marin General Hospital, and other residential streets such as Via Hildago, Corte Comoda, Manor Road, Wolf Grade Rd., Dinah Court, and McAllister Avenue.
Next Meeting:
Dec 10, 2024
More Significant Negative Impacts
Night Noise. Night Lights. Night Traffic.
Traffic Congestion
MCHS is a commuter school where more than 80% of students are not local. Adding more traffic to the evening rush hour and later will only excacerbate existing parking shortages and cause more traffic jams.
Noise Pollution
Daytime game noise is already so loud in some homes that folks have to keep the windows closed, otherwise it sounds like the game is being played in their backyard. Imagine suffering through this virtually every night of the school year!
Light Pollution
Skyglow and glare is of significant concern for Ross Valley residents due to the topography of the area. Light pollution from the towering 99.5-foot light structures will disrupt the natural night sky and adversely affect local wildlife.
Environment Issues
The illumination and use of the MCHS field lights for nightime spectator-sports, public assembly and other activities will change the character, beauty and visual attributes of the Ross Valley Community and its environs forever.
Share Your Concerns
FAQs
Please reach out to us with any additional questions or concerns at: PreserveRossValley@gmail.com
Why does MCHS need permanent night lights?
They don’t. MCHS does not need field lights. The school has successfully operated without field lights for years.
However, MCHS wants field lights because they’ve chosen to pursue an aggressive marketing & growth strategy that, notwithstanding existing space constraints, relies heavily on unbridled expansions of its sports programs in order to attract elite athletes. (MCHS is a private school owned by the Archdiocese Of SF).
There are numerous student support programs that are far more appropriate for this site that would not impose significant negative impacts on Ross Valley and the surrounding environs.
How is this proposal different from prior MCHS proposals?
In 2012, MCHS promised to propose a plan that would light the stadium for only 10 evening events a year, specifically including only “five football games and five soccer or lacrosse matches.” As president Tim Navone explained, “…If there’s some trust that it really is just five times a year the community would be impacted, they’d be behind it and support it.”
The current plan proposes to light the stadium late for at least 135 night events per year, representing a 135% increase in usage!
Will this increase noise in the surrounding neighborhoods?
YES!
MCHS sits at the base of Ross Valley, which has a particular topography that acts as natural amphitheater amplifying noise generated from stadium events up into the surrounding residential neighborhoods and hillsides. The stadium noise is very loud and is not limited to cheers and boos, but also includes noise from stomping feet on aluminum bleachers, air horns, marching bands and crackling PA system announcements. MCHS’ president has suggested that if local residents are bothered by the noise, then “a trip to Costco, a hike on the mountain, or a visit to a friend’s house is in order.” REALLY? How are young children in the neighborhood supposed to sleep? Are the neighbors simply supposed to go on night hikes and live at Costco 135 nights a year?
Will this create more traffic congestion?
YES!
Traffic along Sir Francis Drake Blvd suffers such congestion that the County recently spent nearly $18 million to try to alleviate the traffic problem between US 101 and the Town of Ross. Even after this project, the traffic flow rates a grade of C, according to the County. MC is in the middle of this heavily impacted stretch. The stadium lights would generate even more traffic right at rush hour, which is obviously a negative development and counter to the effort to improve the corridor. It may also create further safety hazards as students and family leave the late-evening events.
Will this affect local wildlife?
YES!
Artificial light and noise pollution are one of the most widespread threats to biodiversity around the globe. It has numerous and severe impacts on wildlife, especially harming nocturnal wildlife, species active during twilight, insects, and migratory birds and bats. Artificial light and intrusive noise disrupts natural rhythms, influences predator-prey relationships, and hinders navigation, reproduction, nourishment and sleep.
Does the proposal include specific limits on noise levels and clear restrictions on days, times, and manner of usage?
NO!
Will this provide any significant benefits to Ross Valley residents?
No.
Marin Catholic High School retains exclusive control and use of the fields. MCHS is a tax-exempt private “commuter” school and it is estimated that less than 15% of its students and staff live within our Community. Although MCHS will clearly benefit from the proposed system, there are no significant benefits for Ross Valley residents. This is a fundamentally unbalanced equation: a private benefit, and a public cost.
What Our Community Is Saying
“[T]he traffic study assumes that parking demand can fully be accommodated by onsite capacity at Marin Catholic. However, as the study also acknowledges, onsite capacity is less than projected demand, which can only be met through reliance on off-site facilities.”
Kevin Haroff
“This conflicts with provisions of the county code, which requires that parking spaces be “provided on the same site as the use to which they relate.”
Kevin Haroff
“Will Marin County sacrifice the wellbeing of our schoolchildren so that football boosters can be entertained? …Marin Catholic has other options for finding field space and building nighttime sports facilities in neighborhoods is not something we should normalize. Prioritizing private football boosters over the thousands of local residents would set an ugly precedent for all Marin communities.”Ben Morris
“If the school has outgrown its current site, the problem will not be solved by field lights.”Garril Page
“[I]f MC has chosen to be the school that offers “more athletic opportunities than any school north of the Golden Gate Bridge,” they should raise the money through whatever means (i.e. alumni; endowment) and build a facility in an appropriately zoned location that allows for their prioritization of sports.”Janet Epstein
“If stadium lights are approved, it will result in motorists utilizing both sides of Manor Road, which is a main thoroughfare for emergency traffic.”
Ron Nasso
“…spectators would inevitably spill into neighboring areas to seek street parking. Streets in Greenbrae are already narrow and crowded with parked cars at night, and these new visitors would only exacerbate this already serious problem.”
Kelly Booth
“Why are long–term residents being asked to bear the burden of a private school’s lighting project? It is not a project that will benefit the community in any way, and will only further Marin Catholic’s private needs and desires…. Truly, enough is enough.”Yumi Esaka
“Are you thinking clearly? You want to increase traffic, increase pollution, and ruin the neighborhood, just so a private school [can] play football on Friday night instead of Saturday. Seriously, that is a very bad trade off for our community.”
“….Marin Catholic is not a community school. The sole beneficiary of this field lighting proposal is a private, parochial, non-tax paying school, not the community. Despite meeting with overwhelming opposition from the community on each of its previous failed attempts for stadium lights, the school continues to try to force this project on its neighbors…”
Jim McClellan
Join Us In Protecting Our Community
We invite you to stand with us in preserving the tranquility of Ross Valley. Send us an email or letter, volunteer to help, or attend the upcoming community meeting to express your concerns about nighttime stadium events. Together, we can make a difference.