Action Alert: Send Email Today Comments Needed Today on Azalea Hill CEQA document

MCBC identified Azalea Hill as a major gap in Marin’s trail network in 2011 and now MMWD is prepared to close that gap with a multi-faceted project which will enhance recreation and reduce impacts on the environment.

We need your support for this 3 GAPS Project Today!

Action Item:
Please take 10 minutes to send in an email supporting the project.

Key benefits are listed below. Please put your comments in your own words and share how you will use this trail.

Submit your comments to Aaron Fulton by email at azaleahill@marinwater.org by phone at 415-945-1143 or by mail to Aaron Fulton, Marin Municipal Water District, 220 Nellen Ave., Corte Madera, CA 94925.

1. Express enthusiasm for the connection and support for the environmental enhancements
2. Thank the staff for their good work
3. Voice support for the collaborative evolution of the project
4. Consider the following talking points below and add a personal touch if possible, such as why this connection is important to you or why you value access to the Mt. Tam watershed.

Azalea Hill Benefits:

• The project provides a safe alternative to the current bike route around the golf course and up Bolinas-Fairfax Road on a 1.3 mile stretch of windy road with no shoulder.
• The project enhances the existing hiker/equestrian trail and keeps it closed to bikes.
• The project decommissions 4.5 miles of social trail that fragment over 100 acres of Serpentine habitat.
• The project recycles a historic road to provide safe access for all trail users.
• The project allows for enhancements to the Liberty Gulch Road, which will prevent over 4,000 cubic yards of sediment from entering Azalea Hill’s creeks or Alpine Lake over 20 years.
• The project can serve as a powerful vehicle to broaden awareness and appreciation of the rare plant and animal communities.
• I support Mitigation Measure BIO-10 and BIO-13 which will ensure that the decommissioned trails will remain closed and that non-native plants do not spread in this area.
• The project is very thorough in its cataloging of native plants and suggested avoidance measures.
• The project is in an ideal place for interpretive features to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Alpine Dam.
• Expanding the inclusiveness of the project by adding bicycle connectivity increases the chances of receiving grant funding and public donations for both the trail work and habitat restoration work.
• The proposed bicycle alignment will place cyclists at a location below the Azalea Hill Parking lot and current bike-legal trail to the top of the hill, which will eliminate the need for bike access to the top of Azalea Hill.
• Bicyclists are ready and willing to help with both the trail work and habitat restoration.

Here’s a link to the CEQA document – Azalea Hill RTMP Amendment IS MND

MCBC has been working with MMWD and other stakeholder representatives since 2011 on a gap closure project to provide safe connectivity between the Mt. Tam lakes side of the MMWD watershed and the Pine Mountain/Kent Lake area. The project has evolved from the original proposal to enhance the existing Azalea Hill Trail from hiker/equestrian to multi-use, to a plan that leaves the Azalea Hill Trail as a hiker/equestrian trail, while adopting the old Liberty Gulch Road as a multi-use trail open to hikers, bikers and equestrians. Just as important, the project will remove 4 miles of social trail that fragment a Serpentine rock habitat, will reduce sedimentation into Alpine Lake and enhance the Azalea Hill parking lot and trail that leads to the top of the hill.

The comment period will close on November 9, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. ACT TODAY!