Loch Lomond Marina FAQs

The approved plan for the Loch Lomond Marina includes:

• 81 housing units (18 large detached single family homes, 16 smaller detached single family homes, 42 attached townhouses, and five condominiums (above the commercial space on the west side of Loch Lomond Drive)
• 22,250 square feet for neighborhood commercial facilities (including a full-service grocery store and a small restaurant as well as space for the current neighborhood commercial uses)
• Recreation areas along the shoreline ( including playgrounds, picnic areas, kayak launch ramp, boardwalk and fishing stations)
• Upland marina uses (a yacht club building, harbormaster’s office, boat repair and maintenance building, marina boat launch, parking for day-boat trucks and trailers, boat refueling station on land and on the water), and the existing 517 boat berths with 52 of the total authorized for liveaboard use.

There are plans to keep on the site most of the businesses currently there.

Yes, zoning changes were made when the City upgraded its General Plan in 2005 (General Plan 2020 or GP2020) at which time the property was zoned PD (Planned Development District). This was done specifically to encourage a comprehensive development plan process for the site. Within GP2020, Section NH-118 defines the various areas within the property as to what can be done there. (GP2020 and NH-118 documentation can be found in the Marina Library/Archives)

What the City did in the marina review process was to ‘amend’ this PD District zoning to incorporate the approval of the project Development Plan, which authorizes the specific uses, their location and development cap. PD Districts are unique in that they are required for sites that are greater than 5 acres and have complicated site conditions. PD Districts are also used for projects that propose a mix of uses and they encourage clustering to protect site resources such as wetlands.

As an alternate option, the City could have divided the site up into several separate ‘conventional’ zoning districts (such as the R5 or R10 Districts applied to the Loch Lomond neighborhood, or NC [Neighborhood Commercial], but this direction would not have accomplished or provided the ability to achieve a comprehensive development plan for the entire site.

The slowdown in the economy at the time the approvals were granted temporarily stalled the redevelopment of the site. This project, along with other already-entitled projects, were granted extensions of their entitlements by the State of California. This action pushed the expiration date of the Marina project permits to August 20, 2014. Work on the project began in 2013 prior to the expiration date so expiration is now a moot point.

Work began in August 2013 with the installation of the surcharge soil in the central section of the development. The developer originally said that they expected full completion by late 2016. However, several delays and changes of ownership have occurred that have pushed that date well past that original estimate. See the Construction Schedule for more information as well as Marina News postings for the latest information on scheduling.

The Coalition is providing a community oversight role on conditions at the site. We worked with the City to get the cutting of trees behind the grocery market, whose removal was not in the plan, stopped and to get replacements planted. We watched over the replacement areas to ensure that the trees were replaced and properly staked. As redevelopment began, the Committee has coordinated with the developers, contractors and the City to ensure that construction adheres to plans and that the impact of the construction process on the neighbors is minimized. We meet with the relevant City agencies (Dept. of Public Works and Community Development Dept.) monthly to review progress, raise issues and work on resolutions. The results of these meetings are posted on this website.

A total of 17 units (21%) were designated as below market rate units. This is a mixture of the townhouses, single family homes and condos (the units above the commercial building to the west of Loch Lomond Drive). However, under agreement with the City of San Rafael, 11 such units were built and sold, and in 2020 the developer made a sizable contribution the the City’s low income housing fund in return for the release of the remaining six below market rate units which can now be sold at market rates.

• Work is limited to between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• No construction is allowed on Saturdays, Sundays, or City-observed holidays. (Construction activities include delivery of materials, start-up of equipment engines, arrival of workers, playing of radios and other noises caused by equipment and/or workers arriving at or on the site.)
• Fill arriving via truck is limited to 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• All residents within 1,000 feet of the project site are to be notified in writing of the construction schedule prior to commencement of demolition, grading and construction. This notice will include the telephone numbers of the project construction manager (noise disturbance coordinator).
• Construction hours, allowable workdays and the telephone number of the job noise disturbance coordinator are to be clearly posted at all construction entrances.

The following is a summary from the construction entitlements and permit specifications:

• Dust abatement measures include:
  • watering twice daily;
  • covering all trucks hauling soil, sand and other loose material;
  • paving or using non-toxic soil stabilizers on all roads, parking and staging areas;
  • daily street sweeping (with water sweepers);
  • enclosing, covering or watering twice daily of stockpiles;
  • limiting speeds on unpaved roads to 15 mph;
  • installing sandbags or other erosion controls measures to prevent silt runoff to public roadways, the Bay and wetlands;
  • replanting vegetation in disturbed areas as quickly as possible;
  • designating a person to oversee the implementation of a comprehensive dust control program and to increase watering as necessary.
• Noise abatement measures include:
  • noise must be kept below a maximum of 90 dBA at the property line;
  • noise dampening measures such as use of electrically or hydraulically powered equipment rather than pneumatically powered when possible and use of mufflers will be employed;
  • engines will be shut off rather than let to idle;
  • staging will be kept away from sensitive noise receptors;
  • stationary construction equipment will be placed so that emitted noise is directed away from sensitive noise receptors;
  • temporary acoustic barriers may be used around construction noise sources;
  • earthmoving equipment must be kept as far away as possible from vibration-sensitive areas.
• Traffic control measures include:
  • all staging and queuing must occur within the site;
  • a comprehensive traffic control plan must be created to address on-site and off-site construction traffic which includes a detailed schedule and program of truck traffic, truck routes and number of truck trips per day.

The wetlands behind the old Andy’s Grocery and out to the breakwater will be retained but there will not be public access into the wetlands in order to protect the wildlife. There is a public path connecting the end of the boardwalk with the beginning of the breakwater path. There will also be a public path along the wetlands from Pt. San Pedro Road to this boardwalk and breakwater path.

During the entitlement process a small isolated wetland and its associated uplands were declared insignificant and allowed to be used for housing. The remaining wetlands and marina wildlife are subject to the following restrictions on the time of year and the tidal conditions during which work can be done.

• Vegetation may be removed only during September through February unless it is established that there are no nests on the site.
• All work on the breakwater will be done only during low tide when migrating fish are absent (early August through early November).
• Work below mean high water level will be done only at low tide June through October.
• There will be a wetland mitigation and management plan that outlines the new wetland and how it will function.
• There will be a detailed plan for tree replanting and protection.
• Silt fences will be installed around or down slope from disturbed areas especially to protect the northern, western and southern boundaries of the seasonal wetlands.
• There will be restrictions on the maximum height and slope of the surcharge, limiting it to an 8-foot height with a slope of 3 feet horizontally for every 1 vertical foot. There will be special controls near the shoreline.
• There will be protection for any buried historical/cultural resources that are discovered.
• Prior to grading, limits of the landfill will be staked and fenced to ensure there is no filling in any area of seasonal or tidal wetland and to identify the jurisdictional limits of the US Corps of Engineers.

Check the Construction Contacts page for this information. Also please let the SPRC Marina Oversight Committee know of your concerns so we can keep track of problems.

Oaktree Capital of Los Angeles was the original development company that owned the marina site. They sold the property, along with the approved permits, to Woodridge Capital Partners in 2013.

Woodridge Capital Partners is a Los Angeles-based real estate investment and development company with hotel, residential and commercial assets throughout the United States, including the Fairmont San Francisco Hotel. Woodridge Capital created a subsidiary, Marina Village Associates LLC (MVA), to be the owner and developer of this property. MVA continued to own the property that had not been sold to individual residential owners within The Strand and to Andy Bachich who purchased the Andy’s Market building and property. All the unsold property, such as the remaining residential property within The Strand, the marina, launch ramps, yacht club, marina green, boat repair facility, etc. had continued to be owned by MVA.

That situation changed in 2020 when MVA sold the marina-related properties to Safe Harbor Marinas (SHM), owners of a network of marinas throughout the U.S. A. The property that was sold to SHM included the breakwater, breakwater connector, the playground jetty (“east jetty”), the marina, the marina green, related parking, the yacht club building, the boat launch ramp, the west jetty, the sites for the planned Harbormaster’s Office and the boat repair facilities as well as all related parking for the boat ramp and marina facilities.

MVA sold the remaining undeveloped and unsold residential parcels in The Strand to Trumark Homes, a residential property developer. In 2023, MVA sold the site of the planned multi-use building at the current location of the dry cleaners and medical offices to Andy Bachich (Andy’s Local Market) who plans to develop that parcel with 10 residential units in a 2+ story structure. Those plans are still under development and not yet approved by the San Rafael agencies.

The first phase of homes are on sale or have been sold.  Information about pricing and availability can be obtained at the on-site sales office. Additional information can be obtained on The Strand website.

The approved plans dictate that the building’s only permissible use is for a yacht club and the permits include updating of the Yacht Club building. However, the Loch Lomond Yacht Club lease is month-to-month, so the future of the current yacht club is uncertain. They are attempting to negotiate a longer lease.

The BCDC marina permit authorizes 52 of the 517 berths for live-aboards usage and this capability is included in the development plans.

The approved plan includes parking spaces for the trucks and trailers of day-boat users of the marina. The space is on the west side of the property near the launch ramp. The Master Use Permit for the project requires 27 vehicle + trailer (day use) parking spaces, but the Development Plan actually identified 35 spaces. Sixteen dry dock boat storage spaces are required in the marina parking lot. If, after the monitoring of parking over a two-year period the day-use parking demand exceeds supply, these dry dock boat storage spaces are to be converted to eight day-use (vehicle + trailer) spaces.

The waterfront remains private property as it has always been (i.e., privately-owned rather than city-owned). However, it has a Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) public access overlay, which essentially means that public access and use is required.

The approved plan continues this public access overlay on the waterfront as well as numerous improvements for public use, including playgrounds, benches, picnic tables, fishing areas, a fish cleaning station, kayak launch ramp and a handicap-accessible surfaced path on the connector to the breakwater. The property owners at the site will be responsible for the maintenance of the public area. This is included in the revenue collected from the Mello Roos Assessment District fees.

Some water from the bay needs to flow into the restored wetlands area at the eastern side of the development, but it became apparent that the path between the end of the boardwalk and the beginning of the breakwater path (sometimes called the connector) is flooding frequently with high tides and rain. Water is also collecting on the jetty where the playground is located.

BCDC took notice of this issue and included it in a list of problems that the property owner/developer must resolve. The City and BCDC consulted with the developers developed a mitigation plan. That plan was completed on the breakwater access path and re-opened to the public.

However, while significant progress has been completed on the east jetty/playground, there has been an inordinate delay in completing that work and re-opening the playground to the public. This committee continues to apply pressure to all relevant entities to move this project forward to completion as soon as possible.

The approved plans include a permit for a restaurant of approximately 800 square feet in a building directly adjacent to the existing yacht club building. This is an allowed usage of that building but is not mandated.

However, that parcel is owned by Marina Village Associates which has indicated no interest in creating that restaurant. It would seem apparent at this time that a restaurant is not likely to be created.