From: Eric Lucan <[email protected]> Date: June 26, 2024 at 5:17:11 PM PDT To: nancy abruzzo <[email protected]> Subject:Re: How much longer are you going to ask us to tolerate this?
Nancy,
Thanks for reaching out. Despite the arrest, progress continues to be made at Binford.
These numbers are as of June 1st:
85 individuals (down from ~116) with 26 housed, plus 5 self-resolved/other (since 8/2023)
10 buyback incentives completed, 5 more expected by June 30 (very successful)
91 total vehicles and 47 total sites (down from ~150 and 75 sites in 2023)
Eric Lucan
Marin County Supervisor, District 5
San Rafael, CA 94903
3501 Civic Center Drive, Suite 329
(415) 473-7339
From: nancy abruzzo <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2024 7:35 AM To: Eric Lucan <[email protected]> Subject: How much longer are you going to ask us to tolerate this?
These arrests are occurring on a regular basis. What are the chances this addict will bail out and return to the wetlands? Binford Road has become Novato’s ghetto. It’s getting worse on your watch. So much for throwing money at the problem. Clear the road once and for all.
There is no mention of the Rush Creek Wetlands in this editorial which is ~3.5 miles from Bell Marin Keys. Please demand the immediate restoration of the Rush Creek area!
The proposed addition of 2,000 acres of Novato wetlands to the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a sign of the North Bay’s success in restoring and protecting its baylands.
Marin’s congressman, Jared Huffman, has joined forces with Reps. John Garamendi and Mike Thompson in drafting legislation to add 7,000 acres to the refuge. The proposal would add the Hamilton and Bel Marin Keys wetlands to the federally protected wetlands.
They are currently seeking public comment via Garamendi’s website – bit.ly/3PDXnTc. A Dec. 12 deadline has been set for those comments.
The refuge, created in 1974, has grown to 19,000 acres, including much of the wetlands that border Highway 37.
The last time it was expanded was in 2011.
Its preservation is important to the health of San Pablo and San Francisco bays and to migrating birds for whom the area has historically been their winter stop.
Huffman says the Hamilton and Bel Marin Keys baylands are “the perfect candidate” to be added to the refuge.
Since its creation – the turning of the old Hamilton military airfield runway back into wetlands – the area has become a prime spot for local birders.
The Bel Marin Keys wetlands includes 1,610 acres owned and managed by the California Coastal Conservancy, which has been involved in restoration work there since 2019.
The Conservancy’s longstanding hope has been that management of Hamilton and Bel Marin Keys acreage could be turned over to the federal Fish and Wildlife Service.
In advancing the legislation, the congressmen and agency leaders need to be forthright in providing information regarding what changes the transfer and federal refuge designation might bring to current uses or to neighboring properties.
Providing for public comment on the legislation should also make possible ramifications clear upfront.
The overall goal is a sound one, one that Marin voters have backed with their tax dollars.
In 2016, Bay Area voters approved a $12-per-year parcel tax devoted to restoring and protecting baylands, improving public access and flood control work. Marin voters led the way, with a whopping 73.5% majority endorsing the measure.
I was very interested to read about a three-year plan to clean up the vehicle camp situation on Binford Road near Novato (“Marin County unveils plan to clear Novato road camp,” Aug. 26).
I’m wondering why Marin County officials continue to ignore the question of finding a safer place for the vehicles and their residents as they work to help them find more permanent homes.
These people would be much safer if they could park their van or camper near a structure with services. I know there are organizations built to provide things like laundry services, showers, food and waste management. Recently, I read about one working well in East Palo Alto.
We need to realize that people living on Binford Road might want to stay in their camper while they find permanent housing. I know Marin has plenty of vacant land and parking lots that could be built to accommodate campers, much like an actual RV community.
Of course, we all know that providing space won’t be enough. The program must include onsite support. Some will need help to get jobs, medical help or rehabilitation services.
I’d like to think that a newly created community of rehabilitated RV dwellers could become self-sustaining. They could all collectively stay at the newly built park, eventually paying a subsided rent. Anything is possible.
It seems to me that we are asking people to leave their perceived safe space (whether they live in a tent or a vehicle) with too many uncertainties about support. People who live in tents could be living in a tiny cabin community as a transition to permanent housing. People living in their RVs could have a safe, supported place to park.
In my last Binford Bulletin I shared that the Board of Supervisors would receive an update from County staff regarding the Binford Road Encampment at our August 22 Board Meeting. The staff report and video recording (item 7) of the meeting are posted on the County website.
The County of Marin recently secured $1.6 million in state grant funding over three years to resolve the Binford Road encampment through enhanced outreach, housing-based case management, and other direct support to homeless individuals.
With support from the new state funding, three main strategies have been identified as next steps to address the encampment.
Supportive Services: The goal is to house half of the approximately 90 individuals along Binford Road within two years, and all within three years. Some of these individuals will need permanent supportive housing, while others may need assistance to stabilize into affordable housing units, including security deposits, first and last month’s rent, or other housing-related costs.
Enforcement and Regulation: The goal is to improve public and environmental safety by reducing the number of abandoned vehicles and belongings in the public right-of-way. Abandoned or excess vehicles will be removed after providing registered owners with a 30-day pre-notice period, followed by a 15-day action notice. Personal property stored in the public right-of-way will be removed after the notice period. The Sheriff’s office is distributing notices this week to begin this enforcement effort.
Environmental Protection: The goal is to protect and preserve the sensitive environmental habitat on and along the Rush Creek Preserve and slough. The County will increase efforts to support appropriate and healthy disposal of trash and waste prior to the wet weather season, when control of such discharges is more difficult.
In addition, the reconstruction of Binford Road has been on Public Works’ capital improvement project list for several years. These needed improvements are planned to commence in 2025, including requirements along the east side of Binford Road to install sediment control to filter road runoff for protection of the sensitive habitat of the Rush Creek Preserve and slough. This will have the effect of eliminating much, if not all, parking along the east side of Binford Road along the water. We will monitor progress of these efforts and plan for any needed contingencies.
I have asked our County staff to come back to the Board of Supervisors by the end of the calendar year to provide a status update on these efforts. Monthly progress will be tracked on the County’s Data Dashboard.
I know that no plan is perfect, but I support the strategy in place. We have a lot of work to do, and I’m pleased we have a detailed, thoughtful, collaborative effort in place to execute. Our end goal is to move people into housing.
I will continue to visit Binford Road on a weekly basis and communicate with you when we have updates to share. I appreciate the interest and concern from the community.
CALL TO ACTION : We can all call in at 9am on Tuesdays to the BOS meetings, speak at public comment about Binford via zoom (although they do not show our faces—just a black background) say what we have to say and hang up. That way people don’t have to leave work and drive down there and speak —and its easier than having to stand up and speak.
We didn’t get what we wanted, but there is movement. Without all of us getting involved, nothing would have happened.
Well, week after week after week I see the crime report of assaults, vandalism and theft on Binford Road. It appears, since you and I talked, nothing has changed.
You and I discussed requiring people to not have anything hanging around outside the RVs. There is still lots of material outside the RVs.
You told me contact was going to be made with local RV parks about having some people going there and the county paying six months rent for them. Has that happened?
I was saddened to see the article on the dogs being chained up out there.
It really seems that the County is just waiting for the problem to disappear or that those who want new locations for the unhoused, and for the environmental issues to be taken care of, will go away and forget about this. I don’t believe that will happen.
What are the concrete plans at this time for the RV’ers to be relocated?
What are the plans to not let the marsh get more environmentally damaged?
What are the plans to take care of the dogs that are chained up or allowed to run loose?
All dogs on the Rush Creek trail have to be leashed, and if not oftentimes MCOS is out there giving tickets.
From: Toni Shroyer Date: Fri, Jul 21, 2023 at 10:22 PM Subject: Animal neglect etc on Binford Rd This evening 7.21.2023 To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Dear Mr. Stapp,
Below are the three photos I texted you tonight about the ongoing abuse/neglect of animals on Binford Rd Novato. The MHS station for free vaccinations etc. each month is nice, but MHS needs to do the uncomfortable work that is desperately needed on Binford Rd to stop animal neglect/abuse. Each vehicle should be looked in and searched for animal welfare. If the resident is on parole, which I am told many are, this can be done with the MCSD.
I would like to thank Bridgette from your office who was able to confiscate the exotic birds that were in a camper in the scorching heat earlier this month after I reported it to the MHS for the second time. The inhabitable filthy, squalor-like trailer that held the birds, while they were in your care, was towed. Now the man who owned the birds either has the same birds that the MHS had OR he got new ones. I believe they are the same birds. They have no shelter, no awning to protect them from the heat or have air conditioning and I could not determine if they had water or food. This man has so much hoarding in his car that I am told he is being bitten by rats while he sleeps in his vehicle. Rats come out in the evening in the road where they look like leaves in the dark from his hoarding/junk pile on the wetlands. The “bird man” will drive his black suburban full of debris while rat urine stench permeates the air. The county is allowing this man to live in filth, squalor and inhumane conditions. I feel so badly for him and his birds. The Board of Supervisors know this man is being attacked by rats, yet they allowing his living conditions.
Earlier this year a small dog was weaving in and out of traffic on Binford Rd and was brought into MHS for safety by a friend. It just keeps going….
The second photo is of the dog who is tied to the bread truck (Colorado Plates) every time I drive down Binford Rd. This poor dog has been tied out in the rain earlier this year and has crawled under the bread truck for weeks trying to get shade. I have photo documented all of it. I have called MHS three times this year and was told the dog “was fine.” Today, Deputy Russo told me it is against the law to tie a dog to an object.
The third photo is of two dogs charging cars, teeth barred, as vehicles drive down the 55-mph road. The black dog is off leash, and the skinny and underfed German Shepherd was tied to a vehicle, unattended, where he/she could run into the road. My friend called over the weekend to MHS about the skinny German Shephard. He’s still on Binford.
Every level of our government, except for the MCSD, has failed the people, the environment/wetlands and the animals on Binford Road.
My family and I have adopted and rescued animals no one would take. I am truly an animal lover. I am a member of PETA and will be calling them on Monday to see how they can help with the situation on Binford Rd as I don’t feel MHS is adequately addressing the problem. I am tired of calling and emailing MHS about Binford Rd. PETA is great with media coverage and protests. Perhaps before that happens, we can all have a plan of action on how to better help the animals on Binford Road. Again, I appreciate your monthly Thursday services for Binford Rd residents, but there is much more to be done by the MHS for animal welfare.
On a positive note, Deputy Russo is very kind and professional when I called tonight about my complete frustrations and concerns about the birds who have been gasping for air and chirping madly in distress being tossed back on Binford Rd in inhuman and vile conditions.
I am hopeful you will confiscate the birds again—I will find them homes so they won’t go back to Binford AGAIN– and you will confiscate the dog tied to the bread truck (what a horrible life) and remove the two dogs who are running into the road— so they don’t get violently killed and flattened by a car driving 55 mph or more. Please see that the German Shepherd is fed.
I am also here to help. My family has trucks, and we can load animals to safety.
I am a 40-year resident of Marin County and have resided in Novato for the past 30 years. I speak for Friends of the Rush Creek Preserve, a group of over 140 individuals that use and enjoy the Open Space trails along the preserve. I believe that the County can protect the Rush Creek Preserve AND provide services to the homeless that deserve our compassion.
The wetlands of the Rush Creek Preserve improve the water quality of the preserve and connected waters of the north bay. The preserve also provides essential habitat for protected species, including migratory birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (16 U.S.C. 703-712).
The homeless parked illegally along Binford Road have a significant adverse impact on the Rush Creek Preserve, the habitat it provides for protected species and the local community. Shoulders lined with illegally parked vehicles adversely affect public safety as well because they block passage of emergency vehicles when a traffic accident closes the two-lane roadway (so do the earth berms erected by the County). Some of the homeless have deliberately strewn bent nails and screws on the road to impede normal use of the road by the public.
By spilling their human excrement and spreading trash onto the ground or directly into the wetlands, the homeless adversely affect public health and water quality as well. It is clear from the extensive algae blooms growing adjacent to the illegally parked vehicles that they are having a detrimental effect on water quality. Privately organized cleanups by civic minded volunteers have reported retrieving trash that included used adult diapers, tampons and dead fish from the waters.
The homeless have also had an adverse impact on migratory and predatory birds, birds that returned to the preserve after the wetlands were restored at great public and private expense. They now stay away from the shore due to the presence of humans and their trash, and because fewer fish are in the waters near the shore. One must walk ½ mile east before seeing birds in the numbers once seen near the shore. And the blackbirds that once sang in great numbers at the trailhead to the Open Space trail along Rush Creek are no longer present at that location. The same is true of other bird species that once thrived near the shoreline along Binford Road.
That the County permits harm to the wetlands to continue is shameful. Some of those living in illegally parked vehicles have ample means to live elsewhere, like the owners of a fully restored Chevy Nova, nice boats, and jet skis parked on the shoulders. One resident even set up a shop complete with unconfined industrial waste such as spent oil.
It includes those living in nice RVs with ample means to park them legally at a nearby campsite designed for them and available for a small daily fee. It also includes felons, drug users, and drug dealers. Those homeless are there by choice. They are grifters living off the generosity of Marin residents at the expense of the homeless that deserve our compassion.
The County is too eager to garner state and federal funds to provide services to the homeless without addressing its root causes. Their approach is all carrot and no stick. Officials from other counties and cities direct their homeless to Binford Road. They must snicker at the gullibility and incompetence of Marin County officials.
By providing services, placing porta-potties and erecting earth berms on the shoulders, the County has created a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). As a result, the County is required to evaluate the adverse impact of its project on protected resources and to establish mitigation measures that reduce those impacts to levels less than significant. If the latter cannot be achieved the County must consider alternative locations to providing services to those homeless. No exclusions apply; the County must comply with CEQA.
As pointed out by numerous citizens during public comment at Board of Supervisor Meetings, there are far more suitable locations where services can be provided that have far fewer adverse impacts. Suggestions include the vast parking lot at the Civic Center, or the old Honor Farm and the now defunct San Geronimo Golf Course purchased by the County.
One of those locations will have the fewest impacts after mitigating them to levels less than significant. It is the responsibility of the County to identify and choose that location to provide homeless services!
As much as I tire of writing these emails, I am sure you are just as tired of reading them.
My parents did not raise a shrinking violet, so I will continue to reach out until Binford Road is safer for the community and the wildlife.
Thank you again for being the ONLY government agency who is willing to help with solutions for Binford Road.
There has been yet another arrest TODAY on Binford Road: Possession of a Dagger, Burglary, Vandalism, Malicious mischief auto etc.
I hear there is yet another Binford resident who is from Lake County….the vehicles keep coming. We know the media and the county’s narrative is, “People are being priced out of their homes in Marin” but we have seen a slew of state license plates and out of county residents on Binford.
Per the county’s own admission, which is documented, they have housed only three people on Binford Rd since 2017. This is appalling and shameful.
I am respectfully asking you to enforce the law now with expired vehicles, tags and hoarding. We cannot wait any longer. Our safety is at stake and the algae from pollutions in the marsh is overwhelming.
It has been reported to me that the person living in the large bus (with all the solar panels next to Ex-Con-Current Con, Terry Kramer’s former spot) who has severe hoarding, has an expensive electric bike, does quick stops on Binford Rd for drug dealing. Please investigate this. If there are as many parolees on Binford as I believe, I am asking you to have your Deputies search all those vehicles.
I am also asking that you, as an elected official, to stand up to the bureaucrats, even if you are standing alone and double down for the good people of Novato. We need a leader and we have chosen you.
On a positive note, we really appreciate Deputy Thompson for doing the best he can, but figuratively speaking, he is “handcuffed.”
We have given up on Eric Lucan as he has no plan of action for the state’s 1.6M funding for Binford aside from hiring more staff and services for the residents, hence he will be kept out emails and our plans. If someone isn’t willing to help, they need to get out of the way.
Thank you for being in the Novato Parade on a horse noless! Please Cowboy Up on Binford Road!
