Golf Course Initiative To Appear On Marin Co. Ballot

MARIN COUNTY, CA – The Marin County Board of Supervisors voted this week to place a voter initiative aimed on restricting the use of the privately owned, former San Geronimo Golf Course property on the March 2020 ballot in Marin County allowing registered voters to decide the issue.

A community group advocated for a ballot measure that would allow a majority of countywide voters to approve the use of the 157-acre former golf course to anything other than golf. The initiative would amend the San Geronimo Valley Community Plan and the Marin County Development Code to mandate retention of the golf course use as the property’s primary use, official said.

Supervisors voted Feb. 26 to order the Registrar of Voters to place the initiative on the next statewide ballot. The Community Development Agency staff issued a report, requested by the board, to evaluate the impacts of the initiative petition that would require voter approval for any change in use of the property that eliminates golf as the primary use, the county said.

In coordination with County Counsel, staff concluded that the property owner – currently The Trust for Public Land – cannot be forced through a voter initiative to operate with golf as a primary use on the property, according to officials.

In November 2017, the county sought to purchase the golf course property and preserve it as a park and a greenbelt link to the valley’s rural villages to preserve the area's character, recreation and environmental uses.

The purchase agreement was rescinded in a decision in Marin County Superior Court, and the golf course operator closed the course in December 2018.

The staff report addressed such potential impacts of a voter initiative on the San Geronimo Property as property tax revenue, property values, land use impacts, potential economic development and election costs. View the report here.

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