Bahia lagoon hits key hurdle

By Jeff Mitchell
Marin Independent Journal
Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Leaders from a key Bay Area environmental agency have told residents of Novato's Bahia tract it's unlikely they will ever get the necessary permits to dredge their sediment-filled, marshy lagoons.

A letter in January from Robert Batha, chief of permits and staff biologist for the state Bay Conservation and Development Commission, reported that the May 2000 application filed by the Bahia Homeowners Association to dredge the development's once free-flowing waterways has been returned.

Batha said the agency kicked back the application because it lacks permits, sign-offs or opinions from a myriad of critical state and federal agencies.

"At this time, it is uncertain when, if ever, full resolution of these (environmental) issues will occur. In addition, it is likely that that the application will have to be significantly revised (as the marsh continues to expand)," Batha wrote in the four-page letter.

Batha's words were amplified by Will Travis, agency executive director, who spoke Feb. 16 to members of the association's board of directors.

"I told them I understood and appreciated how terribly unfair all of this must seem to some of the residents that were there from the beginning," Travis said Monday.

"However, the bottom line is that nature is restoring that area to a marsh," he said. "And, as nature proceeds and critical (endangered species) habitat grows, the project just becomes increasingly inconsistent with our agency's policies."

Lynn Emrich, president of the Bahia Homeowners Association, said Travis' words were welcomed by homeowners association members, most of whom say they cannot afford and do not support the dredging project that now carries an estimated price tag of $17.9 million.

Moreover, Emrich said the project would mean individual assessments of as much as $90,000 for former waterfront homes and $45,000 for nonwaterfront properties could be imposed.

A survey conducted last fall by the association showed that a majority of Bahia property owners are opposed to the latest version of the dredging project.

Emrich said of the 288 homes in the tract, 240 property owners responded. Of the 240 survey respondents, 68 percent opposed the so-called "dredging" project.

The residents say they hope the conservation district's letter will help them persuade Marin Superior Court Judge Michael Dufficy to reverse his dredging order.

"I'm hoping that we will soon be released from the court order so that we can get out from under this impossible situation," said 20-year Bahia resident Sally Scott.

Emrich said an attorney for the homeowners association will continue with efforts to get Dufficy to withdraw his dredging order.

Until then, any discussion of alternative plans for the area is premature, she said.

"The marshland is beautiful. It's not the open water that some remember, but it does have a unique beauty all its own," Emrich said.

Contact Jeff Mitchell via e-mail at jmitchell@marinij.com