Bay Model to Begin Debate About Future Growth
On Wednesday, the US Army Corps of Engineers will hold meeting to discuss the master plan for the Bay Model — a process that began over a year ago and is coming to a conclusion. The public meetings will take place on Wednesday, February 12, at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Bay Model Visitor Center, located at 2100 Bridgeway.
Discussion of the Bay Model comes during the city of Sausalito’s ongoing three-plus-year debate of its own master plan, though the two processes are not related.
A master plan is a community or facility’s vision for future growth; that vision eventually becomes a blueprint followed by a set of laws guiding development. The decisions made in the master plan process help shape the way a city evolves into the future. Will there be a working waterfront, or will there be postindustrial coffee shops and breweries?
Located in the Marinship, the Bay Model has become a hub for Sausalito’s working waterfront, and the home of Matthew Turner, one of the world’s newest tall ships. “A lot of people say [Matthew Turner] symbolizes the waterfront and the sense of community,” Alan Olson, the project director for the Sausalito-based nonprofit Call of the Sea, told us in February’s feature story, The Future of the Marinship — Sausalito’s Working Waterfront.
“I had this byline when we started the project: ‘Building a ship, Building community.'” Olson said that community was about more than just getting the Matthew Turner built; it was also about sustaining the longevity of the vessel, “and providing powerful learning experiences under sail for all.”
The 2020 draft master plan and draft environmental assessment for the Bay Model are currently available at their website: www.spn.usace.army.mil/Master-Plans/. “Click on the links in the right-hand column titled ‘2020 Public Review Draft Master Plan’ and ‘Appendix B: Environmental Assessment’ to access the PDFs,” the Corps of Engineers said. “Hard copies of the draft master plan and EA are also available at the Sausalito Public Library and the Bay Model.”
Comments on the draft master plan and EA can be emailed to: [email protected]. The public comment period runs from Feb. 3 to March 3, 2020. “Master Plans are developed with every Corps project and the public is encouraged to provide input,” the Corps said. “The plans guide the use of resources for recreation and other purposes and are written to include future possible developments on public land with the goal of ensuring sustainability.”
For more information, you can contact: Brandon Beach, 415-503-6958, [email protected], or Christanne Gallagher, BMVC Park Manager, 415-289-3009, [email protected]
Correction — We originally said that Bay Model was about to hold the first of a series of meetings. In fact, Bay Model’s master-plan process has been ongoing for nearly a year.