One of the action items identified in the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan is to “explore and gauge community interest in other revenue generating possibilities.” The City recently worked with a third-party to conduct a survey of local voters to determine community sentiment for a potential ballot measure to increase the local sales tax rate. On Monday evening, the … Continued
At their May 18 meeting, the City Council provided direction to staff to get community feedback and initiate a letter of interest for two “priority development areas” (PDA) in San Rafael. Since then, City staff created a webpage with an online engagement platform to collect comments and held seven virtual community meetings. The meetings provided an opportunity for participants to get a better understanding of PDAs, the current thinking and recommendations, ask … Continued
WATCH VIDEO San Rafael restaurants are excited to bring more outdoor dining to the community and we’re excited to be helping them hit the ground running! We created new, free permit types to accommodate businesses who want to use the sidewalk, plaza, or parking space in front of their business for outdoor dining and retail. Interested in dining outside at one of your favorite San Rafael restaurants? Not … Continued
The past few months have brought a number of unprecedented challenges to our local system of care. This newsletter will provide an overview of six of the most significant ways in which the City, the County, and our local homeless service providers are responding to the COVID-19 crisis. If you or someone you know is … Continued
Celebrate World Oceans Day with us by pledging to make a change in your life that will benefit our Oceans. You can say no to plastic straws and replace them with bamboo or stainless steel, pack your reusable cups/food containers instead of plastic water bottles and plastic baggies that end up in our Ocean. Color … Continued
This week, we worked with various City departments to create a free and automatic temporary encroachment permit that will allow businesses to use the sidewalk or plaza space in front of their business for outdoor dining or retail. Next week we plan to offer businesses the option to use parking spaces in front of their businesses as an additional outdoor dining location option. In addition, we’re building a crowd-sourced restaurant map so diners can easily find … Continued
From your Mayor & City Council We stand with everyone in our community and across the nation against systemic racism. Enough is enough. Our communities are demanding change that is deserved and past due. It’s time for all leaders to listen and do more to support our black community. And we won’t stop there. We … Continued
At the June 1, 2020 City Council meeting, Chief of Police Diana Bishop commented on the death of George Floyd. Watch this video to hear her full comments.
The Sidewalk Repair Program, like most construction in the State stopped and took a pause in March and April. With the amendments to the Shelter in Place order allowing construction to resume, the City and contractor, Van Midde and Son concrete have slowly started repairing sidewalk again. Additional protective and preventative measures are being taken … Continued
We know how important it is for our San Rafael Businesses to reopen, so we’ve partnered with the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Business Improvement District to support our incredible business community as best as possible. Over the weekend we created a free and automatic temporary permit process for businesses to use the sidewalk space in front of their … Continued
