Planning commission opens contentious Local Coastal Program workshop on sea-level rise, armoring and Seadrift access

The Marin County Planning Commission held a multi-hour workshop on March 24 to review proposed Local Coastal Program (LCP) amendments that would revise how the county maps and regulates environmental hazards, including sea-level rise, flood risk and shoreline armoring.

Senior planner Kristen Drumm told the commission that staff had prepared a planning-commission review draft and that Coastal Commission staff had submitted a written letter with four response options: (1) remove amendments Coastal staff find objectionable; (2) reinstate language removed from the public review draft; (3) revise proposed amendments to address Coastal staff concerns; or (4) decline to modify the Planning Commission draft before certification. "There were 4 separate options," Drumm said, and staff presented those choices topic-by-topic.

Key technical matters and points of dispute included which sea-level-rise scenario to use for mapping and policy (staff used a 3.3-foot scenario derived from Ocean Protection Council/COSMOS guidance; several public commenters and Coastal staff urged an intermediate-to-high scenario, e.g., 4.9 feet by 2100),…