|
When the Nicasio Land Owners Association, Inc. (NLOA) was founded in 1961, it stated the following key goals in its Articles of Incorporation:
- To aid in the preservation of the beauty of the Nicasio area
- To study the possible future development and planning of the Nicasio area so as to take advantage of the natural beauty and topography of the area,
- To assist so that the Nicasio area may develop in a pleasing, well planned and orderly manner
- While recognizing that the development of the Nicasio area is inevitable and while not desiring to impede progress, to aid so that the future development is accomplished in a manner that will enhance the value of the community and preserve as much as possible its natural beauty.
For over 40 years the NLOA has pursued these goals, evolving with the changing needs of both our local area and Western Marin County. Today, still guided by these objectives, the NLOA has been instrumental in every county effort to develop planning and zoning rules covering the Nicasio Valley area. Besides providing a voice on County policy initiatives and development proposals that affect the areas, the NLOA has been proactive in the development of specific standards by which to guide development in Nicasio Valley. The most recent version of those standards, the “Development and Design Guidelines for the Nicasio Valley Planning Area”, was created through a huge effort by a large number of residents, coordinated by the NLOA over several years. These Guidelines were then adopted by Marin County in 1997 as the standards by which the county is to evaluate development applications in our community. Further, in order to insure a consistent, knowledgeable interface between the community and the county planning staff, the NLOA created the Nicasio Design Review Board. It has been the job of the Design Review board volunteers to evaluate development applications conformance with the Design Guidelines, and to provide to the county a local interpretation of whether a project meets the standards set out by the community.
Setting standards for development is not always sufficient. When key properties have come up for development, which many in the community felt could disproportionately affect the ambience of the community, a more active response has been marshaled. Here again, the NLOA has taken a leadership role, spearheading community based efforts to purchase the sensitive properties. The first effort of this kind was the acquisition of the Nicasio Town Square, jointly with the County of Marin. Many years later, the same effort resulted in the creation of the Nicasio Land Preserve and its acquisition of the parcel of land immediately south of the Square. The Nicasio Land Preserve, a charitable corporation under the NLOA, is now the vehicle through which the specialized efforts of land and land rights acquisition will be conducted. With the presence of the Nicasio Land Preserve, the NLOA, and therefore, Nicasio Valley, have a focused tool for preserving key features of Nicasio, while protecting the rights of landowners.
Today, the NLOA is working in many areas. These include:
- working with the Nicasio Volunteer Fire Department to get a significant and reliable source of water to the Square for the purpose of both keeping the landscaping of the Square green and for high volume, emergency fire needs.
- The NLOA sponsors both the annual community clean up day and coordinates volunteer sign-ups for the square, where families commit to 1 – 2 week periods for litter patrol.
- The NLOA manages the Nicasio Filming Policy, to insure that groups drawn to Nicasio’s beauty for advertising and theatrical productions do not disrupt the flow of the community, and to reimburse the community for the use of the Square.
- The NLOA coordinates closely with county agencies regarding land-use and planning issues that could affect the valley. This includes the recent placement of signs at the square limiting parking on weekends to insure that residents could retain access.
The NLOA is a membership organization, with policy making made by all dues paying landowners in Nicasio. It holds its annual meeting in the spring of each year, where it elects its Board of Directors. The Board meets quarterly to discuss issues and projects affecting the community.
To download a copy of the NLOA Bylaws, click here. The current board members are:
- Mark Burton, President
- Christopher Barnes, Vice President
- Mimi Lewis, Treasurer
- Kim Wallach, Secretary
- Richard Kinsey
- Eric Blantz
- Stan Loar
- Jeanie Casey
- Kent Grady
Minutes of Regular Meetings (Click to download) April 19, 2010
|
Nicasio Land Owners Assoc. and subsidiary committees and corporations 