Neighbors groups near a surplus school district property in San Rafael say they were stunned by recent notices for the community to submit offers to buy or lease the site. The so-called “notices of priority offerings” were sent only to nonprofits and public entities, but neighbors say Glenwood community groups were overlooked. They also say they are distressed by the school district’s short deadline to reply: May 31.
“They didn’t send out notices to the surrounding property owners,” David Tattersall, president of the Bayside Acres Neighborhood Association, said Wednesday. Tattersall said he first heard about the priority offering for the Glenwood Marsh surplus site when a neighbor emailed him on May 2. That was a week after the district had already conducted four public question-and-answer sessions for the site and the Old Gallinas, MacPhail and corporation yard surplus properties.
“We are very organized, but when we get blindsided like this, it’s hard to respond properly.” Tattersall said. School district officials, however, said they notified area nonprofits and public entities on March 15 that they were seeking community offers of uses for the surplus sites.
Then the district ran legal notices in the Independent Journal for three weeks in late March and early April, said Bob Marcucci, assistant superintendent at San Rafael City Schools. “We tried to cast a wide net,” Marcucci said. “The district has made an effort to reach out to the nonprofit and p.