Write the Novato City Council (contact info included in this petition) and share your concerns like this citizen. It is election time here in Novato, and a great time to voice your concerns. Read below. 

Dear Mayor Lucan-

I was greatly dismayed recently to read the suggestion by Adam McGill in a Marin Independent Journal article (July 8, 2022) that additional housing could be built around the area of the Hamilton Theater, known as the Hamilton Town Center.  This goes against everything we were promised regarding the theater and surrounding area when my husband and I purchased our Hamilton home in 1999.

When my husband and I bought our Hamilton house, we were given a printed community plan called Inside Hamilton: How the Pieces Fit Together, which stated that the Hamilton Theater would be restored and made a historical monument and that the Hamilton Town Center area would be rehabilitated into some sort of community use area, with the likes of a café or restaurant, a park or similar outdoor use area, open community space, and so forth.  Similar plans are echoed in the Hamilton Master Plan published on October 15, 1993.  These may not necessarily be legally binding contracts, but I know if I purchase a car and am given a product description for that car and the car doesn’t have all the features described therein, it would be considered fraudulent.  It seems that the City of Novato is trying to move away from the original statements/promises made about the development of the Hamilton Town Center area, which is verging into questions of legality.  The City needs to uphold its promise to develop that area in the way it was originally described to the consumers who spent millions of dollars buying into Hamilton.

With the regard to the suggestion that additional housing could be built: HAMILTON DOES NOT NEED AND CANNOT SUSTAIN ANY MORE HOUSING.  Already, there are more houses/residences in the “main” area of Hamilton (the areas bisected or bordered by Hamilton Parkway, Hangar Avenue, San Pablo Avenue, and Palm Drive) than was originally described in the printed community plan, not to mention all the additional housing built closer to Nave Drive.  The houses in our individual neighborhoods are packed in tightly with small to non-existent back yards.  We need the open and community spaces in Hamilton to maintain the community’s essence and the quality of life we were promised and sold.  Adding more housing would simply add to the traffic, exacerbate our challenging parking problems, and make Hamilton feel like yet another overdeveloped suburban tract with no sense of community or quality standard of living. 

My husband and I would like to see the Hamilton Theater and Town Center areas rehabilitated and developed into what we were promised: “The Town Center… is designed as the social hub of the community.  Proposed uses include a café, a bank, adult education, and art gallery and a museum.” (Page 5, Inside Hamilton, 1999)  “There are proposals for the renovation of the theater… .”  (Page 12, Inside Hamilton, 1999)  “The Town Center will be designed both as a meeting place and a social gathering place including landscaped outdoor use areas integrated with the [already existing] buildings.”  (Page 18, Hamilton Master Plan, 1993)  These were very heavily emphasized selling points at the time of our home purchase.  

We have waited years for the leaders of the City of Novato to make good on their promises, and now there is a way.  The Hamilton Arts Foundation is willing and able to take on the project of renovating/rehabilitating the Hamilton Theater and surrounding area, with overwhelming support from the Hamilton community.  This foundation has already been in touch with many of your city leaders.  Please, in the spirit of serving your community, work with your colleagues to grant this organization a lease to the Hamilton Theater property and afford them the time to carry out their plan.  We will be keeping a close eye on which city leaders support this project come election time, and we will be voting in line with our observations of who upholds the promises and assurances originally made about the Hamilton Theater and Town Center.  We will also be very proactive about encouraging our neighbors and fellow Novato residents to do the same.

Thank you for your time.