SF Public Press continues its series on smart growth in the Bay Area. Though spotty at times, the series has shown a light on the issues facing our vast region now that Plan Bay Area is en route to its final approval. This week:

Former Patch editor Kelly O'Mara chronicles Marin's rebellion against Plan Bay Area. From Corte Madera's bogus claim of build-out to Fairfax's fight against three-story buildings, the piece explores the lay of the land though not its roots.
Sprawl's 50-year march across the Bay Area is clear in a new map, showing each community's "growth rings". The East Bay, Delta, and Santa Clara grew the most. Inner-ring suburbs and San Francisco grew the least.
The foreclosure crisis was exacerbated by transportation costs. Even in Marin, this is clear from unstable housing prices in Novato vs. stable housing prices in South Marin.

Marin County

Belvedere City Hall got all shook-up last week. Four staff members, two planners, the building chief and the city manager, have quit. Though criticized for conflicts on interest, the staffers' departure was apparently a coincidence. (Pacific Sun)
MALT snatched a 126-acre dairy farm from the market just as it was receiving interest from non-agricultural buyers. The land is now permanently off-limits to development. (Pacific Sun)
San Rafael is gaming out residential parking permits, as street parking has become increasingly scarce on unmetered residential streets. Perhaps, rather than a blanket prohibition on non-permitted cars, streets could be metered and time-limited for non-permitted cars. (IJ)
One Bay Area officials got an earful of ugly at a meeting intended to solicit input on Plan Bay Area, now going through environmental review. Rather than anything constructive, they got protests against human settlement gulags and global warming fabrications. Have any of these listening meetings have yielded useful feedback? (Patch)
Closure of the Novato Narrows got another $56 million in state funds, enough to extend the carpool lanes three miles. The project is part of a $700 million plan to widen the freeway in the area. The cost is roughly double that of SMART, and for a far shorter distance. (IJ)

The Greater Marin

Santa Rosa has approved dramatic zoning changes to its Coddington Mall area, ensuring transit-oriented development around the new SMART station. Over a millions square feet of office space, nearly 3,000 housing units, and a whole lot of retail will feature in the infill development. (Press Democrat)
Roundabouts, central to Cotati's planned (but floundering) downtown road diet, would be illegal in city limits if a ballot measure passes. (Press Democrat)
A county, divided into rural west and urban east, questions what its future should be. Held in thrall by a development-happy Board of Supervisors, the county now faces whether the region's urban metro system should extend into its borders for the first time. Loudoun County, Virginia, is an alternative future of Marin, facing many of the same challenges we dealt with in the 1960s but without the geography and coalitions that were so instrumental to our success. (Washington City Paper)
A transportation bill has finally passed the House and Senate, but it's not exactly what was hoped for. The transit tax reimbursement remains half that of the parking reimbursement, funds for transit have been slashed, and dedicated funding for active transportation like walking and bicycling have been cut in half. About the only consolation is that things aren't nearly as bad as they could have been. Oh, and it blocked $850 million in funding for Muni's Central Subway while gutting Safe Routes to School. (Streetsblog, Examiner, Pacific Sun)
And...: The ATF has ruled last month's BART-disrupting fire as arson, but there are no suspects. (SFist) ... People seem to like Muni's new all-door boarding policy. Now if only GGT had all-door exiting... (SFGate)

Marin

Traffic along Tiburon's main road is getting worse, but its bus line is one of the least-used routes in the Marin Transit system. TAM, MT, and the town think improving school-time bus service may do the same trick it did in Fairfax, although they're exploring other options as well. (IJ)
The historic building that housed Amazing Grace Music, the old instrument shop in the Redhill Avenue median, is gone. The San Anselmo landmark business has moved up the street thanks to George Lucas, who funded the project and lives a block away. (IJ)
Fairfax has its gateway supermarket back, now that the Good Earth has opened on the east edge of town. The corner has undergone a major transformation over the past few years, and the store looks set to become even more of an anchor for the town. Not to say that everyone's happy - a local merchant dialed 911 to complain about a lack of parking. (Patch)
Neighbors were up in arms over CVS's plans for a lit sign in Tiburon, but it turns out businesses are already flaunting local regulations. (IJ, Mill Valley Herald)
MALT's housing-oriented cousin, CLAM, has a new director with an eye towards smart growth and the particular human/nature balance that marks West Marin's villages. (IJ)
The Marin Board of Supervisors were busy this week dissolving the county redevelopment agency, reallocating funds for road repair, rescinding the priority development zone for homes around San Quentin, and bolstering their rainy day fund. (Patch, IJ)

Bay Area

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission wants high school interns this summer, and is actually willing to pay them. I'd be all over this were I 18 again. (Patch)
Parking in San Francisco could get even more expensive if SFMTA extends parking hours to Saturday evenings and Sundays. That GGT ride just keeps looking more and more attractive. (SFist)
SMART's rolling stock is on track for a 2013 delivery, and it turns out they're not the only customer. Toronto will purchase the same vehicles from manufacturer Nippon-Sharryo, and SMART, as a partial designer of the heavy DMUs, is getting a cut of the profits. (Press Democrat)
Rohnert Park's SMART station has officially been relocated to the city's center, much to the joy of all parties. Rohnert Park plans on building a downtown based around the station. (NBBJ, Press Democrat)

The Greater Marin

Raleigh, NC, is pushing the envelope when it comes to getting people to walk. But it's not the city doing the push - it's people who care enough about Raleigh to do what needs to be done, and sometimes that's just signage. (BBC)
Google has been instrumental in bringing transit data into the digital age with its GTFS protocol, allowing people to plan trips using transit instead of just cars. Golden Gate Transit and Marin Transit are not currently participants, but are actively working on getting online. (Xconomy)
Nashville has gone for the gold and released a new downtown zoning code that essentially does away with much of the zoning. No more parking minimums, no more prescribed uses, no more setback requirements. (Old Urbanist)
Norfolk, VA's The Tide light rail is going like gangbusters, beating ridership expectations in only six months. It faced much the same criticism as SMART, although the two systems will be rather different, and only time will tell how our rail system pans out. (Virginian-Pilot)
Building good bike infrastructure means more than painting sharrows, as Marin loves to do, and sometimes it means giving bicyclists their own traffic signal. (SanFranciscoize)