By J.K. Dineen : sfchronicle – excerpt

A proposed condo complex in the heart of Sausalito’s historic waterfront district is set to ignite a political and legal battle that could determine whether the Marin County city will preserve its historic status as a development no-go zone or open itself up to a new generation of housing production.

This week, property owner Linda Fotsch submitted an application to redevelop a half-acre site at 605-613 Bridgeway, now home to four storefronts. The project, marketed as Waterstreet, would consist of 41 market-rate condos as well as six “very low income” affordable units, Fotsch said.

The facades of the four existing retail spaces, part of the city’s downtown historic district, would be preserved while five stories of new condos with wraparound balconies would step back from Bridgeway. Most of the half-acre complex would be built on a parking lot that lies behind the four buildings, which house a deli, an ice cream parlor and a wine bar…

But the Waterstreet project, and the broader implementation of the housing element, will face both legal and political obstacles. The condo development is in conflict with Ordinance 1022, a 1985 voter-approved “Fair Traffic Initiative” that broadly forbids development in much of the city…(more)

This is one of those iconic tourist friendly views and waterfront promenades that will be forever changed if anything happens here. For those who have no taste or sense of history or enjoy visiting such places, losing it will be meaningless, but, for those of us who spent many warm sunny days walking along these shores it will mean there is nothing left to return to. Probably what they have in mind. Killing off the friendly passage through the village, because Sausalito is a village, to build a few tacky housing units. And of course removing as many parking spaces as they can because who needs car to get up to those steep hillsides that are only accessible via the windy hilly lanes. No doubt they will finally take out the houseboats and small slips in the harbor to make room for the over-size yachts that will soon be lining up to replace them.