A Sausalito group has launched a ballot campaign to remove decades-old obstacles to growth in the Marinship area.
The former World War II shipyard covers 210 acres at the city’s north end. In 1985, voters approved Ordinance 1022 to preserve its “maritime character” by blocking most new development.
“The perception that’s behind this group is that nothing really has happened in 40 years,” said Fred Moore, a planning commissioner and supporter. “The intensity of uses haven’t increased. The marinas haven’t expanded. … And, in addition to not changing, things are now decaying.”
“What we are trying to change are some of the prohibited uses, letting businesses sell what they make,” said Adrian Brinton, an organizer with the group, called Sausalitans for a Thriving Waterfront. “We have a lot of producers in the Marinship and right now they are prohibited from selling.”
“We used to have 23 fishing fleets out of Sausalito. Now we only have eight,” said organizer Sharna Brockett. “And they can’t, for example, create a co-op to start selling like a fish market.”
In recent years, advocates have called on officials to create a Marinship master plan and amend Ordinance 1022 to lift development restrictions. Growing impatient, they created the citizens group and drafted a ballot measure to revise the zoning law. The initiative was filed recently with the city clerk, starting the ballot-qualifying process.
Ordinance 1022 was created to reduce automobile traffic and related development, according to city documents.
“It is in the best interests of the present and future residents of the City to reduce the increase in automobile traffic generated by new development in the City’s commercial and industrial zones and to preserve the maritime character of those areas by reducing permissible density,” the ordinance said.
To achieve that, it preserved and froze existing uses, barred parcels from being split into smaller lots, barred conversion or changes in use, and capped the floorspace of any building at 30% of the underlying lot size. Additionally, these prohibitions could only be overruled by voters, such as last fall’s Measure J, which allowed an office complex to be replaced with apartments.
“There are underutilized parcels and one reason is the land-use laws,” Brinton said.
Boats are docked in Clipper Yacht Harbor in the Marinship area of Sausalito, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
The measure, titled “The Arts, Industrial & Maritime Preservation & Improvement Initiative” or “AIM Initiative,” would loosen specific 40-year-old restrictions.
“We’re increasing the floor area ratio and we’re increasing the height limit a bit to encourage three- to four-story commercial buildings,” Brinton said. “We’re talking about complementary businesses. We want cafes, coffee shops, galleries, restaurants, things like that. … With the passage of Measure J, it’s super important to have some services down there.”
“For example, if you want to put a bakery down there, you don’t have to go to voters,” Moore said. “Or if there’s a retail shop, certain retail shops are allowed, if you get the proper permits.”
“There’s so much these old laws are preventing,” Brockett said. “What this would do is change that so the people who are there — the artists, the industrial fabricators, the makers, the creators, the maritime businesses, can actually start to adapt and grow and thrive if they want to.”
The City Council has been planning to revisit Ordinance 1022 as part of its economic development discussions.
Mayor Steven Woodside said he is aware the campaign filed the measure with the city.
“I think it’s very important to carefully read it to ascertain its major objectives,” he said. “It’s a complicated lengthy process document.”
Unlike other ballot measures, only voters — not the City Council — can modify the ordinance initially passed by voters.
Organizers said they will seek to gather 800 petition signatures by early June to qualify the measure.
Brockett said several public forums are being planned, and she expects lively debate.
A car drives down Gate 5 Road in the Marinship area of Sausalito, Calif. on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)