Council Expected to Call for Environmental Review of Albert Field Baseball Proposal

The San Rafael City Council Monday night is expected to request an independent consultant's review of a proposal to bring a North American League baseball team to .

The review will be a detailed questionnaire regarding neighbors' concerns about the proposal by Centerfield Partnership, said Brian Sobel, a Petaluma consultant who has been representing the East Bay group that is pitching the proposal.

The consultant's review could result in a negative declaration regarding the proposal's impact on the neighborhood or determine if more study is needed on one or more issues that require formal environmental review, Sobel said.

The Dublin-based partnership is proposing 45 home games between May and September at Albert Park starting next year.

The group wants to lease the field at Albert Park for two years with an option for a third year. Dublin resident Brian Clark, Centerfield Partners LLC's CEO, owns the independent North American League's territory rights for the Bay Area.

The San Rafael team would join six others, including Canadian teams, in the independent North American League's Western Division. The games would not start before 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and also would be played on weekends. The teams play 90 games a year, excluding playoffs.

Neighbors have expressed concerns during two public meetings about noise, traffic and parking, and have urged the City Council to require an environmental review for the project.

“There’s a group [of people] who would like to see this work if some of the issues could be mitigated,” Federation of San Rafael Neighborhoods Chair Steve Patterson

"We don't think it needs an environmental impact report. We're renters, not developers," Sobel said.

A review by an independent consultant could take four months and delay the plans to put a team on the field next spring, Sobel said.

Sobel said he expects the City Council to authorize soliciting bids for a consult to review the proposal. Centerfield Partnership is paying for the consultant's review which Sobel estimated will cost $30,000 to $50,000.

The resolution before the City Council Monday states that although the City Council preliminarily supports the proposal, it won't grant actual approval until an environmental review is completed.

The resolution also states the Council retains its ability to deny the proposal if the environmental review finds it will have unacceptable environmental impacts.

The San Rafael City Council meeting is scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday at , located at 1400 Fifth Ave. in San Rafael.

San Rafael Patch will be live blogging the meeting. Check back for updates. See the full agenda on the right.

Bay Area News Serivce contributed to this report.