Ritter Center Medical Clinic Trailer Appealed to Council

Gerstle Park resident Hugo Landecker has filed an appeal to the Planning Commission's approval of the Ritter Center's planned addition of a 933-square-foot on-site medical trailer, requiring that the matter go before the City Council, according to an article in the Marin Independent Journal.

In the article, Landecker says that he and about 30 other community members have banded together to appeal the decision, including an anonymous individual who donated the $350 filing fee.

According to the center's executive director, Dianne Linn, the trailer would serve the existing clients more efficiently by separating medical clinic clients from day services clients, who use the center for showers, laundry and mail services.

However several residents spoke out against the trailer at the Planning Commission meeting on Feb. 14, some citing that the center had outgrown the location.

Armand Dahan, owner of the nearby , said that there had been problems with loitering by the clients outside the center. One of Dahan's customers also spoke about being harrased by one of the center's clients.

Other speakers who were opposed said that a "double-wide trailer" was inappropriate for the "gateway" of the city.

Linn acknowledged that the facility has reached capacity and said that when the center's lease ran out in three years, it would be looking for a new location.

In the meantime, Linn said that the additional medical trailer would have a waiting area that would reduce the problem of clients congregating outside in the parking lot.

The trailer would be placed in the center's parking lot and eliminate five parking spaces but Linn said that they had secured additional parking, two blocks away on Lindaro.

Linn does not see the medical trailer as expanding the activity significantly. With it, she said they would likely increase the daily caseload from 15 clients to 20 clients per day.