The 415
Marin looks to curb kids on e-bikes
Marin County kids might have to park their e-bikes for a few years. At least that’s the plan under review by the Marin County Board of Supervisors, which is considering an ordinance making it illegal for children under 16 to operate a Class 2 e-bike in unincorporated Marin. The regulation would also require riders of all ages to wear helmets on those e-bikes, which can travel up to 20 mph. According to county officials, the e-bike accident rate in Marin County for 10- to 15-year-olds is five times higher than for all other age groups according to Marin 911 data, statistics which mirror national trends. If the supervisors move forward, the ordinance would take effect July 1. Marin’s cities and towns will consider similar ordinances over the next few months with the same July 1 effective date to provide consistency across Marin, according to county officials.
According to data provided by the county, from 2019 to 2022, 911 calls in Marin related to all bikes rose 110% among school-aged youth. In fall 2023, Marin County Public Health began collecting data on 911 responses to e-bike injuries. The data shows the e-bike accident rate for 10- to 15-year-olds is five times higher than for all other age groups. On conventional bikes, the same group has a 1.5 times higher accident rate than other age groups. For information, visit marincounty.gov. — JW
“Blue Turns to Grey” was a deep-cut Rolling Stones song from the mid-‘60s, but these days could serve as a fitting theme to the Marin County Civic Center’s iconic blue roof, which “has been concealed by a layer of encrusted dust and dirt, giving it a pale gray color,” according to Marin County officials. The county this summer is having the roof cleaned for the first time since a new membrane material was applied to the roof in 2020. The roof will soon return to its original “Marin blue” color, the county announced in a press release. Built more than 60 years ago, the 470,168-square-foot Civic Center is the largest completed public project that architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The project to clean the roof and make minor repairs will be put to public bid and is expected to have the contract awarded by the Marin County Board of Supervisors in June. The actual cleaning is anticipated to begin in August and take about two months. “Due to the uniqueness of the building and the special material of Grey civic center roof returning to ‘Marin blue’
the roof, there is not a standardized process for the planned work,” the county said. Marin public works staff estimates the project may cost $1.5 million.— NBb staff
The North Bay population is on the rise, albeit modestly. Following multiple years of population decline, the latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show a slight rebound in local residents. From July 1, 2023 to July 1, 2024, Marin County gained 2,007 people, or .78%; Sonoma County gained 3,563 people, or .74%, while Napa County has declined in population by 489, or .36%. The overall gain in the three-county area comes to an increase of 5,081. Despite the small increases last year, local populations still haven’t recovered from their pre- pandemic highs when Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties boasted totals of 262,321, 488,863 and 138,019, respectively, for a total of 889,203 in 2020, or 14,701 more than the population today. That said, the population growth in the North Bay mirrors nationwide trends, in which 90% of metro areas across the U.S. saw gains, leading to an overall metro growth of 1.1%. According to the Census Bureau, the gains are largely down to increases in international migration. “While births continue to contribute to overall growth, rising net international migration is offsetting the ongoing net domestic outmigration we see in many of these areas,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. For more information, visit census.gov .— JW Marin population rebound mirrors national trends
May 2025
NorthBaybiz 13
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