Exciting Progress on Retrofitting the Gables
Your Inverness Association is rapidly moving forward to make the Gables (housing the Inverness Library) the first carbon emission free library in the State of California (as far as we know)! Parallel work is being done on the Jack Mason Museum annex behind the library. The IA owns both buildings.
So far, we have insulated the Gables attic, sealed 799 cracks in the outer skin of the building, installed updated and more efficient electrical panels, put in heat pumps, installed electrical hot water heating in the kitchen, as well as put in an emergency shut-off in the water line, to prevent an unexpected leak from causing a flood when no one is in the library.
Still to come are solar panels on the west side of the Gables, and two electrical storage batteries. When all these improvements are complete, the Gables will generate enough electricity to meet all its needs, and even provide some power back to the grid. The propane tank will soon be a thing of the past.
All these improvements will serve a variety of purposes.
The Inverness branch library presently has more electricity outages than any other Marin County branch library. This will come as no surprise to anyone living in Inverness. With these new systems, power outages will be a thing of the past!
With increasing global temperatures, Inverness is becoming warmer and warmer. The library must close when temperatures get too high, and even before that the library and reading room can become uncomfortably warm. The same problem occurs in the Museum Annex. The new heat pumps provide both heating and air conditioning, so overheating will no longer be a problem.
Severe heat events can cause illness and death, especially among older people. Very few houses in Inverness have air conditioning, and getting to Point Reyes is difficult for some. The library will now become a cooling center, which may be especially important to kids at Inverness School.
We also hope to put in electric car chargers at Plant Park, but that project is moving slowly. It is very expensive, but we are hoping to fully fund the project through a grant from PG&E.
All these improvements cost a lot. We are combining federal tax credits (available to nonprofits like ourselves) with a very generous grant from Marin County. This grant was made possible because our Supervisor, Dennis Rodoni, convinced his fellow supervisors to set up an infrastructure improvement fund for West Marin. Thank you, Dennis!
Even with these sources of funds, we still do not have enough to pay for the entire project. We have applied to the State of California for funding, and hope to hear in October. Even if we don’t get that grant, we have decided to proceed with completing the entire project. If the grant does not come through, we may ask the Inverness community to help us make up the shortfall.
You and your Inverness Association are doing our parts in making Inverness a better place to live, and fighting climate change.
Short-term Rentals
IA’s Comment letter on the County of Marin’s Draft Short-Term Rental Standards here
Inverness Association position on Short-Term Rental Restrictions
Adopted May 22nd, 2023
The Inverness Association supports additional restrictions on short-term rentals in West Marin once the moratorium on short-term rentals is lifted. Further, the Inverness Association is supportive of restricting short-term rentals from operation by corporations and limiting the number of short-term rentals to one unit per homeowner.
This position is based on feedback the Inverness Association received from the Inverness community through a survey it conducted between March 3rd and April 1st 2023. The majority of the 336 respondents of the survey (80.3%) support either some restrictions (72.6%) or a total ban (7.7%) on short-term rentals. Of those in favor of restricting short-term rentals, 77.7% support banning corporations from operating short-term rentals, and 55.7% support limiting the number of rentals to one rental per homeowner.
Of the 336 survey respondents, 269 either live in Inverness and/or are homeowners in Inverness; of that subset, 186 respondents are full time residents of Inverness. Inverness residents and homeowners were even more supportive of restrictions than the overall survey population; however there wasn't always consensus on the types of restrictions that should be implemented.
The survey results are rich with detail and we recommend the County of Marin review the findings of the Inverness Association to inform its position on short-term rental restrictions in West Marin.
This position relates to short-term rentals as defined by the Country of Marin and not other types of lodging in Inverness.
The Inverness Foundation has submitted an application to become a FireWise community. See “What We Do” for more information.
The Inverness Foundation has submitted an application to become a FireWise community. See What We Do for more info.
Neighborhood Disaster Liaison Map & Contact List
The Inverness Foundation is working with the Inverness Disaster Council, the Inverness Fire Department and other agencies and community members to improve Inverness' ability to respond to earthquakes, fires, and other natural disasters.
Visit the Disaster Preparedness page for more information.
— Quick Links —
Inverness Disaster Liaison Map (download PDF)
Neighborhood Contact List (download PDF)
Inverness Park Disaster Liaison Map (download PDF)
Inverness Park Neighborhood Contact List (download PDF)