Tobacco and Vape Sales Ban Heads to a Final Vote, Over Sharp Resident Objections

Corte Madera's Town Council is poised to give final approval Tuesday to Ordinance No. 1060, which would repeal and replace the town's tobacco rules and end the sale of tobacco and nicotine products by local businesses. Existing retailers would get a wind-down period to sell through January 31, 2027, after which the town's tobacco-retailer-licensing chapter would be repealed outright. Staff is recommending the Council waive further reading and adopt the ordinance as introduced on September 1.

“I personally will vote out anyone who supports this. We have lost so many rights already.”\u2014 Ann Cameron, Corte Madera resident, opposing the ban

The measure has drawn a wave of written opposition. Margaret DeCuir, a Larkspur resident, argued "adults who choose to use these products will simply buy them somewhere else," while Birch Ave resident Rita Emami called it "a dangerous precedent if the city starts deciding what we as citizens can and can't buy at local stores." John Fragola made a similar case, framing tobacco purchases as a legal adult choice.

The sharpest words came from resident Ann Cameron, who argued existing underage-sales laws already do the job the ban is meant to do \u2014 and made clear the fight won't end at Tuesday's vote.

If adopted, Corte Madera would join a small but growing list of California towns banning tobacco retail sales outright, and this week's public comment suggests the town's tobacco politics are just getting started.

Council Moves to Hire Outside Counsel to Investigate Its Own Closed Sessions

Tucked among Tuesday's business items \u2014 and among the highest-scored on the whole agenda \u2014 is Resolution No. 39/2026, which would engage A.W. Blan Workplace Legal Services to conduct an independent investigation, paired with a limited waiver of the Brown Act's confidentiality rules. That waiver would let anyone who attended Council closed sessions on May 20, 2026 and August 11, 2026 speak freely to the investigator about what happened behind those doors \u2014 information state law normally seals shut.

The item was continued from the Council's September 1 meeting, meaning this is at least the second time it has come before members without resolution. The agenda gives no hint of what triggered the probe or what it's meant to uncover; staff's recommendation is simply to adopt the resolution as written.

No public comment on the item appears in the record so far. Whatever prompted two closed sessions to warrant an outside investigator, residents will have to wait for Tuesday's meeting \u2014 or any findings that eventually become public \u2014 to learn more.

Two New Houses Proposed for Long-Vacant Meadowsweet Drive Lots, With a Height Variance in the Mix

Two vacant parcels at the corner of Meadowsweet Drive and Casa Buena Drive came before the Planning Commission for design review, with plans to finally build on land that's sat empty for years. On Lot 2 (APN 033-031-68), the application calls for a three-level single-family residence plus a detached accessory dwelling unit; next door on Lot 3 (APN 033-031-69), the plan is another three-level single-family home.

The Lot 2 proposal comes with a wrinkle: applicants are also seeking a variance to let part of the parking deck rise higher than three feet within the front yard setback \u2014 normally a hard line in Corte Madera's design rules. That request means commissioners had to weigh not just the architecture but whether the site justifies bending a standard height limit.

The record doesn't show a staff recommendation or an outcome for this hearing, so where the Commission landed on the design and the variance remains unclear. Neighbors watching this corner should look for a subsequent hearing where a formal decision gets made.

Emissions Down 34% Since 1990 \u2014 But a Shrinking Committee Faces a 2028 Deadline and a Fleet That's Barely Electrified

Corte Madera's communitywide greenhouse gas emissions sit 34% below 1990 levels, well ahead of the county's 24% average, Christine O'Rourke of the Marin Climate and Energy Partnership told the Climate Action Committee in August. The town's Climate Action Plan targets a 40% cut by 2030; electricity emissions are down 92% since 2005 and waste is down 38%, but transportation \u2014 down only 25% \u2014 remains the biggest slice of the pie.

The progress hasn't caught up with the town's own vehicles. Of 30 municipal vehicles, 22 sit at the Corporation Yard, which has just one EV and one charger. A completed Fleet Electrification Plan and more Corporation Yard chargers are now in the pipeline, and staff are eyeing the North Menke Park lot for public charging \u2014 but the work is landing on a committee that shrank to five members after two seats turned over, forcing a reorganization of its ad hoc subcommittees to stay exempt from the Brown Act's open-meeting rules. Three now stand: landscaping (tackling turf at Central Marin Fire Headquarters), heat pump messaging, and continued EV charging work.

That heat pump work has new urgency: a Bay Area Air District rule takes effect in January 2028 requiring new residential water heaters to meet zero-NOx standards \u2014 a bar that today only electric heat pump units clear. The committee's September 16 agenda has its heat pump subcommittee drafting homeowner outreach ahead of that deadline, alongside a Student Ambassador Program that has drawn two applications so far and plans to join the Repair Fair and, pending approval, Oktoberfest.