"The County of Marin has been famous as a beautiful piece of the planet, forest and farm and headland, and for the extraordinary things done here, against all odds, toward keeping that beauty whole." It took spirit and fight to "keep the beauty whole"--not only in rural West Marin, but also in urban East Marin with its irreplaceable bayfront wetlands. That spirit is still alive and is reflected in this plan.

The 1973 Countywide Plan included three goals which expressed community consensus about Marin's future. The goals were:

• Discourage rapid or disruptive population growth, but encourage social and economic diversity within communities and in the County as a whole.
• Achieve greater economic balance for Marin, by increasing the number of jobs and the supply of housing for people who hold them.
• Achieve high quality in the natural and built environments, through a balanced system of transportation, land use, and open space.

These three goals were carried over to the 1982 Countywide Plan along with a fourth one which reflected the emphasis on energy conservation in the 1982 update. The energy conservation goal stated:

Achieve a sustainable energy future for Marin County by reducing total energy demand; and by replacing substantial dependence on nonrenewable, imported energy resources with greater reliance on local, renewable energy resources.

The Marin County Board of Supervisors adopted the following updated goals for the Countywide Plan. These goals restate some of the earlier goals in more direct language and express the desires expressed in the public participation process on the plan.

• To preserve and enhance agricultural, recreational, and open space resources and the natural environment.
• To strive for high quality in the built environment.
• To preserve and enhance Marin's small-town community character and architectural heritage by encouraging appropriate building design and adaptive use of historical buildings.
• To create housing and varying job opportunities for Marin's economically and socially diverse population by encouraging affordable housing development and retention of clean business and industry.
• To coordinate transportation and land use planning and to provide effective public transit service which reduces dependence on automobiles, thereby reducing traffic congestion and emission of air pollutants.
• To achieve resource conservation by reducing consumption, and recycling and reusing products and resources.
• To encourage inter-jurisdictional planning in Marin to guide development which has adequate public services and maintains a high quality of life within communities and in the County as a whole.
• To recognize Marin's role as part of the Bay Area and to encourage working relationships with neighboring counties in dealing with regional concerns about planning and capital improvement projects.