By Kyle Frazier · October 22, 2026
Quick Answer
The 2.7-acre corner at Main Gate Road and C Street in Hamilton has been empty since the Navy sold it in 2005. A lawsuit over the site wrapped up in September 2026, but it did not decide what can be built there. Three things still stand between the lot and a building: a recorded covenant on the land, an open state cleanup case, and a commercial land-use designation that any housing plan would have to change. All three are still on the record this fall.
The corner that looks like a field
If you drive Main Gate Road toward C Street in Hamilton Field, the northwest corner looks like a field. It is 2.7 acres of grass with the SMART tracks and Novato Charter School close by. Decades ago it was a Navy gas station, and the site has been in cleanup ever since. The grass is planted. The City reported in 2018 that the cleanup excavation had been filled with clean soil and hydro-seeded.
In September, a long-running lawsuit over the lot came to an end. Three other things have kept the corner empty for two decades, and all three are still in place this fall. Here's what I know.
Three plans for one parcel
A private developer bought the property at 970 C Street from the Navy at a 2004 auction, and the deed was recorded in April 2005. Here is what has been proposed since then.
- A commercial project. This was the owner's first plan for the site. The City approved a Precise Development Plan for an office project in 2007, which matched the land's Neighborhood Commercial designation. Nothing was built.
- Thirty-one townhomes, filed August 21, 2013. The plan called for eight three-story buildings and one two-story building, with six homes set aside as affordable for-sale units. The application led to more testing and cleanup. The owner later withdrew it and went into contract to sell the site.
- C Street Village, filed November 14, 2018. A local cohousing group proposed 32 two-story townhomes and flats, eight carriage flats above detached garages, and a 3,738-square-foot common clubhouse. The group withdrew its applications on December 5, 2024, according to the City's C Street Village project page.
The cohousing plan was far enough along that Novato's adopted 2023–2031 Housing Element counted the 32 units in its development pipeline, with the status listed as "In review" as of January 2024. The project was withdrawn eleven months later.
The lawsuit, in brief
When the Navy sold the parcel, the sale came with recorded covenants that limit how the land can be used and that call for more cleanup before any homes can be built. In 2020 the owner sued the federal government over the cleanup terms of that sale. The case ran for six years in federal court and was dismissed by agreement of both sides in September 2026. The Marin Independent Journal reported that an appeal of earlier rulings is still possible.
Whatever happens with an appeal, the court fight was between the owner and the government over the terms of the sale. It never decided what can be built on the corner.
Three things still stand between the lot and a building
Both housing proposals for 970 C Street ran into the same three conditions on the public record. None of them has changed since the dismissal.
What still applies | What it requires | Who decides | Status this fall |
|---|---|---|---|
Covenant to Restrict Use of Property, recorded April 20, 2005 | Owners must follow its restrictions and request any changes | Navy, Regional Water Board and DTSC | Recorded. In 2018 the City described a residential development restriction that was still waiting to be removed |
Open cleanup case, No. 21D9220 | Remediation has to be completed before the case can close | San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board | "Open – Remediation" as of September 30, 2026 |
General Plan and zoning | Homes need a General Plan amendment, a Master Plan amendment and a new Precise Development Plan | Novato City Council | Still Neighborhood Commercial, Planned District under the Hamilton reuse plan |
The zoning row is more than paperwork. The townhome plan asked the City to change the land from Neighborhood Commercial to a residential designation that allows 10.1 to 20 homes per acre. It also asked for exceptions to the Exchange Triangle planning area's 30-foot height limit so the buildings could reach three stories and 34 feet. Those requests were never approved. Anyone who brings a new housing plan starts that process over. The City's planning pages show no current application for the parcel.
The Water Board file is the calendar to watch
The state's GeoTracker case record shows that 970 C Street is part of a larger cleanup that also covers the parcel across the street. The Navy asked to close the case in 2016. The Regional Water Board said in 2020 that it could not be closed yet. More cleanup work was done at the corner in 2018 and 2019, and the Board is now reviewing a site management plan dated March 2026. The case status was last updated on September 30, 2026, and it is still listed as open.
That review is the next real milestone for the corner, more than anything in federal court. The case stays open until the Board decides it can close, and changes to the recorded covenant have to go through the agencies named in it. The GeoTracker page is public and updates as the case moves, so anyone in Hamilton can check it.
The surrounding land is also being planned
The vacant corner sits among public uses. Novato Charter School is at 940 C Street in modular classrooms. The South Novato Library branch is at 931 C Street. Across the street, Novato Unified School District owns the parcel that is the other half of the same cleanup case.
That district land is on a separate track and is moving slowly. The district's first workforce housing sites are elsewhere in Hamilton and in San Marin. It has said its C Street property would come later, in a master plan for the block that has not been written yet.
So the C Street block has two separate efforts at different stages. The district's master plan hasn't started. The private corner lot is back to having no application at all. A new proposal for 970 C Street would be the fourth plan for the parcel.
Where that leaves the corner
For now, the corner stays a field. The lawsuit is over, the cleanup case is open, the covenant is recorded and the land is still designated for commercial use. Anyone with a new idea for 970 C Street will start where the last two plans started. The next thing to watch is the Water Board's review, and after that, whether a fourth plan shows up in the City's planning files.
This post is general information about public records, not legal advice. If a recorded covenant or cleanup case touches a property you are looking at, confirm what it means with a qualified attorney or environmental professional.
At Imagine Marin, we follow Hamilton's planning files the same way we follow its sales. If you have questions about what is going on around a Hamilton home, reach out so I can set up our first visit. Book an Appointment and we'll go through it together.
