Yeah, your number three option seems the best...
Separate male and female patrols until they reach a certain age and rank (my gut says 14 and First Class, kind of like the requirement for Scouts to join and continue working on advancement.) Then combine into Venturing Patrol (name isn't important, but could be kept for legacy...)
Adult volunteers who know what they are doing, and have a passion for the specific program.
Think about who would be the majority of adult volunteers for these programs... What type of person or background comes to mind??
I brought this very thing up several years ago and was lucky to make it out of the room in one piece!
Makes no sense at all to me that you can have 3 troops/packs meeting within 1 mile of each other, all struggling to draw more than a hand full of members to a meeting.