Point Reyes Light - December 6, 2001
Affordable-home plan back on track
By Gregory Foley
The nonprofit developer EAH last Thursday told 120 West Marin residents to ignore its warning of two weeks ago that the 36-unit affordable-housing project proposed for Point Reyes Station is in financial trouble.
A series of 11th-hour offers from the county and Marin Community Foundation early last week provided the necessary financing, and EAH’s Lamar Turner pledged that commercial development of a 2.13-acre corner of the 19-acre housing site will no longer have to be speeded up to bring in extra money.
Turner’s announcement – made in conjunction with a parallel pledge from Supervisor Steve Kinsey – surprised most of the crowd gathered at the Dance Palace to hear an update on the long-standing proposal.
"Two weeks ago, I didn’t know we would have solutions on the table that are now on the table," Turner told the crowd.
Kinsey assured residents and those county planning staff on hand that speeding up development of a visitor-serving commercial parcel and possible subdividing the project’s single-residence "farm" parcel into four homesites will no longer be necessary.
Referring to the project the public had expected all along, he said: "I’m extremely confident these ideas will become reality...The phasing, timing, and size will be as we all agreed."
Turner himself had acknowledged it would have been controversial to make the changes he thought were unavoidable two weeks earlier. The changes were set aside after Turner negotiated with Kinsey, Marin Community Foundation President Tom Peters, and county housing and planning officials to increase financial backing for the project by roughly $1 million.
County & foundation offers
The county offered $250,000 in fee waivers, plus ideas for incentives in which low-income renters at the project can get subsidies from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, Turner said.
Turner said that overall the county has committed $1.65 million in funds, incentives, and fee waivers to the project, and the foundation has spent or committed the same amount in grants. Turner said that $953,000 has been spent so far on planning the project.
He added that EAH has asked the county to approve the project’s plan as outlined in an application submitted last year. The developer has agreed to carry out mitigation measures that were mandated after environmental review this year.
The "mitigated alternative" – as outlined in the project’s draft environmental-impact report – calls for 27 affordable rental units, seven affordable for-sale homes, and a residence and guest-house to be developed on a market-rate lot. All of the structures are designed to appear similar to simple farm buildings.
Housing prices
The for-sale homes would sell for $175,000 to $200,000. EAH will line up buyers for these houses before lining up tenants for the rentals, said Turner. He explained that buyers will need more time to arrange for financing.
As for the rentals, one-bedroom units will cost $656 to $756 per month; two-bedroom units, $779 to $875; and three-bedroom units, $905 to $1,015, he said. Tenants and prospective buyers will likely be chosen through a "blind lottery process" in which names are drawn randomly from a list of local applicants, he added.
The influx of extra financing just prior to the meeting will allow EAH to honor a deal outlined in its current application that a 2.13-acre commercial parcel set aside for a visitor-serving use such as an inn or hostel will not be developed before 2006, Turner said. "The need to develop the commercial parcel before 2006 has gone away."
Buyer needed for one lot
As for the 3.78-acre so-called "farm" parcel designated for the northeastern corner of the property, Turner said that the land was originally planned to include five lots to be sold to private buyers at market-rate to raise $750,000 for the project. However, when Inverness organic farmer Peter Worsley offered to buy the parcel for a residence and farm, the plan was altered. "Unfortunately, that deal fell apart. We have no buyer now," Turner said.
Turner said, "it is our expectation to find another buyer," and pledged that if he cannot, EAH and its partners will "look for every way we can to solve the problem and avoid the increased count [of lots]."
Turner asked the audience to let him know about any potential buyers for the "farm" parcel, which he noted could be used simply for a residence and would not have to be used for agriculture.
Pam Bridges of Point Reyes Station told Turner she was "worried" about what development could occur on the parcel if a buyer was not found. Turner reiterated that he was committed to not subdividing the parcel but added, "I can’t tell you what’s going to happen."
Future of open space
Point Reyes Station resident Ken Levin said he was concerned that EAH doesn’t want to retain ownership of 2.6 acres of open space at the site. County planner Tom Lai, however, assured the crowd that the project masterplan will keep the land from being developed regardless of who gets jurisdiction over it.
Lai noted that the final environmental-impact report for the project – which was released by the county last week – is tentatively scheduled for possible approval by Marin planning commissioners on Jan. 14.
If commissioners endorse the EIR, county supervisors may rule on it Jan. 29. The project itself is tentatively scheduled for action by commissioners and supervisors in February, he said.
Turner said that if the project receives approval from supervisors by the end of February, construction could start by next summer.