Point Reyes Light - December 7, 2000
West Marin hopes for diversity without growth
By Stephen Barrett
West Marin residents tried Monday to reconcile their warmest hopes for the future with the harsh reality of a real estate market that many believe is eroding West Marin’s quality of life.
The so-called "visioning" exercise by 30 participants at the Dance Palace was sponsored by the Marin Community Development Agency as it prepares to update the housing element of the countywide plan.
State law requires periodic updates of city and county plans to meet for anticipated growth with housing opportunities for people of all income levels.
Planners asked the group to break into small groups and discuss the trends and challenges of the housing market, the qualities that make West Marin special, and what the population might look like 20 years from now.
Bleak housing trends
Independently the groups recognized various housing trends: skyrocketing prices and rents, increasing absentee ownership, the replacement of second-unit rentals by bed-and-breakfast lodging, a dire shortage of workforce housing, and a tendency towards construction of larger new homes.
Inverness builder Marshall Livingston – sitting in a group that included a rancher, writer, school teacher, utility worker, and graphics designer – noted that no one at the table would be capable of meeting the mortgage payments required for a single-family home in today’s market. "Housing is out of reach for just about everyone here," he said.
Still, most residents shared hopes that the future populace would include people of all ages, incomes, and lifestyles living and working together in walkable communities, free of suburban sprawl, surrounded by sustainable agriculture, accessible by mass transit, and with plenty of available parking.
Indeed, protecting the environment was of paramount interest to many at the meeting. The greener visions were of communities that conserve water, manage their own waste, do not deplete natural resources or destroy wildlife habitat, and plant gardens or drought-resistant native landscapes instead of lawns.
But how?
How these visions might be realized was not addressed by county planners. Point Reyes Station resident Ken Levin questioned how the countywide plan can incorporate the ideals of sustainability when state law seems to insist that population growth is inevitable and new construction a necessity.
Permaculturist James Stark of Point Reyes Station suggested that the countywide plan begin with an assessment of Marin’s natural environment as a starting point. "How can we talk about sustainability without a sense of what we’re trying to sustain," he asked.
Perhaps planners should adopt the perspective of Marin County as a group of distinct watersheds, suggested Point Reyes Station resident Michael Mery, chairman of the Tomales Bay Watershed Council.
Consultant David Driskell, whose firm is helping county and local planners update the housing element, said the visioning exercise is a necessary first step towards adopting housing policies that acknowledge both local values and external pressures.
"You can’t shrink-wrap yourselves," Driskell said. "Change happens. It’s how you manage that change that makes a difference."