Point Reyes Light - July 10, 2003

Senior housing plan in Pt. Reyes Station dies

By Andrew Pridgen

A senior citizen-housing project once proposed at Highway 1 and the Point Reyes-Petaluma Road in Point Reyes Station has died after nine years of planning.

The project, which was to have been built on 16 acres immediately uphill from the proposed EAH affordable housing project, is now on the market for $2 million, reported Westgate Realty of Petaluma.

For eight years, 33 West Marin seniors spent an enormous amount of time, money, and energy to build a model village on the parcel, which is owned by the Toby Giacomini family.

The project would have allowed the seniors to live out their lives in their own community without having to move into a retirement community where there are central meeting and eating facilities (for those who want them) and a nurse on duty in case of emergencies.

The group, which incorporated as Senior Partners of West Marin, spent more than $800,000 just on initial planning and consulting with architects, engineers, consultants, local districts, and county staff.

$1 million for permits

Unfortunately, said group spokesman Bill Campbell of Inverness, "we found out we were going to need about another million just to get the building permit

"For a group of people no longer in their serious earning years, that’s a major handicap."

The groups had hoped to build 16 single-story duplexes, six of them as low-income rental units, one as a six-bed assisted-living facility, as well as a community center building with a courtyard on the 16-acre site.

"Nobody is disappointed for having tried," Campbell said. "We were developers without any development experience. We tried to take a simple approach. Sometimes, it was too simple.

Giacominis ‘generous’

"The Giacominis were very generous with trying to make this work. They bent with us quite a bit. We just did not have funds for the project."

Indeed, Toby Giacomini Jr., who represents the family in real estate dealings, told The Light he held off putting the parcel up for sale a year after the senior group officially disbanded , thinking they still had a chance to put a plan together.

"They were a dedicated bunch, and we believed in what we were trying to do," said Giacomini, who offered Senior Partners the parcel at a deeply discounted price.

The parcel is zoned CRA3B (Coastal, Residential and Agriculture) with a minimum lot size of 20,000 square feet – slightly less than half an acre.

North Marin’s role

Campbell said Senior Partners’ troubles may have started when the group approached North Marin Water District in 1997 to request it manage the development’s water and sewage systems, only to be turned down by NMWD directors.

Although it is North Marin’s policy to avoid any new sewage-treatment business, Director Dennis Rodoni of Olema did vote in favor of the seniors, saying that his district was "a natural" to provide the service.

Campbell also grumbled that having to simultaneously deal with county government, North Marin, consultants, and other members of Senior Partners just became too cumbersome.

"No matter what you try to build now, you have to have third-party consultants, preparation hearings, architectural fees, and engineering fees. It’s a pretty long procedure, and we didn’t have youth or money on our side," Campbell explained.

"I’m 76, and I’m not going to undertake this course again. Some of us have died, but nobody got severely got hurt [financially] for trying. There’s a satisfaction in making an effort. I’m just sorry I couldn’t carry it through."

Affordable housing

Giacomini, who has owned the property for the last decade, said he would still like the community to get some kind of affordable housing on the property to accompany the EAH project.

Realistically, however, he doesn’t think that will happen. "It’s so hard to get anything through the bureaucracy," Giacomini said. "Everyone wants cheap affordable housing, but by the time the Civic Center gets done with you, it’s next to impossible."

Campbell, who still has "rolls of plans and drawings" for the property, said CLAM potentially could develop the parcel for affordable housing.

Point Reyes Light Cover | News | Coastal Traveler