Point Reyes Light - November 22, 2001
Pt. Reyes house plan changes proposed
By Gregory Foley
EAH, the nonprofit builder, will hold a meeting at 7:45 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, in the Dance Palace to inform Tomales Bay area residents about developments in its proposal to build an affordable housing complex in downtown Point Reyes Station.
Lamar Turner, EAH project manager, will present an updated architectural design for the project. He will also tell how original plans to finance the development have changed in the last year. Supervisor Steve Kinsey and Marin senior planner Tom Lai are scheduled to attend.
Turner on Monday told The Light that the project is in its most critical phase and could become financially impossible if residents and county officials do not support certain amendments to the permit application it submitted to the county last year.
"People need to know that the decisions that will make or break this project are happening right now," Turner said. "I don’t want to lose this opportunity, but right now it’s infeasible unless we do some things that – for some people – are unpopular."
Turner explained that the EAH proposal still includes plans for 27 affordable rental units and seven cottages to be sold below market-rate. But because of increasing consulting, building, and environmental-review costs, the nonprofit must maximize its income from two market-rate parcels it plans to sell along Mesa Road.
Turner said that a deal to sell a 3.78-acre lot on the northeast corner of the 19-acre property to an Inverness organic farmer have fallen through
The farmer, Peter Worsley of Inverness, had planned to buy the lot for $750,000 and use it for a family residence and organic farm. EAH will now propose to build up to four market-rate homes on the lot. "We have major concerns that we might not find a buyer for that parcel, and we may need to increase the number of lots up there," he said.
A second lot to be sold at market prices – an approximately 2.1-acre parcel to be developed after Jan. 1, 2006, for a visitor-serving business, such as a bed-and-breakfast inn or youth hostel – will need to be sold to a private developer much sooner than anticipated to cover the increased costs of building the affordable-housing complex, Turner said.
"Two years ago, we didn’t need to sell that to make ends meet.," he added. "Now we don’t see any other way."
EIR recommendations
Turner said that the site plan he will unveil at the meeting will also reflect changes to the project’s design. These were recommended by a draft environmental-impact report as a way to avoid encroaching on wetlands.
The final version of the EIR is scheduled to be released by the county Community Development Agency next Thursday – the day of the EAH meeting. The document will be circulated for public review and comment for a two-week period before it is sent before county officials for approval.
Planner Lai told The Light that Marin planning commissioners will consider approving the final EIR at a hearing tentatively scheduled for Jan. 14. If it is approved, the document is slated to be sent to county supervisors on Jan. 29 for their approval.
If the supervisors then certify the EIR, the project application is scheduled to be reviewed on its merits by planning commissioners on Feb. 11 and by the supervisors on Feb. 26.