By David Rolland
After listening to a plea from the Inverness Public Utility District, Supervisor Gary Giacomini on Tuesday changed his mind and limited all second dwelling-units in Inverness to 750 square feet.
The supervisor last month had endorsed one Inverness resident's suggestion for setting a 750-square-foot limit for second units on lots of one acre or less; 1,000 square feet on lots of one to two acres; 1,200 square feet on lots of two to five acres; and 1,500 square feet on lots of five acres or more.
Giacomini had agreed with some residents that 750 square feet is too small for a small family with low to moderate income, and that such a restriction would aggravate the shortage of low-cost housing in West Marin.
However, a letter from the Inverness Public Utility District helped reverse Giacomini's thinking.
"In the absence of a size limitation that effectively restricts second units to one-person occupancy, second units become a backdoor method for converting a parcel that is zoned for single-family residential usage into a multi-family parcel," wrote IPUD manager Wade Holland.
Holland also noted that after the severe flood of 1982 destroyed the town's water system, IPUD, the county Planning Department and the Inverness Association together conducted a "buildout survey" that would be used to rebuild the system.
"Thus," he wrote, "our water system's current plant and facilities were sized on the basis of the perceived ultimate buildout," which, he added, included small second units.
Giacomini said those people with big lots who want to build larger second units need to do so by amending the zoning for those few lots in the Inverness Ridge Communities Plan.
"This is a better vehicle," he told Inverness contractor Jack Matthews, who had hoped for more flexibility for second units on large parcels.
Giacomini then asked county Planning Director Mark Riesenfeld to expedite an update of the plan. Riesenfeld said his staff could probably get to it by late next spring.
Giacomini, who's retiring at the end of the year, responded, "I won't have the alleged influence I have now, but I can scream louder when I'm a member of the public."
Countered Riesenfeld, "I'll expect to see you in open time" when the community plan update reaches a public hearing.
As he was leaving the supervisors meeting, contractor Matthews commented, "I think we just got screwed."
Later, Giacomini told The Light he understands and agrees with Matthews' frustrations, but Holland and "soldiers" like longtime Inverness activist Kay Holbrook persuaded him the community plan would have to be changed.
"Who am I to say [to them], here, catch this turd in a punchbowl," Giacomini offered.