The 45-year-old San Geronimo Valley Affordable Housing Association is in the process of becoming a community land trust, paving the way for the mostly volunteer group to become a staff-led organization that can reach a broader base in the San Geronimo and Nicasio Valleys. Working in tandem with the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin and the Bolinas Community Land Trust, S.G.V.A.H.A. creates and manages permanently affordable housing for valley residents. The association oversees over a quarter of the nearly 100 properties collectively managed by the three groups.
“We’re trying to become a more robust organization with the capacity to develop affordable housing for those who need it,” said Kit Krauss, the association’s chair. “The affordable housing situation in Marin just keeps getting worse while the need for housing just keeps growing.”
Marin is tied for the most expensive rental market in the United States, along with San Mateo and San Francisco Counties. Over half of Marin residents pay more than 30 percent of their monthly income on housing, with the median home price of $1.5 million up 3 percent from last year.
Community land trusts take property out of the speculative real estate market and hold it as long-term affordable housing, defined as costing 30 percent or less than a household’s income. C.L.T. housing can be rented or owned. Accessory dwelling units such as granny flats and backyard cottages and junior accessory dwelling units, or rooms rented within a housing unit, are incentivized under programs administered by CLAM and others.
S.G.V.A.H.A. was started by a group of valley residents in 1977 who were trying to find senior housing. In 2000, the association built six senior units on Sage Lane in San Geronimo, the first units in the valley to be preserved as permanently affordable. In 2015, the organization was offered the chance to buy a Forest Knolls mobile home court, which included 19 homes, with county funding. This ensured that the long-term tenants were safe from possible eviction or excessive rent increases.
S.G.V.A.H.A. will officially become a C.L.T. on Jan. 1, changing its name to Two Valley Community Land Trust. In preparation, the board created new bylaws to make the organization more democratic and broad-based. A tripartite board, which follows a standard set by other C.L.T.s, will split board seats into one third each of residents of the C.L.T.’s properties, residents from the local community and nominated experts or community leaders. New board members are appointed at an annual meeting, the first of which Mr. Krauss said likely will not take place until 2024.
In the meantime, S.G.V.A.H.A. has started working with the consulting company CivicKnit to create a fresh strategy for developing projects. The company, which specializes in community development, was founded by Steve Kinsey, the former Marin County supervisor of over 20 years, and is run by Mr. Kinsey and his son, Breeze.
“Over the next six months we’ll be helping go through a process of identifying and assessing a number of sites, trying to develop a framework for how [S.G.V.A.H.A.] can approach these properties on a broader basis,” Breeze Kinsey said.
Howie Cort, an association board member, said the potential to develop affordable housing on existing properties in the two valleys is large. Listening to the community, working with CivicKnit and following the lead of CLAM and the B.C.L.T. will guide the group in developing standard practices and identifying feasible properties, Ms. Cort said.
“I worked for 20 years at Lagunitas School. Many young families I know, including my son and his wife, can’t afford to live here,” she said. “We’re trying to find solutions for everyone, not just young people but seniors and families, too.