Narrowly beating a looming deadline, the Marin County Board of Supervisors last week approved a plan intended to ease a critical shortage of housing. The updated Housing Element identifies locations where at least 3,596 units can be developed in unincorporated Marin, with more than half set aside for low-income or medium-income housing.
The board’s approval was unanimous, and it ended an exhaustive and contentious process initiated in 2020 after the state ordered cities and counties across California to increase their housing supply. The supervisors acted despite the Planning Commission’s decision earlier this month not to endorse the element—an eight-year program under the Countywide Plan—out of concern that it would violate local community plans.
If supervisors had failed to adopt the element by Jan. 31, the county could have lost millions of dollars in state funding for housing and other projects. Missing the deadline also could have allowed developers to initiate projects with few zoning restrictions.
The vote came near the end of an eight-hour hearing during which many citizens spoke about the need to create more housing for people who can’t afford the lofty home prices in Marin, where the median price of a single-family house is $1.9 million.
“First responders, teachers, principals, school administrators, nurses, caregivers, those who take care of our oldest, those who take care of our youngest—none of them can afford to live here,” Gail Dorph of Tiburon said. “What do we say to ourselves when one of the wealthiest communities in the United States cannot provide affordable housing?”
The lack of housing puts emotional and financial stress on families, said Teri Bleiweiss of San Rafael, who frequently travels to Southern California to support her elderly parents. “Moving them here would be a dream, but it’s not possible due to the limited housing options,” she said.
Responding to a critical statewide housing shortage, state lawmakers ordered cities and counties to plan for a substantial increase in potential housing sites. This year’s update required an especially large bump in potential sites and included tougher consequences for cities and counties that didn’t get the job done. Marin’s last update required just 185 potential new sites.
If the supervisors hadn’t met the deadline, developers could have invoked something known as the “builder’s remedy,” which allows them to undertake projects with radically eased zoning requirements.
The new plan won’t be a panacea, Supervisor Katie Rice said. “But I just keep thinking, every new unit of housing is one more family, one more teacher, or one more senior who is going to have a place that is appropriately sized and safe and healthy housing for them,” she said.
Passing the new plan on time means Marin officials will retain more control over projects, said Supervisor Mary Sackett. Sixteen developers in Santa Monica invoked the builder’s remedy after officials there failed to submit their housing plan on schedule, she said.
“The cost of not meeting this deadline is high,” she said. “I see it as a duty to get this thing done.”
Yet some speakers at last week’s hearing echoed the Planning Commission’s concerns about local input.
“For more than 50 years, the county has relied on collaborative community planning,” said Morgan Patton, the executive director of the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin. “It is unfortunate to witness some community planning bedrocks being modified.”
Ms. Patton feared that new housing could threaten environmentally sensitive areas, and others worried it would overburden public schools and complicate evacuations.
“The Housing Element is extremely destructive,” said Sharon Rushton, president of Sustainable TamAlmonte. “Planning for the flawed, unrealistic and unnecessary number of housing units mandated by the state does not override or outweigh protecting public health and safety and preserving Marin’s treasured environment and wildlife.”
The plan included zoning modifications intended to streamline the application process for new housing, making it more appealing for developers to break ground. Outside the coastal zone, it allows projects that meet certain height, density and architectural requirements to be approved without public hearings, provided at least 20 percent of the units are affordable.
In some locations, particularly along Highway 101, multi-family projects that had previously been prohibited by several community zoning plans will now be permitted.
Projects inside the coastal zone will still require coastal permits and must meet environmental standards set out in the California Coastal Act. Some projects on the original site list included locations in places with fragile water and wastewater infrastructure, such as Inverness, but most on the final list are located in areas that can handle additional housing.
There is no guarantee that any of the units will be built. The sites will only be developed if their owners wish to develop them or sell them to builders who view them as potentially profitable. And although sites are identified throughout West Marin, most are clustered along the 101.
Before the supervisors cast their unanimous vote, Stacey Laumann, deputy director of the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin, urged them to be bold.
“I think we all hold housing security as a human right,” she said. “The programs in the Housing Element will help advance our values of shelter as a human right, particularly for low-income people.”
West Marin sites eligible for development as outlined in the 2023—2031 Housing Element:
Tomales: Three vacant Shoreline Unified School District lots on Shoreline Highway behind the Tomales Regional History Center: 44 lower-income units and 14 moderate-income units. Two vacant lots at the intersection of Shoreline and First Street across from the Continental Inn: eight above-moderate-income units. Another vacant lot on the same side of Shoreline a bit further south: five above-moderate-income units. Two vacant lots on Dillon Beach Road, one north of the Tomales cemetery with four above-moderate-income units and one north of Dillon Beach Road on Mound Street with 13 above-moderate-income units. The Catholic church: 13 moderate-income units. The nursery: six above-moderate-income units. Underutilized lots at 200 Valley Street with six above-moderate-income units and at 29 John Street with five above-moderate-income units.
Point Reyes Station: The West Marin Pharmacy strip: 17 lower-income units. The Red Green Barn lot: 24 lower-income units. Vacant lots at county-owned 9 and 10 Giacomini Road: 37 lower-income units. The Coast Guard site: 50 lower-income units. The Grandi Building: 21 lower-income units. The Presbyterian church: three moderate-income units. Two adjacent vacant lots on Mesa Road across from the Palace Market: four above-moderate-income units.
Olema: The Sacred Heart Church parking lot: 20 lower-income units. The Olema/Sir and Star lot: 10 moderate-income units. The Olema Druid’s Hall: five above-moderate-income units. The Olema schoolhouse property: 10 moderate-income units. The Tama One strip: 11 moderate-income units.
Nicasio and San Geronimo Valleys: The upstairs and rear of the veterinarian building in Lagunitas: 14 moderate- and above-moderate-income units. St. Cecelia Church: 16 lower-income units. The upstairs at 6900 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Forest Knolls: two above-moderate-income units. An underutilized lot near the back of the Forest Knolls trailer park: eight above-moderate-income units. The Presbyterian church: 15 moderate-income units. The Nicasio Corporation Yard: 16 lower-income units. The Woodacre fire station: 10 moderate-income units.
Bolinas: 430 Aspen Road: two lower-income units. 31 Wharf Road: nine lower-income units. 530 Overlook Drive: two lower-income units.
Stinson Beach: An underutilized residential lot at 128 and 129 Calle del Mar: three above-moderate-income units. An underutilized commercial lot between Live Water Surf and the Redwoods Haus: five above-moderate-income units.
In Marin County, where a family of four earns a median income of $166,000, the threshold for low-income housing is comparatively high, at $149,100. A family of four that earns under $93,000 is categorized as “very low” income, and those that earn less than $55,000 qualify as “extremely low” income.