The Marin County Planning Commission on Monday denied an appeal of the proposed expansion to Health and Human Service’s offices in Point Reyes Station, but modified the permit to include new landscaping along A Street instead of two additional parking spaces and cosmetic revisions to align the building with the town’s rural aesthetic.
Since plans were unveiled last June, neighbors have called for a smaller expansion that, as is currently proposed, would nearly double the 23-year-old building’s 3,175 square feet. Though Health and Human Services officials have defended the need for a bigger building to accommodate a future boost in clients, locals and a spate of community organizations including the Point Reyes Station Village Association have challenged the notion that the expansion is necessary and argued that it would create an eyesore.
During a hearing on Monday, several residents expressed continued frustration over the project’s size, but recognized that gains had been made. “I feel we basically got what we wanted through this [appeal] process,” Pamela Bridges, one of two appellants and a neighbor of the building, told the Light after the hearing. “We’ll have a much more beautiful building, even though the size and the need are still questionable.”
Meant to mimic greenery found on neighboring properties like Marin Agricultural Land Trust’s headquarters, the approved landscaping would include a pedestrian walkway and the replacement of vegetation slated for removal during the expansion.
Commissioners also added the option—though not a requirement—to install a more rustic-looking corrugated metal roof and slimmer exterior wooden battens in a style similar to how ranchers historically have built barns.
Locals also sharply criticized the proposed parking layout. With the expansion, the property would have not enough space to host nine additional on-site parking spots as required under county code. The county’s Department of Public Works opted to grant an exemption from the requirement so long as seven new street parking spaces were provided to make up the difference.
With parking growing scarce as visitors flock to town, some on Monday worried that the loss of more public parking would worsen the problem. “This is a town that, in a sense, is fighting for its life with the influx of tourism,” said Jenefer Merrill, an Inverness resident who owns a home on the block. “That has to be paid attention to consistently.”
But Health and Human Services officials on Monday maintained the need for a revamped and bigger building to institute modern privacy standards and account for an expected increase in clients. Anticipating a boom spurred by a countywide focus on mental-health and substance-abuse services, increasing numbers of people covered by the Affordable Care Act and newly legalized undocumented workers, the department figures as many as 20 staff members may be needed by 2023, rather than the current eight.
“West Marin is one of the ground zeroes for the health disparities we have,” said Grant Colfax, the department’s director. “This is about bringing the building into the present, but also accommodating future services.”
In September, the county Board of Supervisors agreed with the department’s reasoning and approved conceptual designs for the expansion.
But some locals disagree. A former longtime service center employee and neighbor, Cindy Morris, said Health and Human Services may not see the kind of future client demand in West Marin that it expects. “As I see it, there’s less need for the services we provided that were driven by a low-income model,” Ms. Morris said. “If anything, [those services] are declining.”
She reasoned that low-income services peaked 15 years ago, as more wealthy homeowners ineligible for the center’s low-income benchmark moved into town. West Marin’s scarce supply of affordable housing, she said, will draw fewer Medi-Cal patients than the department might project.
Commissioners on Monday said they lacked jurisdiction to decide whether Health and Human Services actually needs the building. While accepting that the expansion could very well result in the kind of overly large building that locals fear, commissioners said their role as a compliance body prevents them from making considerations beyond ensuring that the building meets county code.
“To me, this building is too big for the lot,” Commissioner Peter Theran said. “I think the community is right. But we don’t get to make that decision.”
Commissioners voted 5-1 in favor of the project, with Commissioner David Paoli dissenting. Absent was West Marin’s representative, Wade Holland, who recused himself in light of advice he gave in September to the village
association.
At the time, Mr. Holland encouraged the group to strongly urge the county to consider relocating the service center to the nearby Coast Guard facility before taking any further action on the expansion. According to him, that site is large enough and has ample parking to accommodate a center that would meet the county’s needs—without any or much new construction, and at a significantly smaller cost.
Under such a plan, he argued, the Coastal Health Alliance clinic abutting the current service center—which he said is desperately in need of more space—could expand into the center’s offices, making the solution even more
appealing.