When it comes to affordable housing in West Marin, every dollar of funding is crucial and every unit is an achievement. By that measure, local housing advocates took a few important steps forward last week when the Board of Supervisors contributed $360,000 to support housing projects in Bolinas and Stinson Beach.
“Both of these projects will provide much-needed affordable housing in the coastal zone, where it is extremely difficult and expensive to develop,” said Leelee Thomas, an affordable housing specialist with the county.
The supervisors set aside $140,000 to rehabilitate a home and attached accessory dwelling unit owned by the Calvary Presbyterian Church in Bolinas. They also allocated $220,000 to the Bolinas Community Land Trust to build a second unit on a lot next to a five-unit apartment complex in Stinson Beach.
“In Bolinas, our partnership with a local church expands who is investing in affordable housing, leverages private resources and supports a community organization,” Ms. Thomas said. “In Stinson, they are also leveraging local community funds and providing housing in one of the most expensive zip codes in the county.”
The Stinson unit will be owned and managed by the B.C.L.T. The Bolinas units will be managed by Calvary Presbyterian with support from the land trust as needed.
All three units will be owned and managed by the B.C.L.T. and will be operated permanently as affordable housing.
The Bolinas project, located next door to the church on Brighton Avenue, will implement extensive health and safety upgrades to the house and ADU, including new windows, a new roof, new flooring and mold remediation. When the renovations are complete, the church will partner with the trust to find qualified tenants.
“I hope this might be a stepping stone to some other projects that we might be able to support,” said Ellen Baxter, the minister at Calvary. “Getting this project approved has been a long process, and we’re lucky we’ve had the B.C.L.T. and the county to guide us. And it wouldn’t have happened without the heart our congregation has.”
The county’s contribution to the project will come from Measure W, which is financed by the West Marin transit occupancy tax. The Stinson project, located at 3755 Shoreline Highway, was undertaken by the Stinson Beach Affordable Housing Committee in partnership with the B.C.L.T. The committee raised funds for the purchase of the property in 2020.
Plans to build a two-bedroom, 1.5-bath ADU at the site were delayed by the pandemic and an unexpected intervention by the California Coastal Commission, which demanded that the unit be constructed on wheels so it could be moved if it was threatened by rising sea levels.
“My first response was a fit of pique, and then a little temper tantrum,” said Chris Harrington, a committee member who worked as a real estate broker in town for many years. “The county had approved our plans, and I thought we were done.”
The committee has since located a firm in Eugene, Ore., called Tru Form Tiny Homes, that drew up plans for a tripartite structure that will meet the coastal commission’s requirements. Each piece will rest on piers, and they will have wheels underneath them. They can be lowered to the ground and relocated, if necessary.
One section will contain the bedrooms and a full bath, and another will contain the living area, kitchen and half-bath. The two sides will be connected by a deck with a covered walkway.
“It will be a two-bedroom unit that will be affordable in a market where houses are going for an average of about $3 million and up to $15 million or $20 million,” Mr. Harrington said. “It will be rented at a price that’s commensurate with the income of someone who works in a grocery store or a restaurant or as a gardener.”
The ADU is expected to cost roughly $600,000 to build and permit. The committee has money from local donors to pay for roughly half of the project, and the Marin Community Foundation contributed $100,000. The county is contributing $100,000 from its affordable housing trust fund and $120,000 in Measure W funding.