Housing Element Update

Housing Element Update

Community Meeting March 31, 6-7pm via Zoom

 

As I previously shared, the County of Marin is in the process of updating the Housing and Safety Elements of the Countywide Plan. State law requires counties to plan for future population growth and update their housing elements on a regular cycle – this current planning cycle will address needs for the years 2023-2031.  

 

In spring 2021, the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) set by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) directed Marin to plan for over 14,000 units of which 3,569 units are in unincorporated Marin County. Last June, the Board of Supervisors directed staff to appeal Marin’s unincorporated numbers, and the appeal was denied.

 

At our joint Board of Supervisors and Planning Commissioners meeting on March 15 we were presented with a hybrid list of housing sites for consideration. In that iteration, District 5 had a total of 13.1% of units identified throughout unincorporated Marin County.

 

At our March 15 meeting, I directed staff to decrease the sites along the Atherton Corridor from 30 units per acre to 20 units per acre (and previously, at our March 1 meeting, directed staff to remove underutilized sites on Bay Tree Hollow and Equestrian). Staff was also directed to reduce the buffer of units identified. 

Our County Housing staff will be holding a community workshop (via Zoom) next Thursday, March 31^st (6-7pm) to discuss additional candidate sites in Novato’s Atherton Corridor and the San Geronimo Valley (District 4 & District 5). As stated above, the unit count was reduced at our March 15 meeting and several candidate sites were removed from the list. To make up for that deficit, looking into additional sites in Novato’s Atherton Corridor and San Geronimo Valley was recommended. The sites will be presented at this meeting, and then posted on-line. These sites are new and have not yet been considered by the Board and Commission. Please register here to attend the meeting.

On April 12 the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commissioners will meet to select the list of sites to be studied in the environmental impact report (EIR). Many of the issues raised by the public: traffic, wildlife, fire, flooding will be studied in the EIR. There will continue to be opportunity for public comment during the EIR process. We expect to have a public draft to review this summer.

There has been a paradigm shift at the state level about housing needs, and consequences for noncompliance will be unpleasant. If a jurisdiction does not meet its goals and identify housing sites, it becomes ineligible for state funding for local roads and transportation needs, may be subject to statewide streamlining rules (which allow for housing development with limited public review process), and opens up the possibility of a lawsuit from the State. I believe what is being directed by the State to Marin County is an enormous edict that must be followed.

The Housing Element, along with the accompanying Safety Element, needs to be completed by the end of 2022 so it can be submitted to the State of California for approval. Answers to many frequently asked questions are compiled on the County website and you can subscribe to receive email updates.

 

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• FLYER_HE_AdditionalSites.v2.pdf