District 3 - Marin County requests input for Multi-family Design Guidelines

Supervisor Kate Sears invites you to participate in developing Marin County’s Multi-Family Design Guidelines – your input can make a difference and will be appreciated. You can take an online survey and/or attend community workshops to learn more. See below for all the details:




The Marin County Community Development Agency is embarking on an effort to develop Multi-Family Design Guidelines. The guidelines are intended to improve the predictability and outcome of the County’s development review process. They will define positive design attributes and set clear expectations regarding the character of new multi-unit and mixed-use buildings in unincorporated Marin County communities.  Designers and builders will use the guidelines as new projects are conceived, and County officials and community advisory groups will rely on them when evaluating and responding to development proposals.

Development of the guidelines will occur between August 2012 and December 2012, with the final draft presented to the Planning Commission in January 2013.

The guidelines will benefit from extensive community input.  Two community meetings will be held to elicit design preferences and provide feedback on what citizens think is appropriate and desirable. We hope you can attend one of these meetings:

Community Workshop #1                Thursday, August 23            6:30pm – 8:30pm       
Bolinas Fire Department, 100 Mesa Road, Bolinas

Community Workshop #2                Monday, August 27              6:30pm – 8.30pm       
Connection Center - Health and Wellness Campus, 3240 Kerner Blvd. San Rafael

Community input is also being sought through the online survey at www.marincounty.org/multifamily.  Paper copies are available at the Civic Center Planning Counter, Room 308, and libraries and community centers throughout the County. Surveys will also be distributed and collected at the meeting times above. Please share this survey request with others in your organization and community who may be interested in participating. Kindly return your survey by August 31, 2012. The survey can be completed electronically, saved as pdf, and emailed to multifamily@marincounty.org. Printed copies can be mailed to:


Community Development Agency / Design Guidelines
3501 Civic Center Drive, Room 308
San Rafael, CA 94903

A Working Group has been formed to provide technical and community input as the guidelines are being developed. Members were invited to participate by Community Development Agency Director Brian Crawford, and include architects, developers, members of design review boards, and other community representatives.

The guidelines are paid for by a $55,000 Technical Assistance grant awarded to the County of Marin by the FOCUS Program, a regional development and conservation partnership among the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), and two other regional agencies.

Please join us in developing this important planning tool, and thank you for your feedback.

Project Contacts:
Jeremy Tejirian                                                                Stacey Laumann
Principal Planner                                                             Planner
jtejirian@marincounty.org                                               slaumann@marincounty.org
415-473-3798                                                                  415-473-2698

County of Marin, Community Development Agency
3501 Civic Center Drive, Suite 308
San Rafael, CA 94903
CRS Dial 711