Supervisor Kate Sears here with information about the Marin County Housing Element and Final Supplement EIR - Notice of availability, comment period and hearing. Read here for details.

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NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY

2012 DRAFT MARIN COUNTY HOUSING ELEMENT

FINAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2007 COUNTYWIDE PLAN

FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT

 

and

 

NOTICE OF Public HEARING on PROJECT MERITS For THE

2012 DRAFT MARIN COUNTY HOUSING ELEMENT,

FINAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2007 COUNTYWIDE PLAN FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT

Marin Countywide Plan Amendments,

Marin County Development Code Amendments

ZONING MAP AMENDMENTS

 

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a Final Supplement to an Environmental Impact Report (Final SEIR) has been completed for the project identified below, and is on file with the Marin County Community Development Agency, 3501 Civic Center Drive, Suite 308, San Rafael, California, and available for public review between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Copies of the Final SEIR may be obtained from the Community Development Agency. In addition, a copy is available for review at the Marin County Civic Center Library and other public libraries throughout Marin County. All relevant documents incorporated into the Final SEIR by reference are also available for public review at the Community Development Agency office.   A copy of the Final SEIR can also be accessed on our website, http://www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/CD/main/comdev/eir.cfm. The 2007 Countywide Plan Final EIR is available for review at the Community Development Agency and is available for review online at http://www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/CD/main/fm/eir.cfm.

 

NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that this Notice of Availability of the Final SEIR commences a 15-day public review period beginning April 29, 2013. Interested persons are invited to review and comment on the Final SEIR. Written comments on the Final SEIR must be submitted to the Community Development Agency, to the attention of Jeremy Tejirian, Planning Manager at 3501 Civic Center Drive, Suite 308, San Rafael, CA 94903, NO LATER THAN 4 p.m., Monday, May 13, 2013. Comments can also be sent via email to envplanning@marincounty.org or faxed to the Community Development Agency at (415) 473-7880.

 

NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that a hearing will be held by the Planning Commission on June 24, 2013 at the Planning Commission Chambers (Suite #328 – Administration Building) Civic Center, San Rafael, California. The subject of the hearing will be the Final Supplement to the 2007 Countywide Plan Environmental Impact Report for the 2012 Draft Marin County Housing Element (Final SEIR), project merits of the 2012 Draft Marin County Housing Element, amendments to the Countywide Plan related to housing, Zoning Map amendments and Development Code amendments related to housing, definitions, and development. The recommended Planning Commission action will be to recommend adoption of the documents to the Board of Supervisors.

 

In lieu of hard copies, the staff reports and attachments will be available after June 14, 2013 online at www.marincounty.org/housingelement. A paper copy will also available for public review at the Community Development Agency, Planning Division Suite 308, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday-Thursday (closed Fridays).

Oral and written comments may be presented to the Planning Commission at the hearing. Written material for the Planning Commissioners should be submitted to the Community Development Agency at least ten working days prior to the meeting date. Any written material submitted after this date will be distributed to the Planning Commission prior to or at the meeting. Public comments may be directed to the Planning Commission, by email to housingelement@marincounty.org, by fax to (415) 473-7880, or mailed to the Community Development Agency at the address below. More information may be found on the County’s Housing Element (www.marincounty.org/housingelement) or Planning Commission (http://www.marincounty.org/PlanningCommission) websites. Written material should not be mailed or delivered directly to Planning Commissioners because it will not be accepted or considered as part of the administrative record for the project.

 

There will be additional opportunities to comment on the Final SEIR, the 2012 Draft Housing Element, Marin Countywide Plan Amendments, Zoning Map Amendments and Marin County Development Code Amendments. Following the Planning Commission’s recommendation, the Board of Supervisors will consider the adoption of these documents on a date to be noticed in the future.

Subscribe to the Marin County Housing Element web page to receive email notices and updates by visiting www.marincounty.org/housingelement.

 

 

Final SEIR Project Description

 

The 2012 Draft Housing Element consists of several main sections, each of which addresses a major subject area, including a review of constraints on housing development, an inventory of potential housing sites, and a set of policies and programs to support housing at all income levels.

 

The Sites Inventory and Analysis provides a list of potential housing sites.  For the purposes of this environmental review, the list of sites includes both the 2007-2014 Available Land Inventory and Potential Housing Sites for the 2014-2022 Housing Element planning period. Although the 2012 Draft Housing Element is for the 2007-2014 planning period, the Final SEIR includes an analysis of potential housing sites that may be considered for inclusion in the future Housing Element for the 2014 to 2022 planning period, or the current Draft Housing Element.  It is anticipated that inclusion of the potential sites for the 2014-2022 cycle will expedite the review and approval of the HHHousing Element for that planning period.

 

The Goals, Policies and Programs section contains programs that are proposed to be implemented in the 2007-2014 planning period. The programs focus on three objective areas, including efficient land use, providing housing choice, and ensuring institutional capacity to respond to the community’s housing needs. Policy initiatives and amendments to zoning regulations are considered in this section.

 

The actions contemplated by this Final SEIR include Countywide Plan land use changes, amendments to Marin County Development Code standards, and rezoning of certain properties.  The Final SEIR also evaluates potential zoning or Countywide Plan land use designation changes for three existing housing sites to address conformance with the existing uses.

 

The Final SEIR evaluates the project with respect to the following topical issues:

1) Land Use & Planning

6) Transportation/Traffic

12) Utilities & Service Systems

2) Population & Housing

7) Biological Resources

13) Aesthetics/Visual Resources

3) Geology and Soils

8) Energy & Natural Resources

14) Cultural Resources

4) Hydrology and Water Quality

9) Hazards and Hazardous Materials

15) Agriculture and Forestry Resources

5) Air Quality

10) Noise

16) Greenhouse Gas Emissions

 

11) Public Services and Recreation

17) Mineral Resources

 

The changes to the Countywide Plan, in combination with other changed conditions, would not result in new or more severe significant effects to topical areas # 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17.  However, the changed conditions would result in new potentially significant impacts or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant impacts related to topical areas # 4, 5, and 10.  New mitigation measures have been identified through environmental review and are included in the Final SEIR.