The Housing Element, Priority Development Areas, The Gateway Communities

Dear community members in Southern Marin,

As you know, the Board of Supervisors will consider the County’s Housing Element on September 10 at 1:30 pm. State law requires each town, city and county to periodically adopt a housing element as part of their General Plans. Failure to meet this requirement can have negative consequences that may erode local control over planning decisions and the loss of funding for local planning and infrastructure programs.

For your convenience, here are two charts that describe, in a nutshell, the Housing Element and the potential housing sites identified for the 2007-2014 planning period in our southern Marin communities:

• The County Housing Element and PDAs: What’s the Difference – for Strawberry
• The Housing Element and the Gateway Communities – for Tam Valley, Almonte, Manzanita and Marin City

For those of you who may want to dig deeper, here is a link to the Housing Element Hearing page and the staff report for the September 10 hearing.

• Housing Element Hearing Page
• Staff Letter to the Board of Supervisors

It is likely that staff will provide supplemental materials this week in advance of the September 10 hearing, so please keep checking the County website.

All of us care deeply about maintaining our protections for open space and agricultural lands, sustaining the unique character of our neighborhoods, reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that exacerbate climate change, providing appropriate housing for our seniors, families and workforce, and addressing the traffic congestion that plagues us. State laws and limited financial resources can complicate how we accomplish those goals.

Many thanks for taking the time to read these materials and participate in the Housing Element process. I hope these charts and links are useful to you. As always, please let me know your thoughts.

Sincerely,
Kate Sears