This fall the County of Marin completed the update to its Countywide Plan. Although building affordable housing in Marin is expected to remain extremely difficult, there were definite improvements in the Countywide Plan over late summer and fall.
The Marin Countywide Plan is the County's long range guide for use of land and protection of natural resources. The Plan sets forth policies and programs to be used by the public, planning staff, and decision makers when reviewing and analyzing proposed development within the County. The Plan attempts to balance current and future needs for urban, rural and natural uses of Marin's 520 square miles of land through the beginning of the 21st century.
The first Countywide Plan was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 1973 and was most recently updated in 1994 after several years of community participation and public hearings. The Plan provides specific policy direction for land in unincorporated areas and general guidelines for the cities and towns of Marin.
A notable fact about the Plan is that St. Vincent's School for Boys was able to work with the County staff to develop a plan that provides St. Vincent's the ability to develop affordable senior housing on its property. After seeing its zoning designation whittled down over the years, with the final result of leaving 121 market rate homes, and 100 affordable single family homes, St. Vincent’s was able to work with County staff to write in enough flexibility to develop affordable senior housing in place of single family units.
This compromise was additionally supported by environmentalists, who have been attempting to eliminate all development on St. Vincent's for many years. St. Vincent’s is, of course, not out of the woods yet, since they still have to get a project through the lengthy approval process that will include federal and state agencies, and there is still the possibility that some individuals may still attempt to derail this compromise by taking legal action.
Other changes in the County's plan will allow higher density in mixed-use projects—30 units per acre versus 25—and allowed other flexibility. The Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative pushed successfully for a community planning process that will work with communities to help bring about community acceptance of mixed-use development with affordable housing. However, there is still much work remaining to create new affordable housing in Marin. The County will need to identify and evaluate sites where affordable housing can actually be developed.
EAH Housing wishes to thank County staff and the Board of Supervisors, under the leadership of Supervisor Steve Kinsey, for creating the potential for over 1600 new housing units to be developed in County unincorporated areas.
Additionally, we wish to thank the EAH Housing board members, staff and community members who helped make these positive changes happen. EAH will continue to work with its allies to monitor the County’s progress in creating vitally needed affordable housing.
