09.05.2014 Edition

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include in the county’s housing element identification of land to accommodate future housing needs on pieces of property that can hold a minimum of 30 units per acre. The state designation of Marin as a metropolitan area with ties to San Francisco isn’t logical, say opponents of the designation. Marin is more akin to Sonoma and other counties to the north than it is to San Francisco. To qualify for some juicy transportation funding, state law sets a target for the number of homes per acre that should be developed within a higher-density boundary. A suburban designation calls for 20 units per acre; a rural designation has a 10-units-per-acre designation. A metropolitan designation calls for 30 units per acre. Going from metropolitan to suburban would allow Marin to shave 10 units-per-acre off of the number of housing units for which it must accommodate. AB 1537, introduced by Assemblyman Marc Levine, passed through the Legislature and is on the governor’s desk. It calls for reducing the default density requirement in Marin to suburban numbers. It would apply to the 8-year housing need cycle from 2105-2023. The state would review it after that. On the surface, it seems the higherdensity proponents would be pleased if the governor signs the bill. But they already have expressed displeasure at a significant compromise in the bill. It would allow current densities within one-half mile of the Highway 101 transit corridor, including the SMART rail line, to exist. That would retain the possibility of 30-units-per-acre transit-oriented development, a result that steams higherdensity opponents. The debate over how—or whether—to stimulate housing for a diverse population in Marin is a philosophical struggle. It’s also existential. Marin needs more housing now to accommodate an increasingly diverse population, say members of the MEHC. More housing also is critical for accommodating workers who commute and create severe traffic congestion. Although Marin may not experience huge leaps in population in the next few decades, as reflected in the relatively low housing need numbers, it will experience growth, Pendoley says. “The need for housing is obvious,� Pendoley says. “It’s a growing world. The United States is growing. California is growing, and Marin County will grow. It’s inescapable that we have to do our fair share. The debate is about what our fair share is.� Y

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build there.� Because the county already has zoned the properties, it makes sense to include them in the housing needs numbers, Crecelius contends. She notes that the housing element identifies only potential development sites. It does not mandate actual building. And design as well as planning rules and regulations would kick in if a developer submits an actual proposal. The extra number of homes gives the county insurance if a site designated for the housing element is, say, bought as open space and comes off of the market. Without the buffer, the county might be forced to identify new sites for the homes lost to the open-space purchase, Crecelius says, a founding member of the MEHC. “We think the paramount project [in the list of development sites] is Marinwood Village,� says Robert Pendoley, board chairman at the Marin Workforce Housing Trust and a member of the MEHC. He’s also a former planning director in San Rafael and Corte Madera. (Yes, that Corte Madera, the one with the WinCup site.) “Marinwood is exactly the kind of project we support with our approach, our philosophy. It provides badly needed workforce housing, and it does it in a way that has a minimum environmental impact.� That hasn’t stopped higher-density foes from attempting to block the Marinwood project. It also served as a focal point for opponents of the re-election bid of Supervisor Susan Adams. She worked to help craft a Marinwood plan aimed at adding workforce housing and revitalizing Marinwood Plaza. The Marinwood Village opposition played a role in her defeat by San Rafael City Councilman Damon Connolly. “We are in a new era,� Pendoley says. Undeveloped portions off of the central Highway 101 corridor have been taken up. There’s essentially no more vacant land left, but we do have some properties ripe for redevelopment. Often those are the best environmental opportunities. And that gets us to Marinwood Village as a good model.� The work on the 2015-2023 housing element comes at a time when the Legislature has agreed to cut Marin a break and reduce the number of units per acre the state would mandate for Marin in transit corridor areas. Controversy erupted in Marin when residents learned that the state had set what’s called a “default density,� which was based on the county’s designation as a “metropolitan� area. That designation lumps Marin in with San Francisco in what’s called a “metropolitan statistical area.� The metropolitan designation means that Marin, by state law, must

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SEPTEMBER 5 - SEPTEMBER 11, 2014 PACIFIC SUN 9

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