WE ARE GETTING MARIN TOGETHER TO PUSH BACK ON THE DESTRUCTIVE AND DANGEROUS HOUSING MANDATES, AND THE NEW LAWS THAT BACK THEM UP.
THE NUMBERS ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO MEET, AND LOW-INCOME HOUSING WILL BE DWARFED BY MARKET RATE (AND ABOVE) HOMES
THE DEVELOPMENTS DO NOT REQUIRE PUBLIC HEARINGS
OR FOLLOW ANY LOCAL PERMITTING PROCESS
THE LAWS DO NOT REQUIRE ANY LOW-INCOME HOUSING AND THERE IS NO LAW FORCING A DEVELOPER TO BUILD LOW INCOME HOUSING
WE JUST GET HARSHLY PUNISHED BY THE STATE IF PRIVATE DEVELOPERS DONT DECIDE TO BUILD IT
From Tom Lai, Director of Marin County Community Development Dept.
The county had to REDUCE the number of sites it was reserving for people with LOWER AND MODERATE INCOMES so it could meet the state’s target for producing homes for people with ABOVE MODERATE INCOME.
The state would not allow us to carry a deficit in the above-moderate income category.'
https://www.marinij.com/2022/04/14/marin-county-officials-approve-housing-site-list/
The state has a vision of California -- and Marin -- that was not shared with the voters. This site has a lot of information on how this happened, what to expect, and how to work together to put a halt to it.
During 2020, while we were all distracted by covid, our state government was busy. The governor declared a housing crisis, and the legislature started passing a huge number of housing laws to eliminate any local procedures that slowed the pace of housing. Permits, traffic studies, public hearings, lot coverage limitations, CEQA (California Enivronmental Quality Act) ... all are now considered nuisances. The laws sidelined local zoning to streamline the process and incentivize builders.
Then came the state housing mandates, to be strictly enforced. The California Department of Housing and Development (HCD) produces a Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) every 8 years to plan for population growth. Our current population is shrinking, but the HCD has ordered the production of TWO AND A HALF MILLION new housing units to be built over the next 8 years.
441,176 are slated for the Bay Area, 14,405 went to Marin, distributed to cities and unincorporated areas by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). Each city and the unincorporated area are required to produce a Housing Element (an identified list of properties that can hold the new developments) or face harsh penalties.
ALL APPEALS WERE DENIED WITHOUT COMMENT
THE STATE MANDATED NUMBERS OF NEW HOUSING UNITS:
2.5 MILLION FOR THE STATE
440,000 FOR THE BAY AREA
14,405 FOR MARIN
See the numbers on the right and think about where they could go. No traffic studies, no CEQA, no infrastructure upgrades. The idea is to eliminate single family housing as punishment for exclusionary policies enacted in the 1940s but abolished in the 1960s. But Most of Marin has since been built out. The state is pushing infill and density by encouraging developers to demolish homes to squeeze larger and taller buildings inside our neighborhoods. We have no say.
THIS IS A BAD TIME TO ADD 7 MILLION MORE PEOPLE TO CALIFORNIA
IT'S A BAD TIME TO ADD 30,000 PEOPLE INTO MARIN
WE DON'T HAVE THE WATER, WE ARE IN A DANGEROUS FIRE SITUATION, AND THE AMOUNT OF HOUSING WE NEED TO ADD BLOCKS EVACUATION CORRIDORS
SO, WITH THESE LIMITATIONS, IF WE'RE GOING TO BUILD HOUSING, IT SHOULD ONLY BE FOR LOW INCOME/WORKFORCE HOUSING
WE SHOULDN'T BE FORCED INTO HIGH DENSITY TO PROVIDE MORE HOUSING FOR THE WEALTHY
LAST CYCLE: 2,298
THIS CYCLE: 14,405
Belvedere: 160
Tiburon: 639
Corte Madera: 725
Mill Valley: 865
Sausalito: 724
Fairfax: 490
Larkspur: 979
Novato: 2,090
Ross: 111
San Anselmo: 833
San Rafael: 3,220
Unincorporated Areas: 3,569
All of the conditions listed to the right were bases for appeals. Legitimate criteria. But the HCD accused us of exclusionary practices -- because we hadn't grown our cities beyond what they could handle. We were accused of holding up housing production with our normal planning process: local permitting standards, regulations, public hearings and CEQA. So, the state eliminated those "barriers" to development by passing laws to streamline the process for builders There are harsh penalties for non-compliance.
THIS WAS CHARACTERIZED AS A WAY TO INTEGRATE LOW INCOME HOUSING INTO MARIN. BUT IT'S REALLY JUST GOING TO BURY US IN MARKET RATE HOUSING
CHANGED CONDITIONS
DROUGHT
FIRE DANGER limited evacuation
FEMA flood areas
SEA LEVEL RISE
INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITATIONS
LACK OF SUITABLE LAND
GEOGRAPHICAL CONSTRAINTS
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
NOT TRANSIT RICH
NOT JOB RICH
ALL REJECTED
Between the jumble of laws passed by the state and HCD's goal of adding social justice and income equality into an overly legislated, rushed, complicated, and punishment-based process, a chaotic housing rush is now in play. Poor planning and ridiculous numbers (now being audited) created a mess that will destroy California as we know it, creating an endless sprawl of density that covers the state with concrete.
The new laws look like they create low-income housing, but that goal is overshadowed by the amount of housing created for more affluent renters. There is widespread agreement about the need for AFFORDABLE HOUSING, but this plan DOES NOT ENFORCE IT.
The bulk of the new housing will be at or above market value, built by private developers for a profit.
None of the private developers are under obligation by law to produce the percentage categories demanded by HCD. (Very low income, low income, median income, above median income.) The median income in Marin is about $170,000. The low-income categories represent about 40% of the HCD formula, but most development is for the upper ranges.
EXAMPLE: “Tom Lai, director of the Marin County Community Development, said the county had to reduce the number of sites it was reserving for people with lower and moderate incomes so it could meet the state’s target for producing homes for people with above-moderate income.”
The HCD is requiring density in our neighborhoods to produce homes for the rich. If those projects are completed first, even with a few low-income units thrown in, there will literally be no land left for the low-income projects.
A new department was created to monitor and punish us if we didn't build fast enough. Now our local city councils and county Board of Supervisors are forced to produce "Housing Elements" (lists that show exactly where the housing could go). Our local officials fought it, but they lost, and now they are scrambling to put lists of land together, even if they have to resort to hazard areas and public properties.
We resent the state intrusion. We are being forced into this process-- all stick, no carrot -- with harsh penalties for noncompliance. The state puts an undue financial burden on cities to achieve the RHNA goals that is glossed over by the new laws, which keep coming every month. The new laws look like they create low-income housing, but that goal is overshadowed by the amount of housing created for more affluent renters. See: PROFITEERING
City governments aren't in the business of building. But now they better make sure that someone does it. If even one builder slacks off and doesn't finish on time, we aren't certified, and the state takes over. They will rezone and force the housing into public land, parking lots, parks, golf courses (in Mill Valley the municipal golf course is a designated place of refuge in a fire emergency when evacuation isn't possible. A new law would allow 85% of it to be developed as housing).
Private businesses have ended up on lists of "underutilized space," even if they are not for sale. Will the state resort to eminent domain to get their numbers met? Already our general plans have been overruled, and our long-range planning is in the trash. Areas have already been rezoned for us, as residential. Our permit process is now as simple as filing a piece of paper ("by rights and "ministerial review").
Minimally the process should pause until the audit is complete. We need to act, or watch Marin communities get developed into overly dense fire traps.
The Cities and County Board of Supervisors are all scrambling -- in fear of retribution -- to get their Housing Element lists together. They aren't pushing back. We need to act for them. They asked for reasonable numbers. We need to demand them.
If we get organized, maybe our local governments will have the courage to join us.
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