Essentials

Community action

MARIN COUNTY COMMUNITY PLANS

Save our neighborhood san francisco

Lawsuit filed

Save our neighborhood san francisco

https://www.sonsf.org

Lucas valley for SENSIBLE growth

Save our neighborhood san francisco

Lucas valley for SENSIBLE growth

8/16/23

major updates:

https://www.lvfrg.org/blog

Cupertino facts

Save our neighborhood san francisco

Lucas valley for SENSIBLE growth

https://www.cupertinofacts.org

Elk Grove

Richardson TerracE, MV

Hamilton hauke mv

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article275023421.html?ac_cid=DM799712&ac_bid=-1352989869

Hamilton hauke mv

Richardson TerracE, MV

Hamilton hauke mv

See below

Learn more

Richardson TerracE, MV

See below

west shore lake tahoe

Richardson TerracE, MV

Friendsofthewestshore.org

https://www.sfchronicle.com/tahoe/article/tahoe-affordable-housing-lawsuit-18522880.php

HTTPS://CITIZENCA.ORG/MARIN-CIT

This project was forced on Marin City

SB 35s are punishment for cities that did not make their RHNA mandates. The law was passed in 2017, authored by Senator Scott Wiener. Marin County unincorporated areas were 11 units off last cycle (meaning no one built those units, even if they were approved) and that opened the door to developers' ability to plunk down developments with huge density bonuses, no CEQA, height, or setback restrictions, etc. 74 units, 23 parking places. No public input has to be considered. The developer chose Marin City, the densest locality in Marin, with a high fire danger rating, and only one road in/out for access.

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PACIFIC SUN ARTICLE

This project was forced on Marin City

'Shit show' hearing ends with county letting down Marin City residents again | Pacific Sun

“This is Marin City,” Moulton-Peters said. “They have the most multi-family housing in any area in the county. This was not where we were supposed to make up our RHNA numbers. It was to happen in other parts of Marin County that have not produced the housing they should have. And I’m angry about this, and the community is angry about this, and they have told us this today.”

---Supervisor Stepanie Moulton-Peters

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MARIN IJ ARTICLE

This project was forced on Marin City

SB 35 Eliminates "Hurdles"

Marin supervisors reject pleas to halt Marin City housing project (marinij.com)

"Asked during Tuesday’s meeting if the supervisors could deny authority’s request to approve the bonds, Washington hedged his response.

“Generally you have broad discretion to make decisions,” Washington said. “You can’t abuse that discretion. You have to have

Marin supervisors reject pleas to halt Marin City housing project (marinij.com)

"Asked during Tuesday’s meeting if the supervisors could deny authority’s request to approve the bonds, Washington hedged his response.

“Generally you have broad discretion to make decisions,” Washington said. “You can’t abuse that discretion. You have to have a bona fide rationale for your decision. There are factors here that I think limit the range of discretion more so than typical discretionary hearings.”

Show Less

SB 35 Eliminates "Hurdles"

This is what happens when laws have no appeals process

SB 35 Eliminates "Hurdles"

Wiener bill would kick elected officials out of critical land-use and housing decisions - 48 hills

"The mandate is absurd, because cities can approve projects, but they can’t compel developers to pull building permits on projects that have been approved. Builders are not going to build if they can’t make a profit; that’s why in San Franc

Wiener bill would kick elected officials out of critical land-use and housing decisions - 48 hills

In a further absurdity, the allocations themselves, especially the low-income numbers, are so enormous as to be unrealizable. SB 35 sets up cities to fail."

Show Less

Wiener's Idea Could Be Made Worse

This is what happens when laws have no appeals process

SB 423 passed. It not only keeps SB 35 from sunsetting until 2036,, It eliminates CEQA, and also reduces the percentage of affordable units mandated in a project -- less affordable housing -- and overrides the Coastal Commission, allowing building where it has been tightly regulated for environment impact and public good.

This is what happens when laws have no appeals process

Supervisor Mary Sackett,: “I wish Scott Wiener were in the room today to hear how this plays out in real life.”

Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters: “I’m angry about this, and the community is angry about this. This is not the outcome that was anticipated with SB 35.”

UPDATES and NEWS

Sloat Sky Scraper, Ocean beach

YES, the law allows this. 712 new apartments, 16% (113) affordable. 599 luxury units, 15,000 square feet of retail space, bike parking, and a car basement. It's on sand, so...

Wiener, the Yimbys, and the 50-story tower - 48 hills

San Francisco leaders, neighbors express opposition to renderings of 50-story skyscraper for Outer Sunset District - ABC7 San Francisco (abc7news.com)

Renderings show 55-story condo tower proposed for S.F.’s west side (sfchronicle.com)

Marin community plans

A lawsuit has been filed against Marin County over community plans and CountyWide Plan inconsistencies.

https://www.marinij.com/2023/05/04/lawsuit-challenges-marin-countys-housing-element/

https://www.marinij.com/2023/01/14/editorial-housing-plan-rejection-shows-complexity-of-mandates/

https://www.marinij.com/2023/05/06/george-russell-marin-areas-try-to-preserve-toolkits-to-rein-in-state-housing-mandates/

LUCAS VALLEY BUILDERS REMEDY

https://www.marinij.com/2023/06/03/lucas-valley-housing-proposal-asserts-builders-remedy-option/

“In his application filed on May 16, Bogdasarian says he plans to build 39 residences on the parcel. The plan includes 33 market-rate, single-family homes that would cover 99,132 square feet of building area. The project also would include six junior accessory dwelling units that would be deed-restricted as affordable for very-low-income residents.

Currently, there is just one residence on the parcel as well as a carport, water irrigation tank and a barn. Dirt roads provide access from Lucas Valley Road to the home.

The site at 1501 Lucas Valley Road is among 148 sites identified in the county’s housing element as having potential for development. As with many of the other sites, the zoning on 1501 Lucas Valley Road was changed to make it easier for developers to build there.”

FOURTH STREET, SAN RAFAEL APPROVED

1515 4th st has passed. 162 units, 13 are below market rate.

https://www.marinij.com/2023/03/29/editorial-tall-apartment-complex-wrong-for-san-rafaels-west-end/

https://www.cityofsanrafael.org/1515-fourth-street-apartments/

https://www.marinij.com/2023/04/26/san-rafael-resident-appeals-162-apartment-mega-project

https://www.marinij.com/2023/04/14/san-rafael-planning-board-approves-162-apartment-project/

Look how the property was originally presented for sale:

https://images1.cityfeet.com/d2/k8bRYJ53Ta9remu3G3SUGs1DBUQvKw_Wb2UqjS-UxXE/document.pdf

Hamilton, Mill valley

On city donated land, affordable housing development by EAH.

Started out at 22 units, now 45, units adjacent to heavily used parkland, fire station, police station.

Neighborhood group Hauke Park:

https://citizenca.org/mill-valley

LAWSUIT FILED: https://www.haukepark.org/shp

Dominican property, San Rafael

https://www.marinij.com/2023/06/03/dominican-university-sells-san-rafael-parcels-to-residential-developer/

Excerpts From the IJ article:

“Dominican University of California in San Rafael has sold two parcels totaling about 24 acres to a developer who has plans to build 15 to 35 homes on the properties. “This is a very big deal for people who use the hiking trails up here,” said Kathy Burwell, president of the Dominican Black Canyon Neighborhood Association. “People are very upset.”

“That would be the biggest subdivision in this neighborhood in decades,” said Don Dickenson, a county planning commissioner who lives in the area. “It’s the last privately owned piece of property left.”

“…Cassidy said the company is considering building 15 to 35 homes on the larger parcel of land. Cassidy said some of the homes might need to be clustered closer together because of the grade of the hillside and a creek that runs through the parcel, according to Burwell.”

Dickenson said he was consulted on a previous plan for developing the property that envisioned just nine homes on the larger parcel. Dickenson said the site has “huge problems” as a site for residential development. “The nuns used to have a garbage dump in the middle of it that was graded over years ago,” Dickenson said. “It had car batteries and refrigerators in it that got covered up. Then for years the university allowed Marin arborists to dump wood chips there.”

Dickenson said the smaller 5-acre parcel is even more problematic. “It’s a ravine,” he said. “There is no way you could build anything on it.”

CONTACT:

Dominican Black Canyon Neighborhood Association

https://dominicanareanews.com/newsletters

COMMON SENSE PARTY

The Democrats in our state, from Newsom, the senate, assembly, and Attorney General , have blindly passed these 70+ laws that will destroy California. They need a wakeup call, and to start thinking about the results of this terrible legislation. It isn't creating affordable housing, its breaking down our local governments and alienating citizens from any due process.

There is an alternative: REGISTER IN THE COMMON SENSE PARTY. Tell your Governor, Senator, and Assemblyperson why. Vote as you like, but enough of us changing party should make them take notice.

Common Sense Party | How We're Different (cacommonsense.org)

SB 423 (wiener) and AB 1287 (Alvarez)

SB 423 would make SB 35 permanent, and additionally reduce affordability requirements to 10%, inclusion, eliminate CEQA, and allow building on the coast to overrule the Coastal Commission. AB 1287 modifies state density bonus laws that apply to coastal development.

AB 1287: ADDITIONAL DENSITY BONUS: This bill would modify the State Density Bonus Law to supersede the California Coastal Act of 1976. This bill would also allow up to an additional 50% density bonus for projects that (1) maximize the very low income, low income, or moderate-income units permitted under the current State Density Bonus Law and (2) provide up to 15% additional moderate-income units. Projects that utilize this additional moderate-income bonus would also receive up to six incentives or concessions.”

OUR neighborhood voices initiative)

OurNeighborhoodvoices.com is in process of gathering signatures needed to get an initiative on the 2024 ballot. They need funding and volunteers.

More info and registration at that link.

Meetings Every Wednesday at 6 p.m. for Online Volunteer Training Sessions:

https://zoom.us/j/3588018061

RICHARDSON TERRACE MV

THE APPEAL:https://marinpost.org/blog/2023/1/24/cvp-appeals-mill-valley-planning-commission-approval-of-richardson-terrace

WHAT’S AT STAKE:https://marinpost.org/blog/2023/2/12/whats-at-stake-with-the-richardson-terrace-project

Magnolia village, larkspur

20 units: 16 market rate, 4 affordable

https://citizenca.org/larkspur

Elk Grove

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article275023421.html?ac_cid=DM799712&ac_bid=-1352989869

City fights back against Bonta’s Strike Force

UPDATES and NEWS

lucas valley builders remedy

YES, the law allows this. 712 new apartments, 16% (113) affordable. 599 luxury units, 15,000 square feet of retail space, bike parking, and a car basement. It's on sand, so...

Wiener, the Yimbys, and the 50-story tower - 48 hills

San Francisco leaders, neighbors express opposition to renderings of 50-story skyscraper for Outer Sunset

District - ABC7 San Francisco (abc7news.com)

Renderings show 55-story condo tower proposed for S.F.’s west side (sfchronicle.com)

strawberry builders remedy

A lawsuit has been filed against Marin County over community plans and CountyWide

Plan inconsistencies.

https://www.marinij.com/2023/05/04/lawsuit-challenges-marin-countys-housing-element/

https://www.marinij.com/2023/01/14/editorial-housing-plan-rejection-shows-complexity-of-mandates/

https://www.marinij.com/2023/05/06/george-russell-marin-areas-try-to-preserve-toolkits-to-rein-in-state-housing-mandates/

builders remedy fairfax

https://www.marinij.com/2023/06/03/lucas-valley-housing-proposal-asserts-builders-remedy-option/

Currently, there is just one residence on the parcel as well as a carport, water irrigation tank and a barn. Dirt roads provide access from Lucas Valley Road to the home.

buiders remedy los altos hills

1515 4th st has passed. 162 units, 13 are below market rate.

https://www.marinij.com/2023/03/29/editorial-tall-apartment-complex-wrong-for-san-rafaels-west-end/

https://www.cityofsanrafael.org/1515-fourth-street-apartments/

https://www.marinij.com/2023/04/26/san-rafael-resident-appeals-162-apartment-mega-project

https://www.marinij.com/2023/04/14/san-rafael-planning-board-approves-162-apartment-project/

Look how the property was originally presented for sale:

https://images1.cityfeet.com/d2/k8bRYJ53Ta9remu3G3SUGs1DBUQvKw_Wb2UqjS-UxXE/document.pdf

builders remedy lucas valley rd

On city donated land, affordable housing development by EAH.

Started out at 22 units, now 45, units adjacent to heavily used parkland, fire station, police station.

Neighborhood group Hauke Park:

https://citizenca.org/mill-valley

LAWSUIT FILED: https://www.haukepark.org/shp

new MILl valley evacuation study

2023 STUDY

Mill Valley Evacuation Study (arxiv.org)

"Because of Mill Valley’s susceptibility to wildfire, city authorities developed a preliminary evacuation plan which includes changes to the road network designed to help speed up the evacuation..."Evacuation involves thousands of vehicles, many of which need to navigate narrow windy roads down to a small number of arterials which lead to Highway 101. "

"In the following we consider the incorporated and unincorporated parts of Mill Valley west of Highway 101. Mill Valley includes some areas east of 101 but those areas are much closer to the highway and are not as susceptible to fire. The area we consider is shown... has about 11,400 households and each household has on average 2 vehicles. We consider the case where all vehicles start at residences, as would happen in the middle of the night. We assume every household will evacuate in one or more vehicles. We consider scenarios where the average number of evacuating vehicles per household is between 1 and 2. The main questions concerning a citywide evacuation (within the context of the simulation we are doing) are: How quickly can somewhere between 11 and 23 thousand vehicles distributed all over the city get onto Highway 101? What can be done to make the evacuation more efficient? "

Unfortunately, the answers are basically: Use contra flow (all lanes moving in one direction) and turn off stoplights to keep flow moving. Areas in higher reaches and in unincorporated MV can still take hours to evacuate, and this is based on the current number of residences, which does not include the mandated increase of 15-30%.

OLDER GOOGLE SIMULATION ONLY USED CITY OF MILL VALLEY:

Google studies Mill Valley fire evacuation routes (marinij.com)

Excerpt:

"The Google report was presented at the City Council meeting on March 15 (2021). Residents called and wrote into the meeting to point out that there is another way out of the city, through Edgewood, Molino and Montford avenues.

Resident Ronald Schafer wrote that evacuees in Homestead Valley could create a bottleneck on the Edgewood system.

“Any delay due to blockage will endanger the evacuees remaining on the upside of the hill and is of major concern to all of us who cannot freely drive out,” he said.

Fire officials said if roads become blocked then residents should get to the nearest “community refuge area.”

Bayfront Park could hold up to 1,000 vehicles. Tamalpais High School sports fields could hold another 1,500 vehicles.

“We identified certain areas that were less combustible and that the community could exit to should the need arise under under last-resort type conditions,” said Deputy Chief Tom Welch of the Southern Marin Fire Protection District.

The largest refuge area is the Mill Valley Golf Course. "

----

Note: All at risk areas of California have taken steps to manage evacuations, and can use volunteer assistance.

MVFD, Southern Marin Fire Department, Southern Marin Neighborhood Response Group (NRG), FireWise Communities, and Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) have been constant in their efforts to inform the community and train volunteers how to assist first responders in emergency situations. Measure C funds have helped these efforts and have enabled large scale clearing. There is still no sugar-coating the scale of disaster that could occur here if any blockage occurs, or in any event, if the winds blow embers that spread, as in recent catastrophic fires. Volunteer information is here:

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) | Mill Valley, CA (millvalleylibrary.org)

Home | Southern Marin Neighborhood Response Group | California (southernmarinnrg.org)

Firewise USA - Fire Safe Marin

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Susan Kirsch, bigger picture

In fight against excessive housing numbers, hands are far from tied

You don’t think of the typical Californian giving in to a mantra of “there’s nothing we can do” or “our hands are tied.”

But the threats of a “strike force” coming from Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office; intimidating letters from the Housing and Community Development Department chastising communities for what department considers inadequate housing elements; and well-funded, corporate-serving agencies like the pro-housing group Yes In My Back Yard, as well as it’s legal arm YIMBY Law, are having a stifling impact.

So it may not be surprising that many of our elected officials are using this rhetoric when their constituents plead with them to make decisions on behalf of the neighborhood and community.

The Marin County Board of Supervisors recently caved into threats from the state and Senate Bill 35 over a housing project in Marin City (“Marin supervisors reject pleas to halt Marin City housing project,” March 25). They approved project financing rather than express indignation, imagination or courage to stand with their constituents.

In the article, the Rev. Rondall Leggett of First Missionary Baptist Church is quoted as telling the supervisors, “We’re tired of you telling us that your hands are tied and there is nothing you can do. This project is abusive.”

While current elected officials may not feel empowered to lead, constituents from across the state aren’t waiting. Claiming their authority as former elected officials, citizens, taxpayers, neighborhood leaders, Republicans and Democrats, people from as far south as Riverside and from throughout the Bay Area traveled to Sacramento on April 11 to participate in housing policy “lobby day” organized by Catalysts for Local Control.

Event coordinator Leon Huntting is a former member of the Sausalito City Council and a past president of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers. He isn’t buying into the idea that his hands are tied.

Huntting set up 26 meetings with state legislators or their aides who sit on Assembly or Senate housing, governance or audit committees.

Why would Huntting, Charles Head (president of the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods) or former city council members Michael Barnes, Stephen Scharf, and Ken Bukowski from Albany, Cupertino, and Emeryville, respectively, dedicate a spring day to travel to Sacramento?

“We’re seeing the worst housing policy in my 50 years of community service,” Huntting said.

Four Catalysts teams (with four or five people per team) spoke with a common theme. Like state legislators, we also want housing that is affordable. It’s unacceptable, however, for legislators to favor investor interests over the wishes and needs of constituents and communities.

From the 30,000-foot level, legislation is being passed despite flawed analysis of the housing needs and the reliability of Regional Housing Need Allocation numbers.

Evidence shows that housing needs are exaggerated and RHNA targets are unrealistic and unreliable. The Embarcadero Institute and a state emergency audit, along with several other studies by individuals, have shown the RHNA targets are suspect.

From the 10,000-foot level, we know that when the basic assumptions and numbers are questionable, the housing bills that emerge are likely flawed for residents, while favoring investors and developers.

SB 423 would permanently extend the housing policy of SB 35 into perpetuity without meeting the need for housing that is affordable. It relies on streamlining and ministerial approval, which harms the environment and neighborhoods. SB 423 would expand SB 35 to nearly all cities, including those in the coastal zone.

Marin Voice: In fight against excessive housing numbers, our hands are far from tied – Marin Independent Journal (marinij.com)

Site Content

Additional Information

MANDATED: 2.5 million more homes for a flat population

2.5 MILLION UNITS STATEWIDE DOES NOT REFLECT THESE REALITIES:

FLAT GROWTH PREDICTED THROUGH 2060
NO MAJOR INSURERS FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION
climate change related natural disasters
drought (with lack of water storage, even in wet years)
fire hazards
limited evacuation routes
FEMA Flood zones
Areas subject to sea level rise
sensitive environmental areas
huge population outflow and Covid deaths
Covid related changes in the way we work
huge tech sector job losses (over 30,000 in the Bay Area as of 3/23)
unstable power grid
high cost of labor, materials, and interest
low availability of labor and materials
supply chain issues
impact on cities
PGEs inability to connect all current and planned development

The statistics used to create the RHNA failed a state audit. California is not, and should not, be growing at 15%. The state knows that growth is predicted to be practically flat.

Since state redevelopment agencies closed in 2012, there has been a growing disparity in expensive to lower priced housing. Why? The free market prefers profitable development. The success of the tech market increased demand for high end housing; small houses were snatched up and flipped at high prices, often as larger remodels. Neighborhoods started changing.

Salaries for teachers and other essential workers did not increase, and they had to compete for scarcer housing — considered affordable if rent was 30% of their income.

Those at the lower end were left in desperate straits with the rising costs of living and were displaced by what used to be the middle class. Gentrification continues to displace those at the lower ends.

Even when cities try to assist low-income housing projects, money does not go far: costs are now $850,000 to $1 million per unit.

Instead of creating policy to help those in need, state policy and laws have come together under the lobbying influence of YIMBY to create a for-profit solution — a vehicle to allow dense, unfettered, high-end development.

This started in 2017, ramped up in 2019, and then the pace of legislation really took off during Covid. There over 100 laws now, and they all do the same thing: strip away the ability of localities to plan for growth and give all the power to the developers who have been salivating over suburban, semi-rural, and coastal land that has been kept at low, livable densities.

State overreach in law and policy has created dangerous precedents that undermine democracy without focus on providing affordable housing.

This has all been aided by the lobbying strength of YIMBY — Yes in My Backyard — a "nonprofit " megalith that has driven housing policy in California since its initial heavy funding by the tech industry.

There was no city-state discussion to adjust zoning and land use policy to encourage development where it could be safely and reasonably accommodated. Policy switched from a lackadaisical state response to a severe, overarching punishment-based system of compliance.

SOURCES

REAL POPULATION PROJECTIONS
https://marinpost.org/blog/2023/1/9/rhna-abag-demographic-projections-are-way-off

Marin cities risk ‘builder’s remedy’ over housing plan delays
marinij.com

Marin IJ Readers’ Forum for Jan. 28, 2023
marinij.com

PGE CAN’T COMMIT TO SERVICING THAT MANY NEW HOOKUPS:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/california-housing-projects-pge-17828169.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&utm_source=share-by-email&utm_medium=email

Here's which Bay Area cities missed the housing element
sfexaminer.com

$5M available to build Marin County affordable housing northbaybusinessjournal.com

Explanation in slides:

California INSIDER

Short clip of me talking about housing policy

CURRENt pushback

FOURTH ST. SAN RAFAEL

OCEAN BEACH SKYSCRAPER

OCEAN BEACH SKYSCRAPER

OCEAN BEACH SKYSCRAPER

OCEAN BEACH SKYSCRAPER

OCEAN BEACH SKYSCRAPER

MAGNOLIA LARKSPUR

OCEAN BEACH SKYSCRAPER

MAGNOLIA LARKSPUR

MARIN CITY

OCEAN BEACH SKYSCRAPER

MAGNOLIA LARKSPUR

Community action

MARIN COUNTY COMMUNITY PLANS

Save our neighborhood san francisco

Save our neighborhood san francisco

Save our neighborhood san francisco

Save our neighborhood san francisco

Save our neighborhood san francisco

Lucas valley for SENSIBLE growth

Save our neighborhood san francisco

Lucas valley for SENSIBLE growth

Cupertino facts

Save our neighborhood san francisco

Lucas valley for SENSIBLE growth

Elk Grove

Richardson TerracE, MV

Hamilton hauke mv

Hamilton hauke mv

Richardson TerracE, MV

Hamilton hauke mv

Richardson TerracE, MV

Richardson TerracE, MV

Richardson TerracE, MV

west shore lake tahoe

Richardson TerracE, MV

Richardson TerracE, MV

MARIN CITY's SB 35: how it’s intended?

"Hands are tied"

HTTPS://CITIZENCA.ORG/MARIN-CIT

This project was forced on Marin City

This project was forced on Marin City

This project was forced on Marin City

PACIFIC SUN ARTICLE

This project was forced on Marin City

This project was forced on Marin City

MARIN IJ ARTICLE

This project was forced on Marin City

SB 35 Eliminates "Hurdles"

SB 35 Eliminates "Hurdles"

This is what happens when laws have no appeals process

SB 35 Eliminates "Hurdles"

Wiener's Idea Could Be Made Worse

This is what happens when laws have no appeals process

This is what happens when laws have no appeals process

This is what happens when laws have no appeals process

This is what happens when laws have no appeals process

This is what happens when laws have no appeals process

UPDATES and NEWS

Sloat Sky Scraper, Ocean beach

Marin community plans

LUCAS VALLEY BUILDERS REMEDY

FOURTH STREET, SAN RAFAEL APPROVED

Hamilton, Mill valley

Dominican property, San Rafael

COMMON SENSE PARTY

SB 423 (wiener) and AB 1287 (Alvarez)

OUR neighborhood voices initiative)

RICHARDSON TERRACE MV

Magnolia village, larkspur

Elk Grove

UPDATES and NEWS

lucas valley builders remedy

strawberry builders remedy

builders remedy fairfax

buiders remedy los altos hills