WELCOME to CITIZEN MARIN
EMAIL: 1CITIZENMARIN@GMAIL.COM
WE ARE GETTING MARIN TOGETHER TO PUSH BACK ON 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 HOMES AT/ABOVE MARKET RATE
THE NEW DEVELOPMENTS WILL NOT REQUIRE PUBLIC HEARINGS
OR FOLLOW ANY LOCAL PERMITTING PROCESS
THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (HCD) ASSIGNED THE OVERWHELMING NUMBERS OF HOUSING UNITS CITIES MUST SEE BUILT, BUT THE LAWS THEMSELVES DO NOT REQUIRE ANY LOW-INCOME HOUSING. THERE ARE NO LAWS FORCING A DEVELOPER TO BUILD LOW INCOME HOUSING
WE JUST GET HARSHLY PUNISHED BY THE STATE IF PRIVATE DEVELOPERS DON'T DECIDE TO BUILD IT FOR US
"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 incomes. The State would not allow us to carry a deficit in the above-moderate income category."
Tom Lai, Director of Marin County Community Development Dept
IT'S NOT ABOUT LOW-INCOME HOUSING
WAKE UP, CHANGE IS COMING
THE CONCEPT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IS BEING ERODED BY THE STATE. AGRESSIVELY AND UNDEMOCRATICALLY
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 Strategic Growth Council SGC https://sgc.ca.gov/vision/California helps set policy that informs the Department of Housing and Development (HCD) https://www.marincounty.org/depts/cd/divisions/housing/housing-element, which produces a Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) every 8 years to plan for population growth. Our current population is shrinking https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/02/california-population-decline-trend-covid, but the HCD has ordered the production of TWO AND A HALF MILLION new housing units to be built over the next 8 years.
Of the 441,176 housing units 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. https://www.marinij.com/2022/04/14/marin-county-officials-approve-housing-site-list/
CALIFORNIA IS MICROMANAGING GROWTH
THEY'RE DEMANDING AN ASTONISHING AMOUNT OF HOUSING, BROKEN INTO CATEGORIES FROM LOW-INCOME TO ABOVE-MARKET RATE, AND TELLING CITIES WHERE TO PUT IT
WHY ARE WE FORCED TO BUILD HOUSING FOR WEALTHY PEOPLE?
CITIES WILL BE DEPENDING ON PRIVATE BUILDERS TO DO IT AND WILL BE PUNISHED SEVERELY IF THE NUMBERS AREN'T MADE.
BUT NO LAWS FORCE PRIVATE BUILDERS TO CREATE ANYTHING THEY DON'T WANT TO DO. WHAT THEY LIKE TO DO IS MAKE MONEY, AND EVEN WITH BONUS INCENTIVES, LOW-INCOME HOUSING IS NOT "PENCILLING OUT."
MARIN MUST ADD 14,405 HOMES, OR ELSE
LOOK AROUND YOUR TOWN. WHERE WILL THEY GO?
NINE MARIN CITIES AND THE COUNTY APPEALED THE HUGE NUMBERS.
ALL APPEALS WERE DENIED WITHOUT COMMENT
THE STATE ASSIGNS NEW HOUSING EVERY 8 YEARS TO KEEP UP WITH FUTURE NEEDS. THIS TIME THE NUMBERS WERE UP TO 100 x NORMAL.
TWO AND A HALF MILLION HOUSING UNITS FOR THE STATE
440,000 FOR THE BAY AREA
14,405 FOR MARIN
Go to CITIES page to read appeals
The numbers are so large that an AUDIT was performed, and it found the serious flaws in methodology. Meanwhile, our cities are scrambling to find space, to make way for developers.
No traffic studies, no CEQA, no infrastructure upgrades. The idea is to eliminate single family housing as punishment for exclusionary policies enacted in parts of Caifornia in the 1940s but abolished in the 1960s.
Even though most of Marin has since been built out, the state is pushing infill and density. They changed our building codes and rezoned areas for us so our rules couldn't get in the way. They want private developers to " break" our neighborhoods, demolish homes and squeeze larger and taller buildings inside. our neighborhoods. The parcel owner now has the power to develop much denser structures without input.
The guidelines of Plan Bay Area 2050, created by ABAG, state that:
'new homes ... would grow first and foremost into parts of towns, cities and counties that their local governments identify for growth, generally near existing job centers or frequent transit. ... Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, Plan Bay Area 2050 calls for tailoring the design and density of new homes to their local contexts. Larger-scale development would take place on vacant land or declining commercial lots, and smaller-scale housing (such as backyard accessory dwelling units or duplexes) would be built in single-family neighborhoods."
"Areas at very high risk of wildfire or sea level rise impacts are protected from additional construction and development. Economic strategies guide job growth toward places that currently have few jobs, while housing strategies encourage housing near job centers, working in tandem to address the geographic imbalance of housing and jobs in the region."
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 MUST ADD BLOCKS EVACUATION CORRIDORS
https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/SB-182.pdf
SO, WITH THESE LIMITATIONS, IF WE'RE GOING TO BUILD HOUSING, IT SHOULD ONLY BE FOR LOW INCOME/WORKFORCE HOUSING
WE AREN'T BIG CITIES. WE ARE FORCED INTO HIGH DENSITY ANYWAY, TO PROVIDE MORE HOUSING FOR THE WEALTHY
Click through this map to see the allocations by category up to last cycle: http://housing.abag.ca.gov/map
YOUR TOWN IS REQUIRED TO ADD:
MARIN LAST CYCLE: 2,298
MARIN 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
HAZARDS? "It won't be possible to avoid those areas."
Tom Lai, Director of Marin County Community Development, at the 2/22 BOS Meeting
WHAT HAPPENED TO COMMON SENSE?
All of the conditions listed to the right were bases for appeals on the official forms. Legitimate criteria. Changed situations from the past. But the HCD accused us of exclusionary practices -- because we hadn't grown our cities quickly, 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 HIGHER PRICED HOUSING
APPEAL CRITERIA:
CHANGED CONDITIONS
DROUGHT
FIRE DANGER
NARROW ROADS
LIMITED EVACUATION ROUTES
FEMA FLOOD AREAS
SEA LEVEL RISE
TRAFFIC
SEWAGE AND SEPTIC LIMITS
INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITATIONS
LACK OF SUITABLE LAND
GEOGRAPHICAL CONSTRAINTS
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
WER'E NOT TRANSIT RICH
WER'E NOT JOB RICH
IN MUCH OF MARIN, AND THE STATE, THIS IS DANGEROUS, AND THE STATE KNOWS IT
IN CITIES, DENSITY CAN WORK. BUT TO FORCE THIS HOUING IN AREAS LIKE MARIN, FILLED WITH HAZARDS NOT TAKEN SERIOSLY ON APPEAL, IT IS DANGEROUS.
***
There are many other concerning aspects of this combination of housing policy and law. Few people are aware of what is happening to their local governments, and what's coming. Concerned groups across the state that are now angry and engaged.
OTHER ISSUES:
1. Scarcity and price of land and materials, plus inflation, high interest rates de incentivize development of low-income housing
2. State supersedes local government zoning and rules
3. State will decide what public land will be used for housing if cities don't produce certified Housing Element lists
4. State punishes cities with fines, withholding funds, state takeover in court receivership, based on private contractor performance
5. Upzoning of farmland and open space ok on property not fully protected before 2017
6. CEQA becomes irrelevant with by rights/ministerial developments. Environmentally sensitive areas, wildlife, trees, etc. unprotected
7. State decides the nature and character of all towns and cities
8. Untested strain on sewage and other infrastructure
9. No traffic studies for extreme increase in traffic
10. Influx of children into schools when we are past capacity and budget
11. Citys’ responsibility to “Find the water” in time of severe drought
12. Little respect for private property and covenants
13. Using Forestry Service hazard overlays from 2007, still not updated
14. Water district hasn’t factored in additional population in projections
15. As an unfunded mandate, cities and counties will not receive compensation for the planning or oversight, required bonuses, or the administration of housing mandated by the HCD. Told to sell bonds to pay.
WILLFULL NEGLIGENCE
RHNA/ABAG appeals ALL denied, safety not factored in, numbers more than doubled over previous cycle
State openly acknowledges WUI and other fire hazards, plus growing effects of climate change
Safety was deliberately prevented in Newsom’s SB 182 VETO (would have required evacuation routes for new construction) https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/SB-182.pdf
SB 1292 would deliberately discourage trying to avoid building in hazard zones https://openstates.org/ca/bills/20212022/SB1292/
Open acknowledgment from Marin County BOS that we can’t avoid hazard zones if we are going to make the housing numbers -- HYBRID HOUSING ELEMENT:
Severe, acknowledged lack of evacuation infrastructure
Geographical limitations of Marin and other areas make infrastructure improvements impossible
Fires can easily be catastrophic and consume property and take lives
DROUGHT? "It's up to the cities to find the water."
Consulting MIG Planner, explaining the rules at the Marin Board of Supervisors' 2/22 meeting
WHAT'S GOING ON?
Between the jumble of laws passed by the state and the Department of Housing and Community Development's (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 discredited by audit 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 rate, 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.
LOW INCOME IN MARIN IS $110,000 to $140,000 depending on family size. So the rent can't exceed 30% of that, which cuts into income/profit of property owner. That's why as few as possible are created within a development. Developers have been negotiating well below 25%
SEE MAP HERE:
http://housing.abag.ca.gov/map
Clear the map to show only two highest income categories. Start at 2014, then add 2015, 2016, 2017. Now add in the lower incomes and see the tiny number of extra dots added each year.
The HCD is requiring density in our neighborhoods to produce homes for the rich. With Marin's lack of buildable land, if expensive projects are completed first, even with a few low-income units thrown in, there will literally be no land left for the number of low-income projects required.
A new department inside HCD was created to monitor and punish us if we didn't build fast enough. https://hcd.ca.gov/community-development/accountability-enforcement.shtml
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. Rob Bonta's Strike Forece: https://californiacitynews.org/2022/03/states-housing-strike-force-goes-after-more-cities.html
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 (section coming soon)
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 that would encourage 85% of it to be developed as housing just failed)
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.
There are lawsuits now for city councils to join. Let your city council know you'll support them.
WE NEED TO PUSH BACK AGAINST THIS STATE OVERREACH, OR YOU WON'T RECOGNIZE MARIN -- OR CALIFORNIA -- IN A FEW YEARS
Please Join Us
GET INVOLVED. GO TO CONTACT PAGE
- We are actively seeking candidates for all local boards, councils, and other elected positions.
- We need outreach to council to ask them to join lawsuits
- We are also looking for assistance with social media and publicity.
- Get notifications about new laws, and actions you can take
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