At top left, 150 Shoreline Hwy., one of the two locations, split between the two, of a affordable housing project at 825 Drake Ave. in Marin City and the related project at 150 Shoreline in Tam Valley. 825 Drake is planned for 42 units, and 150 Shoreline Hwy is planned for 32 units.
Per the Marin Independent Journal, a Marin County Superior Court judge has issued a tentative ruling invalidating actions by Marin County supervisors and the California Municipal Finance Authority that authorized tax-exempt bond funding for a 74-unit apartment building in Marin City. Judge Stephen Freccero, who issued the ruling, listened to oral arguments from the attorneys representing the various parties in the case on Tuesday. The judge is expected to issue a final judgment shortly.
What remains murky, however, is what the practical effect will be on the project, if Freccero sticks with his tentative ruling. “I had lots of questions before, and I still have them,” Freccero said. “I’m trying to understand what happens next.” Over $30 million dollars in tax-exempt bonds to finance the project have already been sold.
Save Our City, an advocacy group, filed suit in May 2023 to void the Marin County Board of Supervisors’ 3-2 decision in March 2023 to approve the issuance of up to $40 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds for use in underwriting the planned building at 825 Drake Ave.
The supervisors were asked to approve the issuance of the bonds by the California Municipal Finance Authority, a joint powers agency of some 350 California counties, cities and special districts. The authority assists local governments, nonprofits and businesses with the issuance of taxable and tax-exempt financing. Marin County is one of the authority’s members.
Under federal law on tax-exempt financing, projects seeking to use tax-exempt bonds issued by finance authority must have the approval of a government whose territory includes the land where the projects will be located.
In its suit, however, Save Our City, asserted that the supervisors’ approval of a resolution authorizing the bond issuance was invalid because some supervisors wrongly believed they lacked authority to do otherwise.
During the supervisors’ hearing on the issue, County Counsel Brian Washington told supervisors, “Generally you have broad discretion to make decisions. 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.”
In his tentative ruling, Judge Stephen Freccero agreed with Save Our City’s argument. “Finally,” Freccero wrote, “each of the three supervisors who voted in favor of authorizing the bonds appeared to do so under an explicitly stated misunderstanding of the applicable standard.”
Below is the previous coverage of the the housing proposal.
Marin County, CA – Two separate affordable housing projects – one in Marin City and one in Tam Junction – could become reality pending review by the Marin County Board of Supervisors of an innovative proposal between County staff and developers.
Based on feedback from the Marin City community, 74 affordable units already approved at 825 Drake Ave. in Marin City would be reduced to 42 units. The remaining 32 units would be built at 150 Shoreline Hwy., a Tam Junction site recently acquired by the Marin City project developer. A County-owned parcel adjacent to 150 Shoreline Hwy. could potentially be used for parking.
This week, the Marin County Community Development Agency (CDA) received a request from the developers, Pacific West Communities and Affordable Housing Land Consultants, to rezone the Tam Junction site to balance the units across the two locations. The Tam Junction site has already been approved for multi-family housing.
In 2020, the County approved a proposal to build a five-story, 74-unit affordable housing project in Marin City. The County approved the project under the provisions of SB35, a 2017 state law that allows projects such as this to bypass normally required environmental review, move faster through the review process, and restricts rejecting projects if they have minimum affordable housing guarantees.
“The County listened to the community at a number of meetings and worked to find a solution that addressed their concerns,” said Stephanie Moulton-Peters, District 3 Supervisor. “The two-site approach results in less housing on a hillside adjacent to a low-income senior community in Marin City and adds housing in an area already approved for housing on a transit-oriented site with a bus lines and other transportation services.”
At its Oct. 15 meeting, the Board of Supervisors will consider a Memorandum of Understanding that will spell out how the approved Marin City project would be changed. The Board’s consideration of the proposal to rezone 150 Shoreline to support approval of the 32-unit building at the site would follow, after consideration by the Tam Design Review Board and the Planning Commission.
The Drake Avenue site was designed and approved with two wings: a five-story wing with 42 units and a four-story wing with 32 units. The project is made of factory-built modular units that have already been constructed specifically for the building as designed, so the wings must remain intact. Given the physical characteristics of the two sites and the design of the already constructed modular buildings, the most feasible way to divide the project is to locate the larger wing at 825 Drake Ave. and the smaller wing at 150 Shoreline Hwy.
CDA Director Sarah Jones said the County and the developer have carried out extensive negotiations over the past several months, which also saw the acquisition of the Tam Junction site by the developer, and analyses of the development possibilities, zoning, parking, road safety, and other issues.
“A key aspect of this split development approach is making sure that housing is distributed around the county and not concentrated in just a few areas,” Jones explained. “This innovative approach means that there will be more open space around the building in Marin City and less impact on the residents of Village Oduduwa next door. In Tam Junction, residents will be close to transit, stores and services.”
As spelled out in the April 2024 term sheet between the developer and the County, which would be formalized in the MOU set to be considered by the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 15, grading and foundation construction at 825 Drake Ave. could occur this fall. During this time there will be a public input process to consider the rezoning of 150 Shoreline Hwy. to accommodate 32 units. Opportunities for public comment include the Oct. 15 meeting of the Board of Supervisors, a workshop at the Tam Design Review Board, which is yet to be scheduled, and subsequent consideration by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors.
Updates and information about the Marin City project can be found on the 825 Drake webpage. Shoreline Highway project updates and information can also be found online.