That plans to build a five-story apartment building on Shoreline Highway in Tamalpais Valley got off to a rocky start should not come as a surprise.
The Tamalpais Design Review Board, the neighborhood planning board, was scheduled to review the plans, but it was removed from its agenda.
How much say the board will have is uncertain given the state Legislature’s pro-housing initiative that has effectively undermined local review and control over proposed housing developments.
The proposal calls for building a 32-unit affordable apartment complex on a half-acre at 150 Shoreline Highway.
The location, in a classified flood zone, runs into the county’s planning focus to limit development in areas that might be threatened by climate change and rising tides.
The county, just about three years ago, approved plans to build 10 studio apartments and an 11-room hotel on the site, property once occupied by a gas station. The buildings were to be raised three feet to protect them from flooding. That project never progressed beyond its blueprints.
The new proposal not only takes advantage of a state bonus that allows a density boost that almost doubles its size, but also clashes with the local community plan’s 25-foot building height limit and would provide only eight onsite parking spaces.
It would be a significant change to the local landscape. One Tam board member called the design “monolithic.”
Developers seeking financial return on their investment is nothing new.
This planning quandary is further complicated by its involvement in an agreement with the county that developer Pacific Companies, an affordable housing builder, would build on the Tam Valley site instead of moving forward with its county-approved plans to build an apartment complex at 825 Drake Ave. in Marin City.
The Marin City project has drawn strong opposition, including a lawsuit, from residents who say their area has already seen too much high-density housing and wants the Drake Avenue property saved as parkland.
Here’s the prior story on the proposed project and related hurdles.
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.