On the heels of massive amounts of discussion and concern in both Tam Junction, Marin City and beyond, the Marin County Planning Commission has signed off on a five-story, 32-apartment building in Tam Valley, one of the largest efforts to create additional housing within the 94941.

The County Planning Commission approved the project at 150 Shoreline Highway, green-lighting a for the county to achieve its objective of shrinking plans for a 74-apartment complex at 825 Drake Ave. in Marin City, which drew sharp criticism and a lawsuit launched by a group of activists in that community.

The developer of the Marin City project agreed to reduce the size of that project in return for approval of the Tamalpais Valley development.

The Tamalpais Valley project also has attracted criticism because of its location in an area that has been classified as a flood zone by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; the scant number of parking spaces being supplied; and its height. Several planning commissioners expressed concerns about these and other issues during a hearing on Thursday.

County planning staff told the commissioners that because of state laws promoting housing construction, the county is powerless to mandate any changes that aren’t based on strict, objective design standards and gross threats to public health. “Understand that we cannot require any parking for this project,” Marin County Planning Manager Jeremy Tejirian said.

In return for pricing the apartments to be affordable to families earning 80% of Marin County area median income, the developer, the Pacific Companies, gets access to state density bonus law incentives, concessions and waivers. Eighty percent of area median income is $154,700 for a family of four in Marin.

Density bonus law allows the developer to exceed the county’s height limit by 45 feet and construct a building 70 feet tall and to increase the maximum floor area ratio from 35% to 126%. It also allows the developer to ignore the county’s parking requirements.

Marin County code mandates 51 parking spaces for the project, but the developer is proposing to supply just eight spaces, including two spaces for charging electric vehicles and one space reserved for people with disabilities.

“This is like putting 50 pounds of horse manure in a 10-pound bag,” said Roger Hall, who owns office buildings adjacent to the building site.

Hall predicted that residents who move into the apartment building will end up parking in spaces on his properties, which are already in short supply.

“I am going to have to drive them out,” Hall said. “It is going to seriously deteriorate the value of my property as well as my neighbors.”

County planner Immanuel Bereket said the county is working with the developer in an attempt to find additional parking spaces on a nearby site owned by the county. However, Bereket said he couldn’t guarantee the effort would succeed or how many spaces it might generate.

Several planning commissioners who advocated that the county push back against state mandates have either resigned from the commission or not been reappointed by county supervisors over recent months.

One newly appointed commissioner, Leila Monroe, was most vocal last week regarding the commission’s inability to amend the project. Monroe’s concern was focused on the safety of the people who will eventually live in the building. Monroe wanted to know why the parking study for the project failed to evaluate safety and accessibility during king tides and storm surges.

“I have discomfort that there has not been analysis of the public safety implications of the flooding on the occupants, on the emergency evacuation scenario,” Monroe said.

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.

FULL STORY.

Additional details: The exterior finish would consist of cement plaster clad in tan, light and dark brown colors. The main entrances would feature projecting metal canopies. These elements would be covered in a dark brown color to march the base (ground floor) of the building. The building would feature a flat roof with a parapet, which would conceal roof-mounted solar panels and power storage batteries.

The proposed site improvements include asphalt pavement, sidewalks, a patio, and 2,858 square feet of landscaped areas, including a bio-retention drainage area and a bio-swale on the southern portion of the lot. The bio-swale would drain towards the rear (east) and a new drain inlet with a pipe leading to the existing catch basin. The landscaping would be integrated into an onsite stormwater treatment system consisting of bioswales and a vegetated bio-retention basin, capturing and treating all stormwater runoff from the site’s impervious surfaces, including rooftops. Various other site improvements would also be entailed in the proposed development, including a new concrete curb, sidewalk, and seven onsite parking spaces, two of which would be EV charging spaces.

In addition to Design Review approval, the applicant requests the following incentives, concessions, and waivers of development standards under Government Code Section 65915–65918 (known as the State Density Bonus Law):

1. Relief from the Tamalpais Area Community Plan, Policy 33.1.b.h to increase the height limit from 25 feet to 58 feet, five inches above the surrounding grade;
2. Relief from the Countywide Plan Land Use Designation’s floor area standards to increase the maximum floor area ratio from 0.35 percent to 1.3 percent; and,
3. Relief from the Marin County Code Section 24.04.340(a) to reduce the required residential parking from 12 spaces to eight spaces.

Want to know what’s happening around town? Click here to subscribe to the Enjoy Mill Valley Blog by Email!