Posts Tagged ‘workforce housing’
Dick Spotswood: How Tall Is Too Tall For Housing in Marin’s Downtowns?
When it comes to housing proposals in the downtowns of Marin cities, how tall is too tall? That question was recently asked by the IJ editorial board during interviews of Robert Sandoval and Daryoush Davidi in the race for the District 3 seat on the San Rafael City Council. Both gave nuanced but ambiguous replies,…
Read MoreDick Spotswood: For Workforce Housing, Marin Should Buy Older Apartment Buildings
Occasionally, a good public policy idea is sunk due to flaws in the plan for execution. One example is the Oak Hill Apartments, a concept conceived by Marin’s County Office of Education and county government. Financing is more affordable since the rents needed to cover purchase and upgrade costs in existing apartments is less than…
Read MoreMarin Voice: Fire-Resilient Housing Should Be Part of Wildfire Planning
One of the most common concerns arguing against new housing in Marin is that “more housing means more wildfire risk.” The Bay Area has always had a fire season, and the accelerating impacts of climate change are only making that worse. As longtime Marin County residents and climate change advocates, we share the desire to…
Read MoreMarinIJ: Dick Spotswood: California has an Affordability Crisis, Not a Housing Crisis
It’s said that Marin, the San Francisco Bay Area and much of California is facing a “housing crisis.” The bipartisan reaction of politicians is summarized by Gavin Newsom’s boast in 2017. When campaigning for governor he vowed, “I will lead the effort to develop the 3.5 million new housing units we need by 2025 because…
Read MoreMarinIJ: Marin Voice: Housing Laws Are Helping, But Progress Is Slow
The 21st century “ROAD to Affordable Housing Act” became law with nearly unanimous bipartisan support. Industry groups, unions, local governments and housing advocates rallied behind the effort. The law modernizes federal housing programs. It improves regulatory streamlining, eliminates restrictions on build-to-rent housing developers (who have added 70,000 housing units per year), simplifies rules for manufactured…
Read MoreMarin IJ: ‘Unprecedented in Scale’: Sausalito Housing Proposal Grows
Sausalito’s largest proposed housing project in decades has grown more controversial. In March, Bayspring Development Partners filed a pre-application for a 65-foot-tall structure at 1 Harbor Drive, the site of an office building across from Mollie Stone’s Market. The proposal called for 294 apartments with 46 reserved for low-, very low-, and moderate-income households. Now…
Read MoreMarin County Supervisors Are Set On Tuesday to Approve up to $41 million in Bond Financing for the Affordable Housing Portion of the Long-Planned Oak Hill Development Near Larkspur
The proposed financing would support construction of 115 affordable apartments by nonprofit developer Eden Housing on an 8.5-acre vacant site at 193 East Sir Francis Drake Blvd., just east of Marin Country Mart. The public hearing is required under the federal Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act before the California Municipal Finance Authority can issue…
Read MoreThe Mill Valley City Council Unanimously Mill Approved a Series of Zoning Code Updates on June 1st That Officials Hope Will Lure Developers
Mill Valley has updated its affordable housing regulations to encourage small-scale projects. The actions include raising the threshold at which developers must include an affordable dwelling from four residences to seven. For projects of seven or more residences, the city is requiring 15% be affordable, in contrast to 25% before. It is also waiving fees…
Read MoreMarin Voice: More Can Be Done to Build the Housing We Need
Jenny Silva We need more affordable housing. Many residents are pleading for it, and the state is requiring that Marin permit at least 14,000 new housing units by 2031. May is Affordable Housing Month, so I would like to assess how we are doing. Some have the impression that Marin is in the midst of…
Read MoreMarin IJ: Marin County Executive Derek Johnson is Proposing the County Create a New Strategic Plan, Its First Since 2001
When asked an open-ended question regarding the most serious issue facing Marin residents that county government could address, 31% cited housing, 17% homelessness, 11% traffic/congestion, 10% infrastructure/roads/street maintenance, 9% cost of living/inflation and 8% growth/development/overpopulation. “A notable share of respondents raised concerns about growth and overdevelopment, and I think this highlights an ongoing tension in Marin, strong concern about housing affordability, alongside a concern about how growth is managed,” said Linn Walsh, a deputy county executive. County supervisors’ current top six priorities are addressing affordable housing/homelessness, disaster preparedness, county infrastructure, advancing race equity, climate resiliency and community/economic vitality.
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