Blog Post < Previous | Next >
Marin Post
A Call For Action From Elected Officials on Senate Bill 827
The following letter has been sent to the Mill Valley City Council, regarding SB-827, recently introduced by Senator Wiener (Dem-SF).
We need elected officials to show leadership, educate their constituents, and use their bully pulpit to voice objections to this draconian legislation to remove local control of zoning and planning.
The Goal: To get every city council in Marin’s 11 cities and towns and the Marin Board of Supervisors to place SB-827 on the agenda for public debate within the next 60 days.
I encourage readers to send similar comments to their own local elected officials and the Marin Board of Supervisors.
Dear Mill Valley City Council and Marin County Board of Supervisors:
SB-827, a bill recently sponsored by Senator Wiener (D-SF), poses a serious threat to local control of zoning and planning that is beyond anything we have ever seen before. This proposal to address the affordable housing crisis, by building 5-8 story buildings, by right, within a quarter or half mile of transit, disregards our General Plan, specific plans and zoning ordinances, and would result in unsustainable impacts on our environment, town character, schools, traffic, public services, infrastructure and quality of life.
At a time when all Marin communities are working diligently to increase affordable housing options, this is not the time to allow local zoning and planning control to succumb to overly simplistic and counter-productive state legislation.
As our elected representatives, we count on you to act in the best interests of our community. Will you show leadership to address the threats of SB-827 and the over-reach by Sacramento to remove local control of zoning and planning? We ask that you rise to the occasion and use your status as elected officials to voice our objections to this draconian legislation.
You have the opportunity, and in fact the responsibility, to protect our city’s constitutional right to plan for our future and address our growth and housing affordability challenges.
As a member of your community, I am writing to respectfully request and strongly suggest that you take the following actions.
- Place the public discussion of SB-827 on the City Council’s public hearings agenda, within the next 30 days.
- Place a discussion of SB-827 on the agenda of the Marin Mayors and City Council members' Monthly agenda, within the next 60 days.
- Issue a public comment and rebuttal to Senator Wiener and Sacramento lawmaker’s, regarding the proposals found in SB-827.
We trust that you value Mill Valley's right to local control of planning and zoning for our future, as we do. We are ready to work with you to educate, engage, and empower residents to have their opinions on this issue heard.
Here are some examples of what local commentators are saying about SB-827.
https://smmirror.com/2018/01/sma-r-t-sacramento-tries-nuke-santa-monica/
http://www.marinij.com/opinion/20180111/marin-ij-readers-forum-for-jan-12
Thank you, in advance, for taking a leadership role on this.
Susan Kirsch
Citizen Marin
Mill Valley