Note: The Marin County Planning Commission hearing is September 23, 2024. The follow up meeting with the Board of Supervisors, when the Commission’s recommendations will be heard, is scheduled for October 15, 2024
To the Planning Commission,
The Commission has always supported the role of community plans in providing specificity when there are conflicts with the Countywide Plan. It took a lawsuit and a court order for staff to finally remove the wording that you originally rejected in the housing element that “eviscerated” community plans.
The new language first fixes the legal issue, but then actually degrades community plans once again by giving unelected county staff the power to interpret or discard any provision without guidance from community plans.
“For residential and mixed use projects where there are land use designation or development density and floor area ratio differences, the County will balance and harmonize these differences within the requirements of applicable state law and adopted development standards in a manner that best achieves the Countywide Plan's overall goals and affirmatively furthers fair housing…”
There is no need to “balance and harmonize these differences.” Community plans already offer the guidance to be followed when there are differences. It is obvious that state law must be followed in any case.
The new wording reverses the restoration of community plans by making county staff the arbiters of what provisions will be followed.
Once again community plans are sidelined.
Please reject the new wording that reflects the preferences of staff to open up every inch of Marin County to greater development. Their approach does not further production of affordable housing, but can be detrimental to the environment and our safety.
Thank you, as always, for your thoughtful attention,
Amy Kalish, Director
Citizen Marin
