Supervisors to Consider Housing Element Sept. 10

After more than five years in the making, the Marin County Board of Supervisors will consider a state-mandated Housing Element Update for unincorporated areas at its Sept. 10 meeting. 

The Housing Element Update outlines a comprehensive plan for housing that is affordable to the full range of Marin’s diverse community and local workforce. As required by state law, towns, cities and counties must deliver a plan to meet existing and planned housing needs. Housing elements are reviewed for compliance by the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

The County has hosted dozens of public meetings about the Housing Element Update, including recent presentations before the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors. On June 4, the Board approved a resolution to complete the Housing Element Update by Jan. 31, 2014, to maintain eligibility for grant funding. On July 8, the Planning Commission recommended that the Board approve the Housing Element Update.

“Thanks in part to strong public input, the issues presented by this document have been strongly debated at both the countywide and community levels,” said Brian Crawford, the County’s Community Development Agency Director. “Now we are at the point where there is a sense of timeliness to the County’s decision because of the imposed deadline of getting this to the State. We believe this update will go a long way toward balancing the housing options we have in Marin while maintaining the integrity of our existing land use regulations.”

A staff report for the hearing is available online. A full reference copy is available for public review at the Board of Supervisors office, 3501 Civic Center Drive, Suite 329, San Rafael (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays) and at the Community Development Agency, Suite 308 (8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mondays-Thursdays, closed Fridays).  CDs with PDF documents are also available by request.  Call (415) 473-6269 for details.

The Sept. 10 meeting will be in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, Suite 328, in the Marin Civic Center’s Administration Building in San Rafael.