San Rafael, CA – Amid some of the most expensive housing prices in the United States, the County of Marin continues to take steps to preserve its existing stock of housing, make housing more affordable and help prevent its residents from being priced out of the market.
Community Development Agency Director Brian Crawford (far left) speaks before the Board of Supervisors (right) during a February 2016 affordable housing public workshop.
To increase access for those who work during the day, at a special 5:30 p.m. meeting August 1, the Marin County Board of Supervisors will consider a progress report on a work plan created by planners with the Marin County Community Development Agency (CDA). The session will take place in the Board chamber, Suite 330, of the Marin County Civic Center, 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael.
Addressing housing affordability has been one of the top priorities of the Supervisors, who charged the Community Development Agency with investigating solutions for the county’s unincorporated areas. Following up on a survey of rental housing, the Board first considered a comprehensive set of policy options to address the County’s affordable housing needs through a series of three public workshops between October and December 2015.
In February 2016, the Board approved a work plan with 11 distinct programs. On August 1, the Board plans to provide direction to CDA staff on how to proceed with four programs that require more deliberation and direction, including: 1) voluntary rent guidelines, intended to stabilize rapidly increasing rents and curb displacement by asking Landlords to voluntarily limit rent increases; 2) an ordinance to require just cause for evictions, to prevent "no-fault" evictions of responsible tenants; 3) second-unit amnesty to reduce barriers to legalize unpermitted second units; and 4) a re-evaluation of the Housing Overlay Designation (HOD) Policy, which is intended to encourage the construction of new affordable housing on in-fill sites.
Following a presentation by staff and any clarifying questions from the Board, the public will be asked to provide comments and feedback on these programs. The staff report is available in English on the County’s Affordable Housing webpage and Spanish, and Vietnamese translations will be posted on Friday July 28th. Speakers using translation services will be granted additional time to speak at the hearing.