Marin County is confronted with the rules for the development of state housing

From And WaltersCalmness

This comment was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

Although the local authorities in California had government goals for dwelling Construction for decades have been applied only in recent years.

As governor Gavin News and the legislature sprayed pressure In order to provide more land available for multi -family homes and to change design restrictions, the resistance has been strengthened, especially in high -quality suburban communities dominated by single -family homes.

Municipal Councils, under pressure from voters to preserve the status quo, have created any strategies Feel the civil servantsBut the state was ruthless, insisting that local planning documents were favorable to housing, with penalties for communities that did not comply.

The epicenter of the resistance is the Marin County, whose wealthy residents simply do not want their bacon neighborhoods to be, as they see, marked by multi -family, multi -storey residential buildings.

Fifty -four years ago, as Marin’s population was increasing rapidly, the District Council of Supervisory Authorities adopted a policy document entitled “Can the last place continue?“This requires strict restrictions on new homes.” This is the last place. There is nowhere to go, “said the manifesto, referring to those wishing to move to Marin as” hordes … now they are piling up. “

State residential quotas threatened to undermine this attitude. A decade ago or more, while Jerry Brown was governor, the legislature passed and he signed a measure that gives Marin some relief from Defining it as suburban not urban.

However, the resistance continues, to a large extent project under a project. Fairfax is such a clash in Fairfax, one of Marin’s most valuable communities. The developer wants to convert the board of a former spa from hot baths and yoga studios into an apartment complex with 243 units, which will go a long way to achieving the state housing goal of Fairfax.

City authorities have fiercely opposed to approve the project and opponents now strive to recall the mayor and deputy mayor of what they consider to be betrayal of the city’s desire to maintain the status quo.

“This is a city that just says,” We don’t care what the law says, we will say no, Riley Hurd, the entrepreneur’s lawyer told the chronicle of San FranciscoS “I suppose the plan is to pretend that ministerial policy does not exist. They will receive the decoration of their housing element, will be judged and lose. The question is why? It can be as simple as:” It will make us do it. “

Saying no of housing development is long -standing Marin County Tradition. The county has hardly added the population in the last half century, even diverting the development of new water supply as a means of stopping housing projects.

However, the pressure to allow more housing is ruthless and the Marin County cannot be opposed forever. If the Fairfax project continues to disappear, the state will join in order to cancel all efforts to block and the community is also faced with a probable case by the Yimby law, an organization that is suing communities that violate state housing laws.

“Fairfax enters the Buzzsaw,” Yimby Law CEO Sonia Traus saysS “They will lose a lot of money and lose. They have an absolute and complete freak over a project that is not such a big deal.”

Not only that Fairfax is likely to lose the battle for the apartment project, but also the Marin County, whose The quota is 14,000 new residential units By 2032, he began to realize that he could not continue to be an island without growth.

Thehe Marin an independent journalIn a recent revision, it notes that the Marin County Planning Commission has seen several resignations lately due to “dissatisfaction with the district approach to the ultra-ambitious housing goals of the state and undermine the local Sacrato control to optimize the approval of the county and the city for new development.”

“The state rationalization of land use approval has increased the process by eliminating public participation and eliminating the appointed and selected persons,” the newspaper complains.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.