LTE: Report on housing issues a valuable Marin resource

Marin IJ Readers’ Forum, October 2, 2019.

As a member of the Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative board, I would like to commend the Independent Journal for its editorial on San Rafael Community Development Director Paul Jensen’s report, “Challenges to Housing Development,” and thank the San Rafael City Council for directing Jensen and his staff to analyze the impediments and opportunities for housing (“Marin’s outlook on new housing needs to change,” Sept. 22).

This report clearly delineates the current situation in San Rafael, outlining the challenges and several practical solutions to these challenges. Some of these challenges can be addressed by changing city processes, such as improving the flow of the review process, adopting form-based codes, and reducing or waiving various development and impact fees.

These measures deserve the City Council’s serious consideration. Halfway through the 2015-2023 regional housing-needs allocation cycle, San Rafael has issued permits for only 27% of its overall target goal, and only 2% of its required goal for very low-income units. San Rafael’s housing crisis is likely to be exacerbated by rents that continue to rise. Long-range plans need to include new affordable housing to accommodate displaced residents as well as additional housing to accommodate job growth and population growth.

Some barriers and solutions are outside of the city’s purview — for instance, the lack of dedicated funding for affordable housing. The city could consider utilizing in-lieu fees, which certainly are not sufficient to build new truly affordable units to meet the needs of San Rafael’s low-income citizens, but could be allocated to subsidizing and/or extending affordability. Marin County could help cities like San Rafael meet their goals for very-low and low-income housing by leveraging more funding.

Jensen’s report should serve as a valuable resource to all Marin communities, as we work together to solve the county’s housing crisis.

— Larry Kennings, Mill Valley