Recent State housing legislation, including Senate Bill 35, Senate Bill 330 and the Housing Accountability Act (HAA,) have established mandates for cities, towns and counties to streamline the review process for multi-family housing projects and use objective standards to review projects. As a result, Marin has embarked on a multi-jurisdictional effort to update and expand…
*** GOOD NEWS *** It is all too easy in the current swirl of COVID-19 news to lose track of some of the GOOD NEWS about affordable housing ALREADY this year. MEHC supported all of these projects, which will provide at least 134 new homes… CLAM/Eden Win Coast Guard Bid: This month, the Marin County…
The COVID-19 pandemic is a calamity on top of a crisis here in California. It brings into sharp focus our society’s inability to ensure that most basic need — safe, stable shelter for everyone. This harms us all. The tens of thousands of people who are forced into crowded housing — or are unhoused due…
Staff at the County of Marin’s Community Development Agency saw a real estate ad for a ten-unit apartment building in Fairfax and recognized an opportunity to save an existing “naturally occurring” affordable rental property. Brookside Apartments, at 300 Olema Road includes ten units of two- and four-bedroom apartments. Its owner has kept the rents below…
This winter, the Multicultural Center of Marin embarked on an initiative to build community leadership, creating and developing a Canal Community Resilience Council (CCRC). The Council’s mission is to identify resident-generated concerns around climate change, gentrification and other local issues and build capacity for seeking solutions. The project is funded by the Marin Community Foundation…
By WILL HOUSTON | whouston@marinij.com | PUBLISHED: December 18, 2019 at 5:58 pm | UPDATED: December 19, 2019 at 6:56 am Marin Independent Journal The Marin Municipal Water District Board of Directors voted unanimously this week to adopt rate and fee reductions for existing in-law units to promote affordable housing development under state law. Several residents turned out to the board meeting…
Considering Marin’s resistance to new development, you might be surprised to learn that Marin scored the highest among Bay Area counties in meeting last year’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) goals according to a recent report, Missing the Mark. RHNA is a statewide program that calculates how much housing each local jurisdiction needs to build, by…
Upcoming Events and Action Alerts Here are some opportunities to speak up for affordable housing. We can’t do it without you! Please write the your elected representatives and/or speak up at public meetings.
Pat’s affordable housing journey started in the summer of 2013. She was getting older, her small Sacramento business was no longer thriving, and she needed to get back to the Bay Area to be closer to friends and family. She realized she would never be able to afford Bay Area rents, so she started researching…
AFTER THE FIRES, HOUSING GOALS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER Are we doing enough? The North Bay fires have affected a large number of our northern neighbors, including many who work here in Marin. The scope of the devastation and destruction is enormous: well over 5,000 homes have been destroyed and many more damaged. It…