Sausalito nears final general plan OK
The Sausalito City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved tweaks to its draft general plan, closing in on final approval of the 20-year blueprint that will guide the future of development and planning in the city.
Since its last meeting in September, new language was added to promote racial diversity and equity, support the development of affordable and senior housing citywide and call for for a sea level rise study at the waterfront.
The final draft will be presented to the public at the Planning Commission meeting on Nov. 4 and at the City Council meeting on Nov. 11. The general plan is set to be adopted in January, according to city officials.
In all, 49 items were considered for the final draft pulled from public comments, committees, working groups, council and planning commission recommendations. After a lengthy discussion about the state housing mandate, council members limited their focus to controversial items during the online meeting, due to the lateness of the hour.
A point of contention was whether the city should address overlay zoning in the general plan update to provide an incentive for property owners to invest in dilapidated or unused space in the Marinship.
“So that the idea of an overlay zone is something that can add further containment and can work to limit housing to only areas that are deemed acceptable,” Mayor Susan Cleveland-Knowles said. “So it’s actually a tool of limitation as opposed to a tool of expansion and is meant to address some of this know slippery slope of fear of gentrification.”
KenPedersen, owner of theClipper Yacht Harbor, asked the council to consider conditionaluse per
mits that would allow him to rent out the second floor of his property as an art use, which is currently prohibited by the Marinship Specific Plan.
Vice Mayor Ray Withy said this request highlights a bigger issue that without the city’s support property owners are going to let their properties fall into disrepair, arguing this will have a negative effect on the maritime business and working waterfront.
“There’s a building that is going to just become abandoned over time,” Withy said. “And we’re going to lose some maritime business because there is no economic incentive for themto actually put money into that building because the economics just don’t work out.”
He suggested making broad amendments to the general plan thatwould provide guidance but not trigger an environmental impact report, helping future councils.
Councilwoman Joan Cox, who is opposed to including zoning elements in the general plan, said this topic should be addressed in the future.
“I don’t think we can make this decision tonight. It’s too late,” Cox said as the meeting approached midnight. “My question is, is this something we can accomplish on an ad hoc basis moving forward with the existing general plan programs and policies as we consider our zoning ordinance in greater detail?”
Geoff Bradley, president of the consulting firm MGroup hired by the city, said he is unsure if it’s consistent with the general plan as it’s drafted, but there could be some protections added to make sure the limited waterfront area is taken up by non-water uses.
At the request of the public, the city will be publishing the draft environmental impact report on Oct. 23. The public will be able to provide comment until Dec. 7.
At the request of the Planning Commission, the council agreed to remove discussion of zoning overlays from the general plan. To many residents, property owners and council members, however, the land-use element of the general plan is related to the issue of zoning affordable housing in the Marinship.
Language that barred housing from the Marinship was removed earlier this year at the displeasure of many advocates of the working waterfront. However, the majority of the council argued that adding housing to certain areas of the Marinship, specifically near Bridgeway, will not endanger the art, industrial and maritime uses of the working waterfront.
John DiRe, an engineer, member of the General Plan Advisory Committee and member of the Sausalito Working Waterfront Coalition was skeptical, arguing that lax enforcement has already shrunk the working waterfront.
“There are almost no industrial spaces left,” DiRe said. “There’s not much to protect. About 60% of our industrial zone is office space. So what we need to do is convert that office space back to industrial, as is the original intent of the Marinship Specific Plan.”
Withy and Councilman Joe Burns saidthey are supportive of modifying the zoning to allow property owners to convert empty office space into housing while still trying to protect the industrial, art and maritime use of the Marinship.
“We have said, some of us, that we support taking vacant office and changing it into housing,” Burns said. “I don’t know what could be a more simple approach than taking vacant office and turn it into housing, yet that has been the No. 1 issue in our town for many years now.”
DiRe said the council is signaling to property owners to raise their office lease rates so high they will remain empty, which would open the door to gentrification.
“You had your office vacated and now you get housing,” he said. “This is what you signaled to everybody today. And this is a storm like we have not seen before.”