Consultant will fill gap in planning unit

Fairfax has hired a consulting firm to lead its planning and building department through the end of the fiscal year.

The Town Council unanimously approved the hiring of Pleasanton-based 4Leaf Inc. for an amount not to exceed $140,000 at a meeting on Thursday . The move is expected to fill gaps in the department created by the planned departure of interim director David Woltering.

The town has indicated it needs additional staffing to assist with the housing element, the short-term rental program, parklets, rent stabilization and its just-cause eviction program.

Town Manager Heather Abrams noted the “very important need for long term planning in our planning department.” Upcoming projects also include rezoning and working with stakeholders who were seeking to add housing in the community, she said.

“We have a very small, highly committed staff,” Abrams said. “They can only do so much.”

Woltering, a retiree who works limited hours, was appointed interim director in July 2022. His final meeting with the town was Wednesday. He said he has worked with the consultancy for about a week and a half to assist with the transition.

“The town is in a circumstance where you do very much need a bridge,” he said. “You have a tremendous amount on your plate here… the workload is way beyond what they can complete.”

The primary consultant working with the town, Daniel Hortert, has overseen work in planning, building and code enforcement in community development departments in Larkspur and Sausalito.

The town has so far been unable to hire a permanent planning director. Town officials reached out to the Marin County Planning Department to inquire about on-loan planners, but none were available, Abrams said.

Abrams noted that the consultant would act as a “bridge” until another recruitment was undertaken. The new recruitment would have to be approved separately by the town council, she said.

“I feel really good about this step forward as opposed to having nothing or continuing to look,” Abrams said.

The planning and building director is paid between $157,224 and $182,004, according to a town salary schedule.

Councilmember Barbara Coler said the amount was an “extraordinary amount of money” for a contract that would last until the end of

the fiscal year — about five months. She also expressed concerns about the breadth of the consultant's services for the cost.

“I don't see that we will have someone that will be overseeing the planning department as a whole. This very much concerns me,” she said.

Woltering said the primary focus of the group would be on the housing element process, which is still being undertaken.

Fairfax has missed the state deadline to submit a new housing plan. It submitted its draft to the state in January, which remains under review.

The town is required to identify places for 490 new residences, including 86 low-income units and 149 very-low-income units by 2030.

The new consultant will likely be working with the town's housing element consultant, Dyett & Bhatia Urban and Regional Planners, to complete the housing element.