More housing from Marin's commitment

Faced with the state's ambitious housing quotas, the Marin Board of Supervisors is investing what it can to make sure local government isn't to blame if county numbers fall short.

By blaming zoning restrictions imposed by municipalities, state lawmakers undermined local land use controls, mandating that they make room to build more housing.

In Marin, that quota is more than 14,000 new housing units by 2031.

Given that much of Marin is either built out or protected by parkland and agricultural zoning, meeting that quota means increased densities, including the height of the developments.

Marin's need for affordable housing is growing as rising real estate prices leave more residents and jobholders either unable to afford to buy a home or keep up with rents.

Homeless encampments and increasing pressure for rent control are results of Marin's longstanding failure to meet the local need for affordable housing.

By increasing the county's annual investment in its housing trust fund to $10 million per year over the next four years, supervisors are hoping to help affordable housing projects get off the ground.

Private developers still face steep property costs, local building requirements and high utility, municipal and school fees to advance projects here. The combination of those factors may dissuade developers, leaving Marin short of meeting its state quota.

The county's investment is a sign that it is being a solution, not an obstacle, in the state's initiative.

Its commitment to affordable housing serves as an example that Marin is focused on meeting Fair Housing Act goals of “affirmatively furthering fair housing.”

It wasn't that long ago that the county's restrictive zoning was being cited by federal authorities as contrary to Fair Housing Act goals.

County officials have worked to reverse that finding.

Its investment likely isn't going to build hundreds of new units, but it can help proposed projects pay for pre-development costs needed to move them from blueprints to construction.

In some cases, it can help acquire existing housing and reserve it as affordable rentals.

Supervisor Katie Rice is right in recommending that the county remain flexible in its guidelines of limiting the trust's contribution to $100,000 per unit.

Officials need to allow some leeway, given the varied real estate costs that projects face in Marin.

“I think it's going to be really important to preserve some discretion and latitude,” Rice said.

The state's quotas are Sacramento's calculation of Marin's fair share of housing needed to meet regional needs. There's not much debate that Marin, after years of falling short of previous state housing quotas, can do more.

The county's investment is not going to solve Marin's need for affordable and workforce housing. However, it is going to make a difference for many in providing and protecting housing they can afford and fostering a diversity of housing needed to address Marin's economic, environmental and equity challenges.