San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
‘Battle royale’ looming over proposed housing
A proposed condo complex in the heart of Sausalito’s historic waterfront district is set to ignite a political and legal battle that could determine whether the Marin County city will preserve its historic status as a development no-go zone or open itself up to a new generation of housing production.
This week, property owner Linda Fotsch submitted an application to redevelop a half-acre site at 605-613 Bridgeway, now home to four storefronts. The project, marketed as Waterstreet, would consist of 41 market-rate condos as well as six “very low income” affordable units, Fotsch said.
The facades of the four existing retail spaces, part of the city’s downtown historic district, would be preserved while five stories of new condos with wraparound balconies would step back from Bridgeway. Most of the half-acre complex would be built on a parking lot that lies behind the four buildings, which house a deli, an ice cream parlor and a wine bar.
Fotsch, who owns the Real Napa wine tasting room at 611 Bridgeway, said the lack of residential density in the downtown makes local retailers and restaurants dependent on the tourists and day-trippers arriving by ferry, car or bike. While Bridgeway is full of visitors on summer weekends, trade dwindles during the winter rainy season, she said.
“I’ve been a resident, business owner and property owner in Sausalito for over 30 years. Sausalito needs revitalization and Waterstreet will bring the needed housing to our downtown area,” she said. “People define community and communities influence a city’s character. I think this development will bring a better balance between visitors and residents in Sausalito.”
The proposal comes as Sausalito works to rezone portions of the city in order to meet the requirements of its state-certified “housing element,” the plan that every city in California must submit to accommodate its fair share of residential production. Sausalito’s housing element requires the city to plan to accommodate 724 units by 2031 on various “opportunity sites,” including the parcels at 605611 Bridgeway.
But the Waterstreet project, and the broader implementation of the housing element, will face both legal and political obstacles. The condo development is in conflict with Ordinance 1022, a 1985 voter-approved “Fair Traffic Initiative” that broadly forbids development in much of the city.
Sausalito City Manager Chris Zapata wouldn’t comment on the conflict between the state and local rules. “There is a process and the city of Sausalito will review this project like all others to comply with state and local requirements,” he said.
Sausalito architect Michael Rex, who has been working in the city for more than 40 years, said the city would have to put an initiative on the ballot in order to overturn the 1985 ordinance and allow the development to go forward. He said the fight will likely end up in court.
“This is going to be the poster child for where the rubber hits the road between state mandates and public sentiment,” said Rex. “It could be a battle royale. And it could go on for years.”
Chris Elmerdorf, a law professor at UC Davis and expert on California housing law, said he hadn’t studied the 1985 Sausalito ordinance but in a recent Redondo Beach case, the Superior Court held that a local voter-approved measure was preempted by state housing-element law.
Rex said the homeowners on the hillside behind the Bridgeway site would oppose anything that “blocks people’s views worth millions of dollars.”
“You think people downtown are going to sit back and watch their property values trashed?” Rex said. “This town has resisted development since the early 1960s.”
The proposal comes as the pro-housing legal advocacy group YIMBY Law has filed a lawsuit against the city arguing that Saulsalito’s plan includes constraints on development that “will get in the way of accommodating” development.
“They cut a bunch of corners at the last minute to scare people away,” said YIMBY Law attorney Keith Diggs. “They were just trying to cover themselves with paper.”
Fotsch said she is optimistic that the shortage of housing in California — and a flurry of state laws that make it harder to block residential development — has changed the political calculus and that Sausalito decision-makers will support a project that “will help attract businesses that are more resident-focused.”
She said the public parking lot on Bridgeway will be retained while a second level lot on Princess Street will be available for Waterstreet residents. The design of the building would “not replicate historic facades but will complement them with a compatible aesthetic. Building materials would consist of ‘medium gray textured cement and stucco finishes, black window frames, and natural wood tones.’”
Fotsch said that as much of the existing facades will be retained as possible but that the interiors have been remodeled extensively enough that they don’t retain any historic fabric.
While preservation laws would only apply to the facade, Rex predicted that residents will fight to save the entire structure at 605 Bridgeway, previously home to the Marin Fruit Co.
“People will fight tooth and nail to preserve that block,” he said. “They have a love affair with those buildings.”