I wrote a thing. TL;DR: This is some hard sh*t but we're all here for it.
A Planner’s-Eye View of the Housing Element
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Sarah Jones
@sbjinsfo
Acting Director, Marin County Community Development Agency. Formerly sfgov. Knitter, mom, Board. @sarahbjones@sfba.social. Tweets my own.
San Rafael, CAJoined November 2013
Sarah Jones’s Tweets
Loafing.
Photo credit: me.
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Sunbathing.
Photo credit: my husband.
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That was me! I'm going to frame this lede and hang it on my wall. FTW.
Read the story, it was a wild night. ptreyeslight.com/news/rental-ow
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Truly exciting news for transportation in Marin. Especially 👍 are the ones for the Canal. Great job by and all who advocated for these projects!
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It's preliminary to jump to conclusions about how much affordable housing will actually be built as a result of builder's remedy. The projects submitted and approved this way might be thoughtful and feasible projects - but then again they might not be.
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This passage from @IDoTheThinking’s substack is why most YIMBYs are so singularly focused on zoning most of the time. You can get more housing faster at all levels—including low income—just by allowing private development than you could ever hope to get through public spending.
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Counties have the same form of land use rules and all other codes as cities, they apply in unincorporated areas. In Marin County about a quarter of the population lived outside of incorporated cities and towns.
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Replying to @Yimby_Law
I noticed some counties in the list. Is this like for the unincorporated parts of those counties? How much unincorporated private land is there in those counties? What was the source of land use rules for those areas before?
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There's been pushback about this strategy from the public. Concern it's going farther than HCD requires + dissatisfaction from developers that they only get benefit of rezoning if they build at high density. But we feel this removes constraints & gets efficient development.
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Very complicated situation on CA's beaches. We simultaneously plan in real time and for the longer term. What should we be hanging on to? What should we be letting go? Good framing from
sfchronicle.com/bayarea/articl
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What's not captured here is how our Housing Element + rezoning actively promote higher density housing affordable to a broader range of people than Marin's current stock. We have ministerial approval for dense housing, but not for sprawling single family. marinij.com/2023/01/28/mar
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Tito is feeling solemn about the 49ers prospects right now.
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I'm attending a community meeting about a bike improvement project in San Rafael, as a citizen, and I'm going to comment in support of the project and request no beg buttons. I'm ridiculously excited about this experience.
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Plus, all the rezoning is done. Now let's build some housing!
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Aaaaand we’re done! Housing Element adopted 5-0!
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Our Housing Element goes to the Marin County Board of Supervisors today, and I’ll just say that all bets are off when it comes to the quantity of chocolate I’m going to consume between now and the end of this hearing. @California_HCD
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Our Housing Element goes to the Marin County Board of Supervisors today, and I’ll just say that all bets are off when it comes to the quantity of chocolate I’m going to consume between now and the end of this hearing.
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#KingTides are peaking or have just peaked along the southern California coast, and will roll up the coast as we move through the morning. Here's Stinson Beach at yesterday's high tide. What will it look like today at ~10:30?
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I first learned of this issue from and then saw it in real time at Alice Griffith housing near Candlestick in SF.
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I've seen it play out that way in SF. The transit requirements for eliminating parking don't ensure enough service to make it possible for people to be without cars. Poor people often need to drive and if they have no place to park it's a huge burden.
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Unpopular take: I worry that eliminating parking minimums means that new high-end housing will have parking and new affordable housing won't. So the people who can buy access will have it and the people who can't, won't.
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We still have work to do...
“Urban transit systems in most American cities... have become a genuine civil rights issue - and a valid one - because the layout of rapid-transit systems determines the accessibility of jobs to the black community. (1/3)
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As it happens, this seawall was protecting a leach field which is now…gone.
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Stinson Beach, 1/2023 and 3/2022.
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If you want your place to smell phenomenal, bake the miso pecan banana bread from . I have no idea how it tastes yet but at this point who cares? It smells ama-a-a-a-a-zing.
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👇👇👇
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My essay in Sunday's @sfchronicle argues that CEQA reform depends on leadership from @CAgovernor & courts and gives examples of what they can do.
Some folks have asked what I'd prioritize on the legislative front. Here's a short 
in response. 1/12
sfchronicle.com/opinion/openfo
in response. 1/12
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The lane closure on Bolinas Road, near Sky Oaks #Road in #WestMarin, will remain until storm damage repair project can be completed. Alternating 2-way traffic is being controlled through other lane. Info: publicworks.marincounty.org/bolinas-road-c
#MarinCounty #MarinStorm
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This picture was taken at a beach in Point Reyes this afternoon by a local. The wave after this washed over the whole beach. WMF has had to report on many drownings at the beaches over the years. Please don’t do this. Make good choices. Stay far away from the water. (Thx SC)
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10am: & responded to Olema Rd, Fairfax for a mudslide. Upon arrival, units confirmed a slide into the back of 6 units (3 duplexes). County is coordinating resources to provide shelter for those displaced: 19 residents, 7 dogs, 4 cats & 1 guinea pig.
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Everyone in #SF needs to watch the #EthicsCommission from this morning and pay attention to all the public testimony about the harm that has come from scapegoating and horrendous treatment of an exemplary public servant.
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I’ve been so glad to have over the last 10+ days. So helpful to get their view on what’s happening for people on the ground to augment the info I hear from County colleagues.
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Third big tree to go down this storm on Balboa Ave in Inverness Park. Power out. Road blocked. They can’t catch a break.
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Roads in Marin County are in unpredictable condition right now and I just heard from the Public Works director that Bolinas-Fairfax road has a washout and is down to 1 lane. Suggest holding off on visiting for now.
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Marin residents are urged to stay away from the coastal areas to keep rural roads accessible for emergency responders. People should also avoid surging creeks, streams, flooded roadways & fallen power lines while eliminating nonessential travel during periods of severe weather.
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Satellite
showing a large area of low pressure out over the Pacific. This will be our next rain maker tomorrow (Wednesday).
#cawx
showing a large area of low pressure out over the Pacific. This will be our next rain maker tomorrow (Wednesday).
#cawx
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A severe weather storm is expected to arrive tonight & stay through Tuesday 1/10 night. It will likely bring, significant rainfall, rapid rising rivers & creeks, mud/landslides, widespread flooding & extended power outages. Emergency.MarinCounty.org is your best resource for info.
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Here’s a new one…flight home is landing at OAK instead of SFO because apparently SFO is a massive cluster and we’ll get to destination quicker this way.
Meanwhile we had this sort of weather in PS!
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Looks like our coastal planners and building safety inspectors are going to have some new projects in Stinson to keep them busy.
Ironically we were in a hearing about the Marin County Housing Element and Safety Element while this was going on.
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A slight delay but our atmospheric river is about to begin its trek across the Bay Area
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Also a lot of discussion about the traffic problems at the E. Blithedale/Tiburon Blvd/101 interchange, which were going to be cost-prohibitive to address at an estimated price tag of $250K.
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