Tiburon asked for more specifics on housing plan

Tiburon has more work to do on its housing element, state officials said.

In a letter sent to the town, officials with the state Department of Housing and Community Development said much of Tiburon’s planned housing development occurs in mixed-use locations and on Main Street in the downtown. The state wants more evidence that existing uses for those buildings will not be an obstruction to future development.

Tiburon, like other municipalities statewide, is required to develop a new housing plan for the next eight years. The town must show it can develop 639 more residences. The number includes 193 dwellings for very-low-income households; 110 for low income; 93 for moderate income; and 243 for above moderate.

The town’s most recent projection includes 705 total units, which include 217 very low income, 122 low income, 95 moderate income, 264 above moderate income.

The council is set to review its general plan, which includes the housing element, at a meeting on May 22. It will review zoning ordinance amendments and objective design standards on May 24, said Dina Tasini, the town’s director of community development.

Tasini said the town needed to improve public outreach to receive assurances about housing development on the selected sites.

“When we selected the sites, we selected sites that seemed most likely to develop,” she said. “We’re going to put together as many programs and initiatives as possible to incentivize development.”

The state noted that Tiburon is relying upon non-vacant sites to accommodate more than half of its lower-income housing.

Among the sites in which more information is sought are 1600 Tiburon Blvd., the site of the former Shark’s Deli; 26 Main St.; 6 and 12 Beach Road, which contains a post office; the Reed School at 1199 Tiburon Blvd.; Chase Bank at 1535 Tiburon Blvd. and Woodlands market at 1550 Tiburon Blvd.

The town still plans to include the sites, Tasini said.

The property at 1600 Tiburon Blvd. is owned by ACV Argo Tiburon LP, Tasini said, and a conditional use permit to develop a restaurant on the site had expired, which made the property eligible.

At 26 Main St., Tasini said the building was not on a state register of historic places, but on a town-maintained list. She said development at the site was not precluded by its inclusion on the town list, but that the structure and facade would have to be retained.

The town has also already drastically reduced its housing projections under SB 9 — a state law that allows the development of up to four units on lots zoned single family — from 174 to 36 units, Tasini said.

The state is further asking the town to address whether the property owners will develop the maximum of four units.

“The element should include policies that establish zoning and development standards early in the planning period and implement incentives to encourage and facilitate development at the anticipated development levels,” the letter said.

Tasini said that following the first response letter, she sent out direct letters to potential property developers under SB 9. She said much of the planned housing under SB 9 would likely be market rate.

“The town is not developing anything,” she said. “It is all private-market driven.”

The letter also asks the town to provide more specifics on fair housing requirements, or state laws that promote housing for all people regardless of race, religion, sex, marital status, ancestry, national origin, color, familial status or disability. It also asks for the potential impact of wildland-urban locations and flood-prone locations and how it will affect parking requirements.

“I’m confident we can respond and overcome any objections that the state had,” said Mayor Jack Ryan.

Ryan said the work had been “frustrating” because the response letter, dated on April 17, brought up additional issues that were not identified in the original response letter from Dec. 23, 2022.

The town is under a deadline to complete the housing element by May 31, or it may face penalties by the state, including being afforded less than a year to complete the rezoning required to implement the new housing.

“They are making us do work under a time pressure we didn’t have before, which makes it harder on our staff,” Ryan said. “It makes the process less constructive.”

Alicia Murillo, a spokesperson with HCD, said no further comment was available on the letter.