The Marin County Board of Supervisors has approved a redevelopment plan for the former Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary property in Strawberry.
The approval Tuesday clears the way for 337 housing units, with a senior living facility and other amenities on the 101-acre site.
The former seminary property, which drapes the upper slopes of the Strawberry peninsula, will be transformed into a multigenerational town, bringing needed housing and at least four years of unavoidable construction noise to one of the Bay Area’s most scenic communities.
In addition to childcare and a recreation facility, roughly 70% of the site will remain undeveloped open space, with two new public parks. Nine parcels will be divided into 185 lots, increasing tax revenue. In accordance with a 1953 conditional use permit, the developer North Coast Land Holdings LLC is authorized to retain a college-level campus for 1,000 students, but in an agreement to limit traffic impacts, only 325 will be permitted to commute to school.
“The project site encompasses approximately 101 acres within a larger 127-acre property,” said Michelle Levenson, lead planner with the Marin Community Development Agency. “For more than 70 years, the property has served educational, residential, recreational and institutional purposes. It is also one of the last major redevelopment opportunities in southern Marin.”
Levenson answered questions from the board and the public. She was backed up with live testimony from environmental program staff, county counsel, the project traffic engineering consultant and Chief Fred Hilliard of the Southern Marin Fire Protection District.
Traffic tops list of concerns
Concerns over traffic and safety on East Strawberry Drive, and other perimeter roads, were the most frequently expressed public concerns.
“The road is 10 feet wide in some places, with a 50-foot cliff off Strawberry Drive,” said Ryan Bowes, who spoke during public comments. “It is 10 feet before a child who walks to school in our community is hurt or injured.”
Curtis Alling, principal with Ascent Environmental, was a consultant on the project’s environmental impact report. Alling said that the county asked that the EIR include a traffic analysis for all of Strawberry. He said transportation engineers concluded that the project would not substantially influence congestion or traffic safety. But they also found room for improving the roads currently.
“They recognized safety improvements that could address existing safety issues, not impacts of the project, but to help improve existing conditions,” Alling said, listing nine locations that could be better designed.
Conceptual plans and recommendations are in the impact report for community review, as a condition of approval for the master plan ordinance.
As part of a March agreement with the Seminary Neighborhood Association, a group of residents who live adjacent to the project site, North Coast has also agreed not to seek any further development for 15 years. But Andrew Giacomini, representing North Coast, reminded the board that the developer was entitled to build nearly twice the number of units under state law.
“This project is 337 residential units,” Giacomini said. “This developer can build 606 units on the site with the state density bonus law. That’s the entitlement.”
Approving the project will lock in that lower density, Giacomini said.
Defining low income
In March, the county reported that it must plan for 3,569 housing units in unincorporated areas by 2031. Of those, 1,100 units must be designated for very low-income households, and another 634 units must be designated for low-income households. In Marin, “low income” means earning 80% of the area median income. According to the Marin Housing Authority, the area median income for a four-person household is $168,100 annually.
“I hear a lot of stuff about affordable housing and more housing,” said Phil Santos, who is one of 57 residents currently living on the seminary property. “I currently pay $2,300 for a two bedroom. I need to find another place to stay in this neighborhood. This is the school system for my daughter. I can’t find a two bedroom for less than $3,300.”
“Unfortunately, because of my salary and my wife’s salary … we don’t qualify for any affordable housing. Now, I’m homeless. I can’t afford the rents in Marin County. I’ll have to leave.” Phil Santos, seminary resident
Through the 1980s and 90s, the property was developed and apartment buildings were added. Out of 152 rental units that remain, 139 will be replaced and 13 units will be kept.
“Unfortunately, because of my salary and my wife’s salary, we make just over $100,000, so we don’t qualify for any affordable housing,” said Santos, who is on a month-to-month lease agreement. “Now, I’m homeless. I can’t afford the rents in Marin County. I’ll have to leave.”
Brandon Halter, chief deputy county counsel, said the developer is following the state and local laws governing tenants’ rights.
“While the law requires at least one month’s waiver of rent in connection with relocation assistance, the developer is going to be providing two months to double the state law requirement,” Halter said.
