Sausalito\u2019s largest proposed housing project in decades has grown more controversial.<\/p>\n
In March, Bayspring Development Partners filed a pre-application for a six-story, 65-foot-tall structure at 1 Harbor Drive, the site of an office building across from Mollie Stone\u2019s Market. The proposal called for 294 apartments with 46 reserved for low-, very low-, and moderate-income households.<\/p>\n
Now the company has filed for permits to construct a six-story building that reaches 80 feet high, according to the project plans. It would still have 294 apartments, but with 59 designated as affordable.<\/p>\n
The building would include two parking levels topped by four residential floors. The new height stems from measuring the building from sea level, which adds 10 feet, Bayspring co-founder Bryce Holman said Thursday.<\/p>\n
By designating one-fifth of the apartments as affordable, the company triggered the state density bonus law that allows a project of that scale and exempts it from most local review.<\/p>\n
The project is drawing new scrutiny by civic leaders and calls for a city-led impact review.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was mayor, I met with the applicants to discuss their project and they showed me renderings that were less dense and far smaller,\u201d said Councilmember Joan Cox, who was mayor last year. \u201cI\u2019m very surprised to see how much the design has evolved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am concerned that this massing and bulk is not necessary to provide the level of affordable housing stock that they are proposing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Last fall, Cox supported Measure J, which rezoned the site and 11 other parcels to meet state housing mandates. The city is required to allow 724 more dwellings by 2031.<\/p>\n
Measure J, approved by 75% of voters, envisioned 355 new residences at the sites, including\u00a0129 new at 1 Harbor Drive. The density bonus law allowed Bayspring to propose even more.<\/p>\n
In May, before the taller building plan emerged, the community group Save Our Sausalito urged the city to launch a sweeping study of the project\u2019s environmental impacts under the California Environmental Quality Act.<\/p>\n
Last weekend, volunteers gathered more than 200 petition signatures calling for the review.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt 80 feet tall, 477,000 square feet in area, and 294 units, this project is unprecedented in scale for Sausalito and deserves a complete and transparent environmental review,\u201d the petition said.<\/p>\n
The petition said the impacts could involve traffic, public safety, infrastructure, utilities, neighborhood character and wildlife harmed by the removal of 55 trees, among other factors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually mandatory,\u201d said Sophia Collier of Save Our Sausalito. \u201cThe reasons are because when the city has to make discretionary findings, that is what allows them to engage in a CEQA review.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holman said the rezoning vote and density bonus entitles the project to a ministerial approval and not a discretionary or CEQA review by the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe set out to deliver a high-quality, mixed-use project, combining new housing with continued office use, that fits well within the surrounding community and reflects the character of the Marinship,\u201d he said in an e-mail.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe chose to pursue a density bonus in accordance with state law precisely because it lets us deliver more deed-restricted affordable homes: 59 in all, or 20 percent of the project, alongside 235 market-rate homes,\u201d he said. \u201cThat level of density is what ultimately allows these homes, including the affordable units that address a critical local need, to actually get built.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the project dedicates 20 percent of its homes to lower-income households, it qualifies for the ministerial \u2018use by right\u2019 review the City established for designated housing sites like this one,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is the process the City selected and the voters endorsed, and it is consistent with state law. We are following it while continuing to work closely with City staff to resolve technical questions and ensure the project is thoughtfully integrated into the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
On June 30, the city notified Bayspring that their application for several permits was \u201cincomplete.\u201d It requested more plans, reports and information on more than a dozen design elements.<\/p>\n
In addition to a zoning permit, lot line adjustment and tree removal permit, the project also seeks waivers from height limits and reduced requirements for setbacks, landscaping and parking.<\/p>\n
Once the submission is complete, city planners will review it \u201cto make sure it complies with state housing laws,\u201d said Brandon Phipps, assistant city manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project\u2019s proposed size and number of units are primarily a function of state law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Collier said that stage in the process is where the local officials could initiate a CEQA review.<\/p>\n
Whether the city\u2019s permit vetting contains discretionary elements could be litigated, she said.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, local architects are also weighing in \u2014 pro and con \u2014 on the scale and design.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because state laws say you can do something like this, doesn\u2019t mean one should,\u201d said Michael Rex, who has written to Bayspring criticizing its plans. \u201cMuch can and should be done to reduce the project\u2019s excessive height, its blocky scape, its apparent mass and its boring architecture.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSausalito should demand better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Joel Karr, an architect who has called for more development, said, \u201cThe site is a perfect place for housing that can help us meet the demands of our housing element requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe location is on a major artery, near public transportation, which reduces potential traffic impacts, and will obstruct virtually no one\u2019s views or property values,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s unimaginable to me that anyone would fight a great proposal like this \u2014 and it\u2019s a nice-looking design.\u201d<\/p>\n
Collier still hopes the city will launch a CEQA review, saying the environmental impact report required for the city\u2019s housing element did not assess density bonus scale structures.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not opposing the project,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re saying, let\u2019s find out what the problems are before it\u2019s built so they can be mitigated.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sausalito\u2019s largest proposed housing project in decades has grown more controversial. In March, Bayspring Development Partners filed a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[7,1011,181,23,992,100,180,993,266,388,101,103,102,3624,3625,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-401575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-california","tag-housing","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-marin-county","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-north-bay","tag-northern-california","tag-real-estate","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sausalito","tag-sausalito-city-council","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}