Report on the meeting with Bridge Housing, hopeful developer of Marinwood Plaza

 

The Bridge Housing proposal for Marinwood Village was met with "open arms"

 

The Tuesday 12/4 meeting with Brad Wilban VP of Bridge Housing, Supervisor Susan Adams, staff from the Community Development Department, assorted politicians and professional housing advocates with several hundred local residents was a true town hall meeting in our democratic tradition.

 

The bright and very capable Brad Wilban tried his best for the second time to create a compelling vision for our only commericial plaza that abutts the 101 freeway.  He brought beautiful photoshop graphics and concept drawings but warned that the work was still in progress.  His slideshow presentation answered some of our questions but left many more unanswered.

 

 

 

 

Many of the same people attended and many of the famed "Neighborhood Leaders" that met privately for months and gave approval to the plans were missing from the room.  It would be nice to have at least one meeting where all of the leaders could explain their reasons for support of the development.  We did hear from Supervisor Susan Adams, Bruce Anderson, Kelly Smith, Cameron Case, John Hammond, Dr. Ralston and others who voiced strong support of the project.  I commend them since the crowd was 90% in opposition to the development.

 

Several key points were made .  The 82 unit Bridge Housing proposal will have many schoolchildren requiring new portable classrooms at $150,000 or more each.  The original estimate of 1.8 children per unit (150 +/- kids) was revised downward to .8 children per unit (60 kids).  Still with this many school children at least three portable classrooms will be needed and new teachers, administrators, staff will be required.  The $200.000 school mitigation fee will barely cover the cost of a single classroom. 

 

Property tax contributions will be minimal.  Bridge housing will receive a 55 year tax abatement.  Since Bridge Housing is a "non profit" developer,  the they will sell tax credits to provide ultra wealthy investors deep discounts on their tax liability.  Utilizing the valuation of Bridge Housing's recent Emeryville project,  The Marinwood Village project could be worth  40 million dollars. 

 

 

The annual parcel tax fees for Marinwood Village are a paltry $10,000 for all 82 units per year or roughly $ 147 per family.  Many neighbors expressed shock, especially those who purchased their home at the height of the market.  They are nearly paying the same property taxes for their single family home!

Washington politicians tell us that we are on the edge of a "fiscal cliff" and our federal taxes may increase as much as $3500 for the average middle class taxpayer.  We are reeling from the down economy  and high unemployment.  We all have suffered a the loss of 30% of the value of our homes since the crash. 

Now we must pay millions more in local taxes to support this "affordable" development?

Just who is it "affordable" for?  The developers get rich.  The politicians get power. We get .....ed! 

 

Many questions still remain unanswered or only answered superficially.  Here are questions I still have: 

·         Where will 300 cars park?

·         Who is going to pay for the upgrades to the roads, sewer and water?

·         How will the Dixie school district (especially Mary Silvera) be able to accommodate an additional 150 school children (5 classrooms worth)?

·         Does it make sense to place housing within yards of two microwave antenna towers?

·         What will be done about the toxic waste spill site at the dry cleaner?

·         When will we see an environmental impact report of the development?

·         How will the fire department be able to fight a multistory apartment fire without a ladder truck?

·         How will a apartment complex that is 50% taller than the next highest structure in Marinwood affect property values?

·         How many police, fire, teachers, CSD workers will be hired to accomodate the growth?

·         What tax burden for this housing project will be?

·         How much will we be giving the developer in addition to the $1,000,000 improvements already earmarked to provide parking on Marinwood Avenue?

·         What will this development do to my taxes? My property values?

·         When were we made the "Marinwood Priority Development Area for Urbanization"?

·         Who are the secret "Neighborhood Leaders" approving this development?

·         Why didn't "Neighborhood Leaders" tell the rest of us?

·         Who are the local investors, contractors and suppliers for this project?

·         What will happen to the retail space if Marinwood Market pulls out?

Many people who were originally inclined to support the project,  left in doubt.  They saw how much this affordable housing will cost the community.

 

The crowd simply did not accept the proposal despite Brad Wilban's best efforts.  I felt sorry for him.  He is a very nice guy and smart too.  It is just that we don't want our only commercial center turned into housing and we want to make certain that WE can afford "affordable housing".

 

 

 

Supervisor Susan Adams defended the project and her support for infill housing for the Marinwood Priority Development Area she helped create.  Last year she served as the Vice President of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and was instrumental in many of the policy decisions that are creating urban infill housing along the  Highway101 corridor. She came to office years ago with the promise of stopping housing development at Silvera Ranch.  Lately, she has become a Smart Growth advocate and supports 6 low income housing developments proscribed in the 2012 Housing Element for Unincorporated Marin. 83% of all extremely low to low income housing is planned for Marinwood/Lucas Valley.  Terra Linda has many affordable housing units along the Civic Center Northgate Plaza area that will provide homes for thousands of low income residents.  Without a doubt,  Susan Adam's District One will have the majority of government assistance housing for any Supervisor's distict in Marin County.   

 

I believe Supervisor Adams still loves the people of Marin/Lucas Valley and means well.  I believe even she is shocked that we did not approve the project.  I know that she will work with our community for a common vision for our future.  My hope is that she will be able to convince several other Supervisors to improve the plan for Marinwood/Lucas Valley.  A great first start will be to pause approval of the 2012 Housing Element until a genuine, open community wide dialogue discussing the actual costs and vision for growth can occur.  She is our neighbor.

If you would like to join our discussions about how we can provide a great future for Marinwood/Lucas Valley, come to our Monday meetings.  Email us at savemarinwood@gmail.com