Marin Residents: Slow Down Plan Bay Area Housing Plan

Affordable housing advocates and opponents of the controversial Plan Bay Area clashed Monday during a public hearing on the multi-agency proposal to deal with the Bay Area's long-range land use and transportation challenges over the next 30 years. 

More than 300 people filled the Marin Center auditorium for the public hearing on the plan, which seeks to connect projected population and job growth with new residential development near transit corridors.

The Oakland-based Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) arranged the hearing, where Marin County Supervisor Katie Rice, Novato Mayor Pat Eklund and Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey received public comment along with MTC representatives.

More than a dozen people held yellow signs during the meeting that said “equity environment jobs,” while a few others had signs with red circles and slashes over the Plan Bay Area or ABAG logos.

The plan projects that Marin will gain 33,000 new residents by 2040, calling for the development of 7,510 new housing units in Marin between now and 2040, a 7 percent increase from 111,210 to 118,720, to accommodate that growth. The plan also calls for the creation of 2,292 new housing units by 2022.

The plan also predicts 17 percent job growth in the county over that span, from 110,730 to 129,130 jobs.

Countless speakers asked the officials to slow down the process and give the public more time to submit public comments and review the plan.

Many Plan Bay Area opponents focused on the desire for local control over what many described as a “top down, one-size-fits-all” approach to planning, which included citing concerns about housing projects and the impact it will have on the environment and traffic.

Some of the speakers, however, expressed frustration about Marin’s need for more affordable housing and better public transportation.

Throughout the meeting, moderators asked the audience to hold applause to speed up the public comment process during the two-hour meeting, but large portions of the audience would nevertheless erupt into loud cheers after a speaker voiced opposition to Plan Bay Area.

As the meeting neared its 9 p.m. ending time, the officials limited public speaking time from three minutes to two minutes. A last-minute decision to let public speakers continue after 9 p.m., but only speaking for one minute, made some citizens begin to yell in dissatisfaction. However the meeting continued well after 9:30 p.m. as the officials let everyone who had submitted public speaking cards have a turn at the microphone. See highlights of the public speakers in the above video.  

The draft Plan Bay Area was released on March 22 and the environmental impact report on the plan was released earlier this month on April 2. Comments on both documents can be submitted to to MTC and ABAG through Thursday, May 16, at 4 p.m. MTC and ABAG are slated to adopt Plan Bay Area this summer. 

Two additional public hearings on the plan are set for Wednesday, May 1, in Alameda County and Santa Clara County. 

You can view the draft plan and make comments online here, at Plan Bay Area Town Hall.