San Rafael approves 238-apartment complex

The San Rafael Planning Commission has approved a housing proposal involving 238 apartments in two buildings.

The property at 4040 Civic Center Drive is next to MarinHealth medical offices on a hill east of Highway 101 near the Merrydale Road overcrossing. The commission voted unanimously on the project on Tuesday.

Commissioners said the project is a refreshing change from some recent development plans that took advantage of state housing laws to secure approval for large, unpopular projects. Just weeks before, the commission approved a 17-story, 200 apartment complex at 700 Irwin St. after a reminder from the developer’s attorney that it had little choice.

“I think of all the applications we’ve looked at with these kinds of projects that this is really well executed,” commissioner Stewart Summers said of the plan for 4040 Civic Center Drive. “I like the thoughtful placement on the site. It seems like it’s an appropriate scale with the other buildings.”

The project involves constructing one new apartment building and converting an office building into a residential one.

The new building will be constructed in place of a parking garage on the north side of the lot. It will be seven stories tall with 130 apartments, including 13 below-market-rate homes. Five stories of apartments will be above a two-story parking garage. The complex will feature landscaped areas, private decks, a pool and a clubhouse.

The second building will retrofit a five-story office structure into 108 apartments, including 11 at below market rate. The first floor will include a lobby and amenities while the rest will be residences. A parking structure will be updated to meet zoning standards.

The complex will have 278 residential parking spots plus 96 overflow spaces. The bicycle parking will include 16 short-term stalls and 76 long-term stalls.

The approval included major environmental design review, vesting tentative map and five waivers under the state density bonus law. One waiver is for the seven-story building to be 80 feet high, exceeding the 36-foot limit for the zoning district.

The project was submitted under Senate Bill 330, Assembly Bill 130 and the Housing Accountability Act.

SB 330 allows the applicant to freeze the ordinance requirements at the time the pre-application was filed. SB 330 also limits the number of public hearings for housing developments to no more than five, including appeals.

AB 130 enables infill housing projects that satisfy specified criteria to be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.

The Housing Accountability Act prohibits city officials from denying a project based on subjective standards. Only objective standards can be used to deny or reduce the density of the project.

“I like this project,” commissioner Jon Haveman said. “Of the projects that have come before us, I haven’t said that about a lot of them, but this one I do like. I think it’s really well designed. It’s efficient. It’s going to be a very pleasant place to live.”

While not part of the consideration for approval, planning commissioners said there is an underlying traffic problem the city will have to deal with. Commissioners said other projects in the pipeline will bring thousands of new residents to the area, including the Northgate mall renovation project that includes 1,422 new homes.

“My only concern is that you’re putting 238 units across the street from 1,400 that are going in, and they’ll all be vying for the same entry ramp to 101,” Haveman said.

Commissioner Samina Saude said it’s incumbent on city departments to come together to tackle the problem.

“We have to solve, we have to mitigate some of the traffic issues that are happening around these developments,” she said.

The city received no objections to the project. Two letters of support were submitted ahead of the hearing, one from a group named Call Marin Home, the other from the Sierra Club Marin Group.

“This project furthers the Sierra Club goal of fighting climate change through infill development, by creating housing near transit and jobs, and creating bike and pedestrian first approaches to transportation, as outlined in its Urban Infill Policy,” wrote Holli Thier, a Tiburon councilmember and chair of the Sierra Club Marin Group.

“This project will have a positive impact on the affordability of Marin’s housing inventory, and we support its approval,” wrote Jenny Silva, executive director of Call Marin Home.