San Rafael denies appeals against 17-story apartment tower

A plan to construct a 17-story, 200-apartment tower in downtown San Rafael is moving forward after overcoming three appeals.

The City Council’s decision to reject the appeals came at the end of a three-and-a-half-hour hearing on Tuesday.

“Tonight, we have these binary choices, which are so unsatisfying, because I want to be talking about nuance,” Mayor Kate Colin said ahead of the votes. “I want to be able to say, ‘I support housing, I support density, and I have concerns with this project.'”

The project, a complex at 700 Irwin St. near the northbound Highway 101 offramp, was approved by the Planning Commission last month. The structure would be the city’s tallest building.

Two appeals asserted that commissioners erred because they underestimated their ability to do anything more than approve the project as presented to them. Those appeals were rejected on 3-2 votes. A third appeal focused on the project size, and health and safety concerns. It was rejected unanimously.

In a fourth motion, the City Council voted 3-2 to uphold the Planning Commission’s approval of the project.

Colin and Councilmember Maika Llorens Gulati dissented in the three split votes. Both raised concerns about the project being located in the floodplain, projected threats of sea-level rise and other issues.

“I know that traffic congestion alone is not the lawful basis for denial, but I do believe that this project fails to meet objective public safety and access standards,” Llorens Gulati said. She said she wanted to grant the appeals and require the developers to downsize the plan.

Contacted after the meeting, Colin said the project highlights complicated issues around housing.

“I support housing and recognize the constraints of state law,” Colin said. “At the same time, I believe deeply in the planning framework our community developed through the general plan process. My ‘no’ vote reflected that tension of supporting housing in principle while questioning whether the scale and impact of this specific project aligns with the long-term expectations of our community.”

The general plan serves as a guiding document that includes strategies for addressing the housing crisis by encouraging new development, specifically affordable dwellings for low-income residents.

Recent state laws have opened the floodgates to applications for housing at heights and scales never seen in the city. Some laws circumscribe the power of cities and counties to deny or even revise housing projects that contain a certain amount of affordable housing.

The developer, Irwin Street Partners LLC, pledged to make 15 of the apartments affordable to very-low-income renters and another 15 affordable to moderate-income renters. Because of that, the company gets special treatment under state density bonus law and can include twice as many apartments.

One appeal filed by resident Steven Bryant focused narrowly on three concessions granted to the project. The concessions enable the developer to avoid abiding by the city’s requirements to make affordably priced apartments comparable to market-rate apartments.

The project locates all of the affordable apartments on the fifth to 11th floors. There are no affordable three-bedroom apartments, and a much smaller proportion of affordable apartments would have balconies.

Bryant’s appeal, and another filed by San Rafael residents Ken Dickinson and Paul Kasbar, assert that the commission could have required the developer to demonstrate that the concessions and waivers were necessary for its project to be economically viable.

“I’m here for one reason: record traceability,” Bryant said. “Does the entitlement record show its work, the basis and evidence for the city’s determinations, especially where approval depends on discretionary relief and a baseline assumption that drives downstream calculations?”

Bryant said he wanted to ensure the city’s decision “stands on a clean record.”

The appeal by Dickinson and Kasbar notes that Irwin Street Partners was granted three concessions and eight waivers, “including tripling the base height limit, eliminating required setbacks, drastically reducing required bicycle parking and approving a fully mechanized parking system, without making individualized findings demonstrating that each waiver satisfied statutory criteria.”

All but five of the 226 parking spaces at the site will be accessed via an automated mechanical lift, and according to a city staff report, demand for parking in the afternoon might exceed the “processing capabilities” of the lift.

In addition, the city’s approval includes conditions stating that the project will “likely cause impacts on traffic” that the city “will likely need to address.”

“Under the state density bonus law, waivers may not create a specific adverse impact under objective safety standards,” Dickinson said. “So where in the record was that foreseeable safety condition evaluated?”

“If major exceptions are granted first and operational realities are addressed later, the decision-making sequence is backwards,” he said. “The record itself acknowledges several operational concerns.”

Resident Alezz Laielen, who filed the third appeal, said a suburb such as San Rafael should not have skyscrapers, and that multifamily housing so close to the highway is detrimental to residents’ health.

“Zoning and transportation reform could help,” she told the council.

Christina Ratcliffe, a city planner, said the project complies with all applicable, objective general plan and zoning standards and criteria, as modified by the density bonus, concessions and waivers. Staff recommended the council deny the appeals and uphold the Planning Commission’s approval.

The project had several critics.

“I think 17 stories is just offensive,” said Susan Coleman. Coleman said she wants city officials to revisit the local zoning code and laws to help minimize the “multiplier effects” of state housing laws that are enabling larger developments.

Beau Blanchard, chair of the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce, voiced support.

“This project will significantly boost the downtown economy by increasing local business support, raising foot traffic and attracting new investment,” he said.

David Kriozere and Chris Collins, the co-sponsors of the project, said that in addition to the chamber, they’ve gained the support of Canal Alliance.

Collins said they are in discussions with the nonprofit, which offers services to the city’s immigrant community, to make another 10 apartments affordable.

“We’re doing everything we can to address your concerns,” Kriozere told the council. “Accepting change will attract the next generation of residents and workers who will keep our downtown lively.”

“I’m here in the Bay Area. If we’re approved, I’m here tomorrow. I’m here whenever you need,” Kriozere said. “We will work through every single issue that you need. That’s my promise to you.”