Car
Issues
m) The freeway needs to be widened and more people allowed to move to Marin. Misleading and biased. Developers DIRECTLY allow people to move to Marin not Freeway. More to blame for increasing population (induced traffic) are local government planners (not freeway expansion).
j) An overarching goal needs to be to decrease the miles driven in automobiles, not widen the freeway. You can never decrease auto miles driven unless you turn the freeway into a parking lot.
k) People need to be further encouraged to use public transit. People don't want to use transit unless the alternative is very much slower or expensive.
l) Marin has done a great job of protecting the environment but not linking the economy and housing to public transportation. True
a) There is a lack of choice for alternatives to the automobile.
b) Fewer people are using ferry shuttles because parking is free.
c) Ride-sharing and dial-a-ride services are needed.
d) People need to use more fuel-efficient vehicles.
e) There is not a tax exemption for vehicles run by alternative energy.
f) A tax on multivehicle households is needed, with an exemption for hybrid and alternative-fuel
vehicles.
g) There is a lack of incentives for people to get out of their vehicles.
h) There is spillover traffic from Highway 101 into neighborhoods such as Marinwood and Terra Linda.
i) Opposing views about transportation and land use are an issue for planning in Marin.

Strategies
a) Set goals and targets, and measure the progress with indicators.
b) The County should substantially increase its fleet of hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles.
c) The County should downsize unused fleet vehicles and minimize fleet travel.
d) All vehicle sales should include an additional ¼ percent sales tax to go toward roadway
improvements in the county where the vehicle is registered.
e) The County website should be designed to include a carpool forum to link carpool riders.
f) Encourage employers to use the parking cash-out law, which allows workers to trade their employer-provided
parking space for money.
g) Encourage employers to include hybrid or bio-diesel–operated vehicles in their vehicle fleets.
h) The County should develop a trip-reduction program for County employees.
i) The County should develop a model trip-reduction program and promote the program to businesses.
j) An ordinance should be adopted to require all employers with 50 or more employees to develop and
operate a trip-reduction plan.
k) Businesses should be required to have an employee carpool program.
l) Find more ways to power with clean fuels.

Sample Indicators
a) Track the number of vehicle miles traveled in Marin (Caltrans).
b) Track the number of vehicles registered in Marin (Caltrans).
c) Track the number of residents participating in a registered carpool (Caltrans).
d) Track the amount of time lost to traffic congestion (Caltrans).
e) Track the number of hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles per capita in county government and for all
of Marin County (Marin County Department of Public Works).
! Sample Target s
a) Increase the number of residents participating in a registered carpool by 15 percent in 2010 from
2000 level.

Bus
Trends
a) 54% of local transit users need to transfer from one bus to another or from one mode
source to another to get to their destinations. See how busing from hundreds of thousands of affordable houses in East Bay can be so much cheaper than paying for affordable housing here.
c) Bus ridership is expected to increase from 13,200 to 16,900 between 2000 and 2020.
b) The demand for paratransit consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act is expected to increase
by 23 percent between 2000 and 2020.
d) Marin City is second only to the Canal area in bus-transit trip activity.
Issues
a) The public transportation system for moving within the county is not seamless.
b) A carbon tax with the proceeds used for public transit is needed.
c) Marketing for public transportation, walking, and biking is needed.
d) Public transportation service is needed seven days a week, including grocery store journeys and
employee jitneys.
e) Day and year passes for public transit are needed.
f) An intra-Marin bus system is needed to reduce automobile use, with a plan for bus routes within a
quarter mile of locations where 90 percent of the population lives.
Strategies
a) Increase bus use with incentives including free ride days, extended service, and rewards for riders.
b) Include diverse sizes and routes for buses to serve neighborhoods.
c) Capture some value of increased taxes for transit.
d) Employers should be required to offer employees incentives to use alternative transportation instead
of driving alone.
e) Consider using open-sided buses in the summer.
f) Buses should run frequently and have extended hours. There should be seamless connections
between buses.
g) Transit connections between tourist attractions and buses should be completed.
h) Buses should vary in size depending on capacity demands, and should include amenities such as
music.
i) The buses should be creatively named, as is done in Palo Alto.
j) Develop a public relations campaign for public transit.
k) Enhance service to needy people, including schoolchildren, lower-income people, the elderly, and
day-care centers.
l) Identify transit hubs, increase residential densities, and allow mixed use at the hubs.
m) Allow shared use of buses for schoolchildren's transportation in the morning and afternoon, and for
senior transport midday.
n) Employ improved bus technology for bus details, using global positioning systems to identify bus
locations and estimated arrival times.
o) Use clean-fuel buses.
p) Provide passes and subsidies for students, low-income people, and seniors.
q) Allow transfers and encourage use of Fast Passes between rail, bus, and ferry services.
r) Work with businesses to wholly or partially subsidize employee bus commuting.
s) Make the experience of using the bus pleasant and safe.
t) Smart growth and infill development should be designed to support rail and bus modes.
Sample Targets
a) Increase bus ridership by 15 percent in 2010 over 2000 level.

Land Use
Trends
The trend information on zoning, housing, population density, vehicles per household, and other related
information will be calculated and inserted in this section after the U.S. Census information is received
and reviewed by the Steering Committee between September 2002 and June 2003. Some land-use trends
have been placed in the housing and transportation sections.
Issues
a) The public needs more information about housing density, parking demand, and vehicles per
household.
b) Incentives for local hiring are needed to reduce commuting.
c) The lack of affordable housing and transit requires the lower-income Marin work force to drive long
distances to work. Traffic congestion is worse as a result.
d) Affordable workforce housing and multiple services, including child care, need to be located near
transit centers.
e) Marin needs to become a self-help county to get more matching funds.
f) Coordination with neighboring counties is needed.
Strategies
Zoning
a) Establish minimum-density zoning in infill areas.
b) Increase the minimum densities near transit nodes.
c) Transfer development rights for additional very low to moderate housing from environmentally
sensitive areas to urban areas near jobs and transit.
d) Rezone the San Quentin Prison site to accommodate a transit-oriented, sustainable community.
e) Flood plains should not be intensively developed, except for already developed infill areas in the City-
Centered Corridor.
f) Zone properties to encourage the conversion from gas stations to stations that provide natural gas,
electric-vehicle recharge, bio-diesel, and hydrogen fuel cells.
g) Establish a nexus between the need to preserve land from development and the need to decrease
traffic on major roadways, such as Highway 101.
h) Expand the use of conservation easements in applicable areas.
i) Amend commercial and office zoning districts to allow mixed-use development.
j) Rezone parking lots for mixed-use infill development.
k) Parking requirements should be amended to require 80 percent compact parking spaces in each
parking lot and bicycle parking.
l) Include provisions for increasing building height to accommodate parking structures with housing.
m) Eliminate the policy requiring "no net loss of parking," provided traffic-demand-management or
similar strategies are employed.
Economic
a) Prioritize purchasing land for environmental protection in environmentally sensitive areas, in areas
designated as community separators, and in greenbelt areas.
b) Incentives and bonuses should be given for infill and transit-oriented development.
c) Encourage the State of California to adopt tiered vehicle-registration fees to discourage the use of
gasoline-consuming vehicles.
d) Develop affordable housing to attract service-sector employees and the younger population.
e) Families with a high number of vehicles per household and/or large vehicles should be required to
pay a higher tax.
f) People using public transit should be allowed to write off fees from their personal taxes.
g) The comparative costs to operate a vehicle (including insurance, maintenance, gas, and road repair)
versus traveling by bicycle, bus, train, or ferry should be publicized.
Design
a) Smart growth and infill development will support rail and bus transportation modes.
b) Locate new development within ¼- to ½ mile from transit, and provide pedestrian and bike
connection to adjoining uses.
c) Housing development must be infill, transit-oriented, pedestrian-oriented, and near jobs, shopping,
and recreation.
d) Design guidelines will assist the County in encouraging the development of a variety of housing types
and sizes.
Telecommuting
a) Telework and satellite work centers should be promoted to help serve all Marin residents, and to
decrease vehicle traffic within the county.
b) Modify the development code to encourage telework and satellite work stations.
c) Develop additional performance standards and regulations to encourage home occupations.
Sample Indicators
a) Track density of new housing starts (Marin County Community Development Agency).
b) Measure percentage of new housing starts that qualify as infill (Marin County Community Development Agency).
c) Measure the number of businesses with telework programs.
Sample Targets
a) Twenty percent of businesses have telework programs by 2005.

HOUSING
Issues and Strategies
a) Lower-density development of large homes continues because of the profitability and market for this
type of development. And because 1 house on 5 acres is better for the environment than 5. (Regardless of the house sizes).
b) There is linkage between the lack of housing and  transportation congestion. For Marin-working commuters living out-of-county.
c) Elected and appointed officials need to receive briefings on alternative housing types.
d) Higher-density development uses fewer resources such as water for landscaping and energy because
of the shared building walls. Except where large lots of one or more acres, invariably water only a small percentage of the lot. And where the large roofing area can generate PV solar energy. Housing Permits need to enforce roofing, conducive to installation of PV.

e) Housing for the workforce:
• New affordable housing strategies are needed to strengthen the link between jobs and housing.
• The lack of affordable workforce housing causes employers and employees to leave the county.
• The rental vacancy rate is so low that rental housing is hard to find.
• There is opposition to subsidizing affordable housing.
• Increases in development density are strongly resisted.
• There is a need to find ways to increase support for development of more housing.
• Housing need is created by increased employment, including schools and government offices. If
employers help provide housing for their workers, this will help to address traffic issues.
• Ways need to be identified to provide housing for people who work in the community, with
preferences for local workers to buy or rent affordable units.
• There is a connection between business and housing. Resources need to be leveraged and there
needs to be cooperation between business and the community. Businesses need to be involved in
the planning process.

f) Sites for housing:
• The supply of affordable housing, money, and available land needs to be increased. The
community needs to be mobilized for change.
• New development needs to be transit oriented, pedestrian oriented, and bike related.
• Changing land zoned for commercial to residential use would reduce land costs.
• Commercial areas need to be better utilized: They have transit proximity, opportunities for
retrofitting shopping centers, and air rights over parking.
• Existing communities can become denser. Permitted densities of development can be increased
in order to increase the supply of housing. Development does not have to be allowed to spread
into existing open space and agricultural lands.
• Although density increases are strongly resisted, there is a need to increase housing density to
increase housing supply.
• Zoning for sales tax revenue reduces the availability of land for housing.
• Transfer of development rights from flood-prone areas to areas with urban development potential
needs to be considered.
• Poor quality building sites increase the cost of development.
• There is a need for an effective land-banking program.
• Neighborhoods, business groups, schools, churches, and community organizations can be
activated to identify housing sites.
• Surplus school sites can be evaluated for teacher housing.
• Church lands are underused and could become affordable housing sites.
• Areas can be identified where housing would add to the desired liveliness of an area.
• San Quentin can be evaluated as an opportunity site for affordable housing.
• The recommendations for the St. Vincent's and Silveira lands need to be integrated into the
Countywide Plan.Snuck in here .
• There could be consideration of expanding the City-Centered Corridor boundary to be the same
as the northern Urban Service Area boundary for Novato.

g) Planning and zoning programs and incentives:
• There needs to be more collaboration on city and County plans to avoid conflicts. All towns and
cities need to cooperate in providing a fair share of affordable housing.
• A set of resources could be provided to help small jurisdictions to streamline their process and to
focus on affordable housing.
• Incentives for developing affordable housing are needed, such as density and floor area ratio
bonuses, shared parking, third floor height allowances, no restrictions on residential density
within a building envelope, and single room occupancy facilities.
• Residential infill on underdeveloped residential sites can be encouraged. Infill projects can receive
density bonuses.
• There is a conflict between ABAG’s housing allocation and the policies in the Countywide Plan
that discourage affordable housing.
• Underutilized sites can be rezoned.
• Pre-zoning to allow multiuses and affordable housing could be considered.
• There is not enough building development.
• Overlay zones for mixed use and affordable housing can be established.

h) Models for housing development such as programs and standards used in Davis could be considered.
• Incentives for meeting and penalties for not meeting housing goals need to be established.
• Multijurisdictional planning efforts could be encouraged.
• The percentage of inclusionary units required in new projects needs to be increased. Inclusionary
units are not being built.
• On-site housing mitigation versus offsite housing or fees can be considered for new commercial
development.
• Cooperatives and cohousing could be considered as possible affordable housing types.
• Setbacks need to be relaxed and clustering allowed.
• Off-street parking requirements can be reduced for multifamily housing development.
• Free or low-cost land is useful but subsidies are still needed for affordability.
• One way to overcome neighborhood opposition is by providing examples of well-designed
affordable housing. Design is the key to community acceptance.

i) Housing development, funding sources, and financing:
• Local government agencies need to identify reputable developers and work with them to develop
affordable housing.
• The public needs to recognize that a developer requires flexibility to fit a project into a
community and to make it feasible.
• There needs to be recognition that developers would prefer to invest equity in the community
rather than have to pay extra taxes or fees.
• Mixed-income housing projects need to be considered.
• Ways to make rentals available and affordable need to be explored.
• Apartment owners are reluctant to accept Section 8 clients. They need education on this subject.
• There is a need for a community bank to provide loans for higher-density housing.
• A real estate transfer tax for affordable housing could be established.
• Tax-exempt financing and bonding potential by redevelopment agencies and cities needs to be
considered.
• Although homeowners receive a large subsidy through mortgage interest and property tax
deductions, there is public opposition to subsidizing affordable housing.
• Reduce barriers to affordable housing development by decreasing the onerous environmental
review process.
• Mixed-use projects can tap into increasingly greater funding sources.
• Government and developers need to coordinate with banks and utilize their obligations under the
Community Reinvestment Act.
• The Housing Element update process provides an opportunity to set in motion a countywide
housing trust fund and options for funding sources.

j) Second units:
• Restrictive covenants forbidding second units in some older areas could be invalidated and
second units could be allowed in new development.
• Existing illegal second units could be legalized; permits could be expedited; connection fees could
be reduced; waivers on height and floor-area ratio could be allowed.
• Neighborhood opposition to second units and code enforcement against them need to be
addressed.
• The cost of second units is increasing, and it is becoming more difficult to get approvals for them.
• An effort needs to be made to identify how many affordable second units will be created.
• Regulations could be developed that are sensitive and neighborhood-specific for parking and
design to make sure that second units fit in.
• The reluctance of people to build second units needs to be addressed by identification of areas,
techniques for building a second unit, and parking options. Low-interest loans for affordable
second units could be provided.

k) Existing housing supply:
• For a variety of reasons, many “empty-nest” households continue to occupy housing units that
are well suited to families with children and with adults in the workforce.
• There is a need to stimulate turnover of large houses occupied by empty-nest households by
encouraging the production of smaller units, and assisted-living and residential-care facilities
targeted to the senior population.
• The San Mateo County shared-housing program could be used as a model for providing
opportunities for shared housing in Marin.
• The size of homes needs to be limited.
• Some affordable housing has been demolished. There is a need to discourage demolition of
housing that is in good shape and conversion of housing to non-residential use unless the
housing is to be replaced by an equal or greater number of housing units.
• Existing affordable housing needs to be preserved. A housing conservation plan needs to be
developed to protect existing housing.
• Existing housing needs to be acquired and made affordable. Large homes could be converted to
multifamily housing.
• The number of projects to which affordability (inclusionary) requirements apply, and the amount
of the requirements, are not sufficient to meet the affordable housing need.

l) Work together to achieve housing goals:
• Enhance our sense of community responsibility.
• Work with housing advocates.
• Establish neighborhood-meetings procedures.
• Prepare and update public-information materials.
• Conduct community outreach.
• Shared responsibilities.
• Collaborate to implement an interjurisdictional strategic-action plan for housing.
• Undertake coordinated lobbying efforts.

m) Maintain and enhance existing housing and blend well-designed new housing into existing
neighborhoods and communities:
• Provide housing that is well designed.
• Adopt criteria for use in design review.
• Clarify the design-review process.
• Consider creating a shared architect or designer position.
• Exceed Title 24 requirements.
• Adopt solar-design and green-building standards and processes.
• Protect and enhance existing affordable housing.
• Link code enforcement with public-information programs.
• Assist in maximizing use of rehabilitation loan programs.
• Protect "at-risk" units.
• Acquisition of rental housing.
• Publicize energy-conservation and tenant-assistance programs.
• Establish volunteer efforts.
• Review the Condominium Conversion Ordinance.
• Rental mediation.

n) Use our land efficiently to meet housing needs and implement smart-growth principles:
• Promote a closer linkage between housing and jobs.
• Complete a nonresidential Nexus Study.
• Adopt a jobs/housing linkage program.
• Identify existing employee-housing opportunities.
• Provide for live/work opportunities.
• Maintain a diverse population through a variety of choices in housing.
• Investigate/encourage home-sharing and tenant-matching opportunities.
• Zone and provide appropriate standards for efficiency/SRO units.
• Amend single-family zoning regulations.
• Realize infill housing opportunities.
• Prepare land-use plans to facilitate infill housing.
• Amend multifamily General Plan policies and zoning regulations.
• Purchase Transfer of Development Rights (TDR).
• Develop school property for housing.
• Review and update parking standards.
• Encourage transit-oriented development.
• Establish transit-oriented development standards.
• Identify and designate transit-oriented development sites.
• Encourage mixed-use projects containing housing in currently nonresidential areas.
• Establish mixed-use development standards.
• Prepare a white paper on mixed-use housing development feasibility.
• Conduct a survey of potential mixed-use sites.
• Incentivize the development of long-term affordable housing.
• Enact density bonus zoning and other incentives.
• Prepare a white paper on ways to facilitate smaller affordable-housing projects.
• Conduct a detailed affordable-housing-sites feasibility study.
• Evaluate an “Affordable Housing Overlay Zone” zoning designation.
• Evaluate sites for Affordable Housing Overlay Zone designation.
• Facilitate development at key housing-opportunity sites.
• Expedite environmental review for designated housing-opportunity sites.
• Strengthen residential inclusionary requirements.
• Link funding to resources.
• Establish inclusionary housing regulations.
• Work with the Marin Housing Authority.
• Prepare a white paper on rental units.
• Encourage second units.
• Modify the Second Unit Development Standards and Permit process.
• Establish a clearinghouse for second-unit technical assistance.
• Provide information for homeowners.
• Consider an amnesty program for unpermitted second units.

o) Provide housing for special-needs populations:
• Address shelter needs for special-needs populations.
• Emergency housing assistance.
• Establish zoning for emergency shelters and transitional-housing facilities.
• Modify residential care facility zoning.
• Ensure good neighbor relations involving emergency shelters and residential care facilities.
• Revise zoning regulations for farmworker and ranch-hand housing.
• Require market-rate senior-housing analysis.
• First-time home-buyer programs.
• Government employees' housing.
• Efficient and effective support programs for special-needs populations.
• Assist in the effective use of available rental-assistance programs.
• Engage in countywide efforts to address needs of the homeless.

p) Build local government capacity to respond to housing needs:
• Leverage funding opportunities.
• Establish a housing trust-fund ordinance and operating procedures.
• Seek additional local sources of funding.
• Utilize Redevelopment Agency powers.
• Designate staff to develop local funding sources.
• Coordinate funding among development proposals.
• Increase local government effectiveness in implementing housing programs.
• Establish a permanent “affordable housing strategist” position.
• Provide green-building technical assistance for affordable housing.

Additional Strategies
a) Provide public education on affordable housing opportunities and incentives for first-time homebuyers.
b) Prevent the loss of units through downzoning actions by transferring development rights to help
affordable housing projects be near jobs and transit.
c) Analyze how incorporating uniform design standards or processes affects the function of design
review boards.
d) Look at ways to reduce the cost of the design review process.
e) Address nonconforming uses and their reconstruction potential—there is a great potential for loss of
units because of this.
f) Incorporate Safe Routes to Schools criteria with new housing development.
g) Require that affordability provisions on deed-restricted units be in perpetuity.
h) Mandate fee waivers or discounts for deed-restricted units (San Rafael already does this).
i) Blanket overlay zones are problematic; instead, amend the zoning districts accordingly.
j) No time limits on deed-restricted units; zone appropriately so that sites are eligible for funding (many
sources exclude projects that require general plan or zoning amendments); base inclusionary
requirements on unit size.
k) Encourage more consistent fee schedules between jurisdictions; provide a land-transfer-for-units
option with priority on getting sites; require use of any available funding to go toward maximizing the
number of affordable units; establish an open, public policy for allocation of Housing Trust Fund
monies.
l) Integrate units into projects instead of paying fee; incentivize the provision of more than the
minimum number of affordable units.
m) Keep on-site wastewater treatment limitations in mind; look carefully at parking-requirement waivers,
especially where street widths are narrow and on-street parking is minimal.
n) Require resale inspections—assist second units in becoming legal.
o) Employer-provided housing should focus on line staff, not administrators.
p) Provide for child care in housing developments.
q) Establish an open, public policy for allocation of Housing Trust Fund monies.
r) Require use of any available funding to go toward maximizing the number of affordable units.
s) New units should be accessible (ADA-compliant).
t) Establish minimum-density requirements.
u) Allow temporary-occupancy units such as yurts.

Sample Indicators
a) Measure the median sales price of homes in Marin (Marin County Assessor).
b) Measure affordability levels of homes in Marin (Marin County Housing Authority).
c) Track number of new units constructed in Marin (Marin County Community Development Agency).
d) Track jobs-housing ratio (Marin County Economic Commission).

Sample Targets
a) Meet the regional fair-share allocation for construction of 229 very low, low and moderate income
units in Marin County by 2006.
b) Construct a shelter facility with support services for homeless people by 2010.

Source: http://www.future-marin.org/cwpdocs/Trends_Issues_Strategies_8_02.pdf pdf page 87