Right.
Welcome everyone. Today is August 18th. This is a meeting of the city of
Summerfell Economic Development and Housing Subcommittee meeting. I'm
calling the move to order. We have a quorum. Council member Hill and myself
here. Are any changes to the minutes? >> Uh no suggested changes.
» Okay. Make a motion. >> Move that we approve the minutes from
the last meeting. >> Okay. All in favor? I carries two zero.
We start our meetings with open time for public expression. This is anything that
is not on today's agenda. Um you'll have two minutes to share your thoughts.
We'll take comments. I think we have to take it in the room and online. Um so
with that, if there's anyone who'd like to speak on anything not on today's
agenda? >> Yes.
» Okay. >> I'll make sure if you have cards or
anything. Um, we have some of our members ready to speak today and then I
will have a public comment too. So, um, do do we just ask them to be one by one
or do you have like a list or >> I'm just getting that I don't know if
there's are you timing Greg or do you want me to time?
» I can time. I can't multitask on that. >> So, no. Anyone who would like to speak
has two minutes to speak on anything not on today's agenda.
» Okay. So, I just gonna translate that very quick for them. Okay. So,
So um
okay speak
and then you're welcome but not required to say your name part of summer.
Good morning guys.
Well, we're here to talk about the bad living conditions to our apartments
» and 78 street
» all around canal >> and any other places are
We want a living together >> for everyone.
» We want to live as someone for someone to take us like accountability.
We're paying too much for rent
and they're raising the rent up every little bit.
And they're not
taking all the ramp now. We're living in 78 No Street and it's going all around
the ramp.
So where words leaving there's we leave we live nearby a trash can and the the
smell is a lot and there's bugs that everywhere
and we have takes care of kids and the smell is affecting everyone
and we're almost paying 5,000 for rent every month. Awesome.
two minutes. >> Two minutes. So, just for future, the
city does provide um uh interpretive interpretation services. So, when people
hold in so it's a it's a little bit um unusual. So, thank you for doing that.
No, we appreciate it. But, so we are just so you know, we just need to be
notified uh 48 hours in advance so we can have the appropriate people and
headsets and all of that. So, I just want to be clear, it's not it's not on
the community. The city can provide that service. So, um so it's two minutes and
you were doing the interpretation. So, if you have just a closing thought, um I
do want to try to stay in that two-minut timeline.
» That's it. >> Yeah.
» Well, thank you for doing that. Okay. Anyone else like to Okay.
Good morning to everyone.
» I'm going to say please
when you go to inspection the all the canal.
» Yeah. the the people from the makeup. They gross in this tree
to the apartment. You know, it can smell everywhere in apartment.
How you know we have a kids and it's bad for the all the family to smell that
kind of
And and I would like to the protect the same as no that geted in.
uh say try to Yeah.
And we like to get it because [clears throat] we need to boys to
protect like as
we pay a lot of rent
the when to the apartment they don't want to hit us.
Yeah, we like to protect and get the same as service and everybody and
we live in the 220 canal.
» Thank you very much everyone. >> Thank you. And on the agenda uh shortly
will be the overview of the city's housing inspection program. So we will
talk a little bit more about that and there'll be an opportunity to provide
comment. >> There anything else that's not on
today's agenda? So outside of what's coming up because if possible we like it
yeah open to the agenda item. >> Um so I just going to make my comment
and then you can jump in on agenda. >> Okay.
» Um so my name is Samaran Saan the community organizer for Voices
California here in M County. I'm a mom of two. They're right here with me
today. Um, I used to live in San Rafael. I moved out like six, seven years ago to
No. Um, I know the living conditions on the permits, they're like really bad.
I've been visiting my members in San Rafael. I was like most like half of our
membership that is in San Rafael and half of our membership that is in
Novato. All of them they have really bad conditions. they didn't share it because
they're afraid. Sometimes for retellation we know like how bad it is.
Uh sometimes the relationship ten on landlord sometimes it is really good. We
are not saying that there is bad landlords but something that we are
failing it is on like the inspection of the buildings and the followup steps so
we can have buildings in good shape that they're habitable for like the families
here in Marine. So, one of the things that we noticed that is our families
that are paying up to $4,800 for a three-bedroom apartment and no living
conditions with leaks, um, with real problems with leaks, with carpets full
of mold, with walls full of mold, with holes on the wall, with problems on the
pipes, as I've mentioned, with like literally bad other problems with the
garbage. And when they complain with the landlords, it is no response. And some
of them, they put already like claims with the city. So, we just want to make
sure that we can create the same protections that we win um just a couple
months in Nevada because we know like the protections that they're on the
opportunity zone, they're about to expire on December. So, we want to make
sure that we create protections so they can speak up freely and we can create
something um better in our community. Um I know you have some topics on your
agenda for today, but we just want to plant the seeds so we can work together
more often and we can create a better space for the community to be part of
this conversations. um we want to be part of this conversation. So we just
want to make sure that we connect on like community outreach and bring the
people to the center when we are making this kind of decisions. I'm glad that
you mentioned like the access to language. I didn't see on the agenda
that opportunity. That's why we show up like this. But if [clears throat] I can
get your email, we can send you an email um in advance so we can have access to
language. But definitely as a community organizer my work it is to connect with
all of you so we can work together and we can protect our [clears throat]
families because this is a problem also for workforce people it is moving out
because the same thing that they're putting over here they can pay on like
Vallejo and then get a better house. >> Thank you.
» You know >> thank you and we'll give you the city
clerk because she's the one that helps make it happen. But that is very
important to us is that we are able to connect. Okay. So thank you. Thank you
for being here. Hopefully your group can stay as we talk about um but if not we
understand too. >> Okay.
» Um anyone else in the room like to provide public comment.
» Is there anyone online? Do we do online with the new
» please? Great. So thank you for that. We'll move into the agenda. The first is
the economic development partner updates. The small business development
center. Maybe seven minutes. We're going to start carving out some minutes here
so we all get out on time. >> I mainly just wanted to mention there'll
be other updates at a later point, but right now I just wanted to make sure
everyone is aware of the the program that we have coming up with the artist
um business accelerator. And so I'll pass out and please take to pass out in
the community. The application deadline is I'll put some this way and I'll put
some this way. The application deadline is um the end of this month and so
there's a little bit more time for people to apply. Um and I'd love for the
city of Sanella to send out a notice since we're partners on this. I don't
think I've seen it yet. So I don't know Stacy I probably have to connect with
Stacy about that but um that would be awesome.
» Or the city manager's office or >> or the city. Yeah. Whoever however I
don't not sure who the mechanism is for that but that would be awesome to just
put a note out to let people know. Um, then we also we have a bunch of new
workshops that are on our website. I don't have all of the workshop flyers,
but I have our AI workshop, so I figured I'd put that out, too, so you guys can
um take and just for everybody in the room, we do a Spanish 10 session
business training program and we're about to graduate our our class this
time, but we have another one starting in October. So if you want any
information, I'm happy to connect with you about all of our Spanish programs as
well. Um, so that's I just pretty much wanted to share our upcoming and let
people know what's happening. >> Questions.
» Thank you. And city manager Nasio, maybe we can put this as part of our next
snapshot. Just this one. I don't know the timing of it, but
» yeah, we have like a till the end of August to apply, so it' be great to get
some more. Yeah.
» Okay. Fantastic. Thank you for that. And that's the only update we have from a
partner today. So, we will um do you want me taking public comment on
each item? The city clerk isn't here. So,
» um
it's kind of up to you, but I think we could do it if if they're desperate
enough. Um otherwise, you end up with all the
public comments. >> Yeah. I know we love the public comment
and we have a lot on here. So, >> um, but I'll go ahead and we'll have any
public comment on the what we just heard around small business amazing work
that's being done there. >> Any public comment in the room? Anyone
online? >> Actually, can I prompt a little bit?
» Oh, we're not doing online. Okay. >> Can I prompt on on especially on the AI
enablement series? You know, I think could you provide just 30 seconds on
you're a small business. What are some of the things that it can help enable
that you might not otherwise be able to do with without using a tool?
» Yeah, totally. Well, so the the I just the ones that we have this time um so we
we've we really take feedback from workshops very seriously and so we went
through all of the responses over the last two years. We actually used AI to
do a summary for us to help us understand what the topics would be. And
these were the top topics that came up from the surveys. And so that's why we
created these workshops. And so this one is a lot of people I think um might be
dabbling in AI but maybe not using it across all aspects of their business.
And that's the first one to like understand how to use it for finance,
for you know HR, all the different pieces that you could really use AI for.
The other one is really about marketing and how to actually get your business to
expand using AI as a tool to help you make it much easier so that you don't
have to spend as much time creating your posts and you know other things that you
would be doing. So >> awesome.
» Yeah. >> Thank you.
» Thank you so much. Okay, we're going to move into the prediction items. The
first one is overview of commercial real estate trends. Director Hinkle is
kicking this off.
over to Hayden uh Algoro along with Joe McCullum. This is basically they've
presented to us in the prior uh subcommittee meetings really just on the
overview of the commercial real estate industrial markets. Um but really for
students in there I had the opportunity to kind of share out really what's
happening. Uh there's been a lot of activity um but really just
understanding the trend portions for San County legal board for this county and
» thank you Micah. So yeah I'm Hayden Angaro uh along with Joe McCllum. We
work with New York a commercial company. We're a international company.
Our offices are based just up the street at 11:01 Fifth Avenue. Uh, a lot of you
know, Stephanie certainly knows, both of us were chairs of the Sanfal Chamber.
So, we are deeply committed to trying to >> work with you to revitalize Santafeld.
Maybe revitalize implies that it needs work, but there is work to be done. But
we're really excited about this period of time with a lot of exciting things
coming to fruition, things we've been talking about. My role, you know, with
the chamber with Marin Economic Forum as we always talked about the two big
hurdles to attracting businesses to Marin were housing and transportation.
And we feel like the smart train has helped uh somewhat with the the
transportation element. people now have the ability to come from the city by
ferry, take a train to get to Marin or people from the north have an
alternative to Highway 101. So that that we're we're we're excited about that.
And now with the new state housing laws, we're seeing a lot of new housing
development which we think will really help drive demand for uh our retail
services in downtown and also provide a driver for companies to grow and expand
in Marin. So you know new business formation. So that with an overview. Uh
next slide please. Um,
you know, just a couple notable transactions that have happened and some
overviews.
» We didn't have this audio portion planned.
» Yeah, >> those guys.
» So, we are not playing. Okay. Also, >> that hidden I just bought a house in
Santafell. I'm now a Santafeld resident to talk
the Dominican area. Okay. >> So, the office market as as we know has
since co been challenging. Um, there was just a green street
publication put out. You know, I think office buildings have decreased in value
nationally around 30%. We're seeing some office buildings here in Sanfell and in
Marin that are in contract or have sold for less than half price of what they
used to be. Uh return from work is still a challenge. Uh having said that,
there's a dichotomy where in southern Marin, we're seeing some of the highest
lease rates ever. Actually, lease rates that exceed precoid lease rates. So, uh,
I know this is focused on Centerville, but if if you look at the Llerur area,
the Exchange, which is the group of buildings across from the Country Mart,
Drake's Landing, uh, Belvadier Place, which is uh, down by the In-N-Out Mil
Valley in Mil Valley. Those three projects are now seeing rental rates
that approach $7 a foot. So, those are all-time high rental rates. Yeah, when
you come to Sanfell, they're basically at half price. So most
of the downtown Santafell, Northern Santafell class A inventory is in the
350 to 375 range. The average lease rate is about $3 a foot. So you can see that
somebody in theory could rent space infell for half the price of Larksburg
or Mil Valley. Yet they often pick those locations because access to the larks
ferry where the executives live uh water views things like that that attract
companies to pay those higher rents. Uh some notable transactions one of our
larger employers uh the patient group used to be located in quarter Madera.
They moved to 4040 civic center north of us here. Uh we'll talk about that
building. That building is approved to be converted to residential. Uh that's
an exciting story unto itself, but uh PA is staying in in Centerfell, which is
good news. They they leased 45,000 ft last year. Um the Helix Adult School
just leased a space on Shaver Boulevard uh to the west. And again with the
chamber we talked about the revitalization of west end which is
occurring and we are seeing a lot of school activity uh programs related to
education uh being drivers in the market. Uh
there's also a lot of executive suites kind of we work type organizations.
Workplace is one such group that just located in the building that Joe and I
work in 11015th Avenue. So that's a co-working space. Uh as we see people
work from home and not go to the office every day, a lot of times they just want
a small office. So, a lot of those co-working businesses are doing very
well in Marin. And then there was another deal with BK Modern, uh, which
is kind of an architectural design group that moved to downtown Centerfell.
Next slide, please.
We've got some notable sales that we've listed and we listed them not just
because of the value but also some themes here. Uh one Los Galenus uh that
was a former furniture store up in the Northfell area
uh that was sold it was developed it just sold for 55 million. Uh senior
housing is a big driver in the market. Now
institutional investors look at Marin as as one of the great markets because we
have an aging population. We have a wealthy community that can afford
services and so senior housing, assisted living. Uh there's been a lot of
activity in that sector. Uh 15154 Fourth Street was a building we worked with
Micah and everybody at the city on. It was approved for uh apartment buildings.
Uh it turns out that uh senior housing was uh the type of buyer that could get
the financing to actually build it. Construction costs are extremely
expenses as we know interest rates are high. So, one thing to keep in mind is
we do have a slide of all this great uh activity with projects getting approved.
What actually gets built remains to be seen. That's the big conundrum is even
though you get something approved, the rents in in Sanfell and in Marin often
don't justify the construction costs. So, it remains to be seen what gets
built. Senior housing, their ergonomics do work. the Aegis uh project uh down
the way is has been very successful. So that is a driver in the market.
United Markets uh sold both their businesses and one uh real estate
location to Molly Stone. Uh I think that's another theme in Santafel and in
Marin is uh I've been told this is not to be quoted but the Trader Joe's in
Santafelonto is one of the higher revenue generating stores and all of
Marin. We've got Whole Foods. Um I am working on selling two buildings in
North Centerfell 899 Northgate and 1050 Northgate. were in contract uh at prices
way below what they would have been pre-COVID. But what we are telling
buyers and this particular buyer is the um revitalization of the Northgate Mall
with all the housing there and actually Good Earth. Um I just moved from Santael
went to the Fairfax Goodear. We think that's going to really help the whole
North Sanfell area. So, in the past, uh, a lot of companies wanted to be downtown
Santafel because of all the services, and they wouldn't look up at the
northern Santafell market because where do I go have lunch? Where we're where I
actually think uh, and we have a a slide that's not included. Some of the biggest
rent uh, achievers or office space are adjacent to successful malls. So when I
referenced uh the exchange in Larksburg, it's
across from the Country Mart. The Country Mart went from before it was
called the Country Mart, everyone said, "Why does nobody go to the, you know,
Larksburg Landing Shopping Center? Why is it so dead?" And now people want to
locate there because of the retail. Drake's Landing that has high lease
rates is right next to Bonire Shopping Center. uh in Mil Valley, you've got the
uh Belvadier Place which is right next to the town center down in uh in
southern Marin. And I I do believe we believe that the Northgate Mall over
time is going to be a generator where people say, "I want to be up in the
North Santa Fe market because there's great restaurants, Good Earth is there,
there's housing close by." So, we think that's a great opportunity. Uh another
uh sale that occurred was a Kaiser building. That's kind of another theme
in the market is very few people uh when I say people uh
lenders are still skeptical about the office market. It's hard to finance an
office building. A medical office building is different. There's a lot of
demand to find buildings that have medical tenants. This particular
building was leased to Kaiser and and so it achieved a a high sales price
compared to what other buildings are selling for that are comparable and so
the medical community is a driver. I just read this morning that Biomarin
just made a big purchase of another company. I was happy to see they're
buying somebody and not being bought. I think that's always a fear we have is
what if somebody buys biomarin and moves them out of state but they've just made
a big investment. Uh so that's a big driver in our market with biomarin
ultragenics up in Nevada. Uh the uh former savings and loan uh across from
David which is a reference point to me because I eat there a lot and love that
place that's approved for uh more housing units. uh and Joe is going to
talk about and you guys here are aware of what is is being proposed but we did
want to kind of go over um some of the approved sites. The other driver in our
market in Santa Fe uh as we know automotive is a is a huge driver creates
a lot of of tax revenue for the city of Sanfell. The Price Company just bought a
site. So, uh, I think our, uh, the car industry, from what I'm told, again, I'm
not an expert, has suffered a little bit. It's not as robust as what it was.
I think during COVID, everybody stayed home and went out and bought cars and
and then that's backed off a little bit, but the the the you know, center the
auto row on either side of 101 is is healthy.
» Can I just ask a quick point of clarification on the slide information?
» Yep. And then we have about five more minutes. You said United sold both of
its businesses. Did you mean both of its locations? I mean,
» one one was the business only because they didn't own the real estate and one
it was the real estate. >> So, but the Sano location and the
Sanfell location >> both. That's what I Okay. Thank you.
» Yeah, that's what I thought. Thank you. >> Yeah, we'll we'll breeze through.
» Yeah, Joe, I gave you five minutes. [laughter]
» Thanks. Well, >> I wanted to kind of focus on uh the
change of use that's been happening. And what I mean by that is that post
pandemic uh demand patterns have changed in Sanfell. So, you know, we had some
big retail spaces. A few of them were uh are pointed out here, but what's going
to go back into these place? I mean, frankly, the location you see on on top,
18014, that has struggled since it was Yard Birds, and that was when I was a
small child. But, you know, we had the um Pacific
Sales, I think it was, that was owned by Best Buy. They came in. There was never
really a there there with that. And that's now going fitness. As many of you
guys know, Body Kinetics is expanding in there. It's 20,000 ft. a very large
footprint of a commercial space in Sanfell. And the way we see that is
great, more people downtown. We're going to have ins and outs. The the West End
is already pretty vibrant. And so the there's a bunch of new restaurants there
on the strip center right in the same parking lot. Pink Owl is there. That's a
success story for Centerfell. So the continued success from fitness is
something we're we're eagerly um we're monitoring and we're excited to help
push that forward. Gary Place, the Crunch Fitness, they just had a grand
opening ribbon cutting the other day. That's a former industrial space u
practically tucked underneath the freeway. So to have some life brought to
that, I think is a win for everyone involved. And then the last uh slide
here is uh a baseball training facility is moving into the space behind uh the
rug store, which used to be Bananas at Large.
» Istanbul Rexan, >> right? And uh the space you see it's a
big open warehouse that was a former >> telecommunications switching facility.
Probably as boring of a use as you could have,
» but [clears throat] that's going to have uh youth doing physical training. I mean
that's another thing that's going to bring people into the West End. The
15154 street project is right across the tenant was interested in this space not
only because of the space itself but because of the new housing that was
going in and thinking this could be a boon for everybody. So, um, when we look
at downtown, um, I know there's always been the the feeling and the impression
that there's a lot of vacancy and everything else. There's a lot more
going on than I think the general public that just drives through cares to
realize. And we have some, I'll call it chronic vacancy, but there's a reason
for that. And we can go to the next slide here, Greg. Um the uh this is a
map that uh some of our colleagues and us have been working on in our office
that um shows where these proposed developments are. And the the biggest
vacancy that people like to point out is right at 4th and A which is where the
Goldstone project is. For reference, Mr. Goldstone bought his first property 10
years ago um on Fourth Street and he's been amassing property ever since. But
from a commercial standpoint, no business is going to go into those
buildings knowing that at any point those buildings could be torn down. And
so I know the city has invested in some public art projects and the like, which
I think is great. But from the public perspective, they go, "Well, why isn't
anybody here?" Well, who wants to invest their business in something that they'll
have to remove or could be torn down at any time? Maybe it doesn't happen, maybe
it does, but it's a big risk, especially when you have a big uh big floor plate
to fill. So, um, kind of what Hayden was talking about earlier when it comes to
development in Centerfell, what excites me about this map is there's already a
couple projects that have shovels in the ground and those are closer to the
transit center. 930 Irwin has the huge crane, so that's kind of fun. And then
the project at 7033rd, they're doing some site work as well. So, um, lots to
be excited about. Um, this focuses on downtown. Of course, there's a lot going
on in North Centerfell as well, but um it sounds like there will be a pipeline
update as well, so that will be a nice add-on to this. So, Mayor Kate, I hope
that >> that was fantastic. I appreciate all
this information done very, very quickly. I'll see if there's any
questions. Council member Hill, any questions?
» No, that was extremely informative. Thank you for it was really helpful to
hear your perspective on where things are, even some of the nuances. they'll
just call one of them out around even just and it seems obvious when you say
it but even just a medical building office building has a different value
proposition than than standard and obviously we're
» way way different there was a building that sold up in
uh that sold uh Min Health was the main tenant I represent that building we did
on long extension that building sold for over $300 a foot the building right next
door is priced we're just bringing it to market way less because of the medical.
Yeah. >> Thank you.
» Each of these agenda items are different enough. We'll just take public comment
or questions um with each one. So, anyone around the table or in the room
would like to comment or have a question, all is welcome. Now is your
opportunity to do so. >> I just want to say more of a shout out.
Thanks for filling out that Gary word that Crunch Fitnesses. My family go to
Mamelia to eat, you know, dinner there. Every time I go there, there's plenty of
parking. Last time I went, it was driving. You can tell the whole
community is coming together. There's more stores opening up. So, it's really
nice to see that place fills up. >> Thank you.
» Yeah, that was great. Ribbon cutting. That place is packed.
» Yeah. >> Okay. Well, thank you. No, I thought
that was really informative and I love having this information, too. How do we
have, you know, I was struck by what you said that people drive down street and
they have impressions, but there's actually a lot going on. So, how do we
continue to share all the information, both the challenges and the
opportunities? So, fantastic. Thank you. We'll move along to the next item which
is the overview of the city's housing inspection program.
Director Hankle. >> So this I'm gonna obviously turn it over
to assistant director Luke Kurt who's in charge of both our building and code
programs and uh introduction for his first presentation here. So
» y >> take it away Lou.
» Thanks Mike. I'll try not to break into interpretive dance or anything.
» Oh you welcome. Don't worry. So, uh, just to just to expand on on Micah's
introduction, I I sit at a really neat crossroads between building and code
enforcement and economic development, and that really positions me ideally to
to listen to the concerns of the community and to hopefully to be able to
have an impact on in many diverse areas, including housing. So, without further
ado, Greg, thank you. Uh, I I am going to be brief in my comments. I anticipate
there will be some questions. So, I I'll try to run through these fairly quickly
and then and then maybe we can have some robust questions and answers. So, the
housing inspection program focuses on preserving sa safe, sanitary, and
livable or residential environments throughout the city. It applies
systematically to residential properties containing three or more units or hotels
with six or more units uh on a 5-year cycle. Uh this proactive approach
protects residents, promotes structural integrity, and reduces blight. Next
slide, please. Properties must maintain essential
baseline standards for sanitation, plumbing, water, climate control, and
waste removal. Structural components like foundations, framing, and
loadbearing elements must remain sound and safe. Uh the code also strictly
regulates weather protection, fire safety, and proper egress. Next slide,
please. Inspectors frequently encounter issues regarding
general wear and tear, poor upkeep, and deteriorated interior and exterior
surfaces. Building envelopes often show structural distress, broken or missing
windows, and inadequate ventilation or natural light. Life safety concerns
regularly involve unpermitted construction, defective smoke detectors
or CO detectors, and unserviced fire extinguishers.
Next slide, please. The initiative uses proactive oversight
to detect and correct substandard housing conditions before they escalate
or deteriorate further. It enforces strict owner accountability while
protecting vulnerable residents uh from predatory practices and housing loss.
When major repairs occur, the program supports displaced residents through
relocation assistance, temporary housing, or guaranteed rights of return.
I do want to insert here and I'm going off script. I know that uh concerns were
brought about uh 78 Nevada for example and as well as um uh 220 Canal. Um this
program does not limit us in our enforcement response. We can go out to
these properties at any time. It doesn't have to be on a 5-year cycle and we can
take action when there is complaints. Um, so I really wanted to emphasize that
we if if if we've just been out, don't think that we're not going to be back
out for another five years. If there's a problem, let us know. We will respond.
Next slide, please. So, here we're getting into some
performance trends. And the uh graph on the left shows case volume over the last
10 years. case volumes have shown a robust recovery following pandemic area
disruptions in 2000 and 2001 or excuse me 2020 and 2021. Um the city has
addressed 58 cases as of mid 2026. Our projection is to hit 131 total cases by
the end of the year and as you can see that significantly outpaces all prior
years. The chart on the right is the number of units we inspect. Um so a case
can have multiple units involved with it. Uh again, our inspection volume
demonstrates strong operational growth that surpasses prepandemic capacity
following successful inspections across uh 1322 units in 2024. The program has
tracked 707 units to date and our trajectory aims for a total of 1,593
units by year's end. Uh at this point in time, I'm going to hand the next three
slides over to Alexis, my co-presenter. And uh next slide, please. There we go.
» Thanks, Lou. And hi, everyone. Um, we wanted to talk a little bit about some
of the feedback that we've received through our community engagement
efforts. Um, really the housing element update um, rooted in Marin, but also
most recently, we were able to the city hosted several focus groups and
interviews with housing case workers from local nonprofits. So, we were able
to talk with frontline staff who work directly with tenants. Um, and then
simultaneously, VOS Del Canel did about 80 interviews in on Woodland Avenue,
Lincoln Avenue, um, and in the canal with tenants. And habitability was a
consistent theme in all of this community engagement. Um, and the
importance of the housing inspection program and our overall inspection
program. And what we heard was that
residents um are less likely to report issues
because they're afraid of being displaced. They're afraid of eviction,
rent increase, red tags. Um and that that's particularly true for our more
vulnerable tenants, right? For tenants with low income, tenants with poor or no
credit, voucher holders, uh tenants who are maybe less established. um or or
connected in the community, excuse me. Um
and that a lot of times residents are either we heard from tenants, we heard
from case workers that tenants are either living with an issue or they're
trying to they're fixing [clears throat] the issue themselves um rather than
advocate or rather than go to the city. Uh next slide, please.
But something positive that we heard was that um even though property manager
responsiveness varied, we had some tenants who said they their response
their um concerns were taken care of. We had others who said there they did not
get a response. But what was important um for us is that property managers and
owners were really motivated to address issues in advance of city inspections.
Right? that was where a lot of people saw responses where they hadn't been
before. Um and and the second point is that you know these the housing
inspection program is a proactive inspection. So the burden is not on the
tenant >> to go to the city, right? And it's not
going to be a single unit singled out. It's every single unit gets inspected.
Um and so that that's really important as well. So and then um next slide
please. Um
we recently last year came out with our rooted in marin report. Um a lot of the
feedback that we got was very consistent with that countywide report. Um on the
property owner side we heard a lot of concerns around high maintenance and
renovation costs and we have overall an aging housing stock something like over
seven and 10 units are were built before 1980. So, um, we're seeing those
habitability concerns come up and and there's, um, a large cost with that. And
we're also hearing from property owners and managers that they would like more
information and more resources and clearer guidance. Um, but we haven't had
a chance yet to do specific engagement on the housing inspection program. And
so, that's one of our next steps is to do that with with um, all of our
stakeholders. Um, and with that, I will hand it back to
Lou. Thanks, Lou. Thanks, Alexis. Okay, looking at our fiscal outlook and
sustainability, uh operations are primarily supported by tax allocations.
They average about $350,000 per fiscal year. Uh we are seeing a widening
funding gap in that's steadily emerging between this fixed revenue stream and
the labor intensive demand of annually inspecting in excess of 1500 units. Um,
strategic financial planning is ultimately going to need to focus on
shifting towards a self- sustaining fee and model and funding model. Next slide,
please. We're looking to modernize the program
and those efforts will focus on boosting digital tracking and reporting
efficiency. We're exploring avenues for specialized uh capability to include
mold and lead inspecting and testing. Our additional goals include
implementing graduated inspection schedules. So imagine a an algorithm if
you will where we know that certain properties need to be inspected more
frequently than 5 years and we will define a basis so that we can equitably
spend our inspection time which is limited where it most needs to be. Maybe
maybe a brand new building doesn't need to be inspected for the first 10 years.
Maybe an older building that has no issue need to be inspected every 2 and
1/2 years. So, we're going to look into having that kind of flexibility that's
defensible built into this program. Um, we also want to better align our
enforcement, as Alexa said, with the rooted and marine initiative uh to uh
discourage displacement. Next slide, please.
So, in conclusion, the housing inspection program remains a cornerstone
of community welfare and sustainable development in San Rafale. Our success
relies on balancing firm habitability enforcement with practical support for
both property owners and residents. Ultimately, this framework ensures the
city remains a safe, equitable, and stable place to live. Uh, next slide,
please. This brings us to the end of staff's
presentation and I welcome any questions that you may have. Thank you.
» Thank you, Assistant Director Kirk. Thank you, Alexis, for that. We'll just
start with questions from the council. Yeah, go ahead. Council health question.
I have uh three questions. So I appreciated you bring up in the final
part of it around modernization in my mind. So I like to tell a story then
have you correct me. But I like to believe that that digitalization
includes um a more modern case management so that when a complaint
comes in someone can very easily say like here's the next step. Here's you
know there's say a 30-day that has to go by between when a letter is received all
that kind of stuff. Is that what you might be referring to?
» It would certainly include all of that. um we want it to be set up in such a
manner that any one of us here can open the case file and immediately understand
what's happening. We're not there yet. We are having some tech technological
difficulties with our transition to a new software platform and but we're
we're seeing that as our goal and having that capability eventually. Absolutely.
» Totally. Yeah. And I mean I think this is self-evident but I want to say it
anyway and underscore why that's so important is so that any complaintant
can very readily understand rather than calling up and saying well where where
is this stand? they they know that okay we have to allow this process to play
out and it creates certitude on where it's going to go.
» Absolutely. And if I could just add on to that um you know we we have an
educational element to this now and education based enforcement is always
for our preferred staff to come from. Um I want to do a better job in the future
of creating uh digital and hard paper resources that are bilingual materials
that we can hand out in the community. I know we have them now. They're not
always utilized. I think we can make them more consumable. So that's
definitely something we'll be looking at.
» Awesome. Thank you. My next one is a little bit more broad. So I will get to
the question, but when I think about the dynamic between, you know, a renter and
a landlord that there's a lot of tension there and a lot of that is exacerbated
by elements that are somewhat beyond, I would think, the purview of the city
necessarily, their economic conditions and stratification of where wealth is
going because of our capitalistic system. But um I know that there are
ways that we'd like to make certain we're dialing in our policy so that we
are uh creating the best balance possible. But one thing that I would
want to advocate too that could obviously advocate with county and this
may be beyond the perview of CD which is UBI pilots universal basic income pilots
have been used in other counties around state of California to great success.
You know I'm curious if any conversations have been proposed with
the county to introduce UBI. So, so for example, uh a qualifying working family
could say get another $1,000 to help with rent and utilities to to help
create a little bit more of a pathway toward stability. Is that something that
that has been explored? >> Not to my knowledge. Again, I've I've
with apologies, I've only been here three months, so I I still don't know
everything I need to know, [clears throat] but um I do know that we
are working hard to build those partnerships with our other community
partners, including the county, and this is certainly something that I will look
into. I think it's a a it's a natural idea. It just fits well with the
program. I don't see any reason why we wouldn't explore that if it hasn't
already started. >> I mean, council member Hill, if I could
just add, I mean, some of the UBI programs really been launched um in some
of the larger cities as as trial starts and I think a lot of us are really
monitoring that approach. Little key is having the financial pieces behind those
programs and then really the data point to come back on those. So I know Greg
and I when we're in Oakland those were launched uh in that phase but the
reporting was coming back in the UBI. Um but I do think that it's something that
that over time I think we have to evaluate this program particularly is
really more about the housing stock condition right yeah uh and the
responsibilities of the the property owners per se and also being their
contractual obligations as they actually take rent versus habitable housing. So
that's really the core focus and I think that's where we're looking at um the
opportunities to make our housing stock healthy. Um there's some uh and over
time that's really the kind of the goal that this program has been established.
It has it has been a cornerstone for San Rafll. [clears throat] What we're
starting to see is we're gotten to that the age of our housing stock. It needs
more investment level. So really trying to find out that balance between the
ownership and then the tenants and getting it to the faith where we don't
have complaints of habit habit basic habitability.
» Totally. Yeah. And and the reason why I'm I'm connecting even you know this
outside notion that I'm I'm sorry it's coming out of the blue of UDI is that it
relieves some of that tension so that I'll say a good actor landlord would be
able to make those investments and be able to somehow recover appropriate
funding to support that. Um, obviously we don't want to remove stock if we
overburden a landlord. So, I do think that there is a there's a balance that
that could be struck. If you'll have my third one, which is I noticed, you know,
based on the public testimony we heard, there were notions of fugitives fugitive
smells and pest control that weren't part of that. Can you comment on if
that's in or out of purview of our uh of our code?
» It it is within the preview of our code, both the inspection program and everyday
code enforcement. Um, I'll just go ahead and say with respect to 78 Nevada, which
I know came up uh during the uh earlier public comments that the city is
actively engaged with that property owner. They are not cooperative or
responsive. We're dealing with a lot of issues there, including a failure to a
secure trash service. So, trash was building up. I made it very clear with
the refuge company, you need to collect whether they're paying you or not. We'll
sort the rest out later. Those public safety and public health issues are
paramount. Um, we're still working with that now. It's a multi-dep departmental
effort and sometimes code enforcement requires stronger methods and we're
starting to see that that might be the way we need to go with this particular
property. And again, that is outside of our inspection program. This is an
independent matter that came up recently.
» That's helpful. if you'll allow for one fourth one and it's not so much a
question but I think all of this is really important for I think uh
residents to be able to have visibility to you know what is the the overall
journey for each of these things if a complaintant comes in here are the say
five top 10 complaints like you had on there here's how they typically play out
I don't know if that already exists or if it could be spelled out more clearly
for >> it likely exists but I can spell it out
we receive a complaint and and let's say there's there's several there's several
violations I like to say that the the the property owner, the responsible
party in the violation, they control the narrative.
» They control it completely. If if we reach out to them on a courtesy level
right at the beginning of the case and they're they're they're apologetic and
cooperative and appalled at these situations and want to fix it, it gets
done and the case is minimal. Um, in code enforcement, we talk about
something called the tough 10%. So that says that 90% of all of the cases we
deal with will be resolved fairly easily.
» Fairly easily. And that last 10% takes every bit of resources we have to get
compliance. And it can it can it it transcends just courtesy notices and
notices and orders and administrative citations. It can involve criminal
complaints. It can involve abatements. Uh very strong actions that we don't
like to do. But again, the the responsible party controls that
narrative. We try to educate them and it's successful probably 90% of the
time. >> Thank you so much.
» Thank you. I just have three questions. So, one of your slides talked about the
inspection, the number of units inspected. You also did cases, but I was
focusing on that. Is there an industry standard as a percentage of total units
that exist in the community that should be inspected? So if you have 100,000
units, I'm just going to be that every a community of our a community that has
100,000 units should have as a metric to inspect 10% of those. Like I'm just
trying to figure out you had that number, but I didn't have any context
for it. >> Um well, again, we we start we eliminate
uh properties that have fewer than three units. So it's three or more units,
» and we inspect 100% of those units over a 5-year period. That's for for
residential. For hotels, the trigger is six or more occupiable rooms. And we
tend to look at 10% of those rooms. >> So if a hotel has a 100 rooms, we'll
look at 10 of them. If we find problems in all 10 of them, we'll expand that.
But it's more of a of a random sample. But with with regard to residential,
it's 100% of those units. >> Right. No, I appreciate that. But what
I'm trying to figure out is what is the universe of units? So I understand that
we're meeting our internal metrics of doing 100% of those. I'm trying to
figure out whether we're calibrated to that right number.
» Does that make sense? >> So, so Mayor Kate, I I think you're
getting at kind of one of the opportunities we have right now is we
established this program some, you know, 20 years plus plus ago really
opportunity to kind of really apply more not the algorithm really looking at
really the and really it's really the housing stock age and um condition I
think is one of the key pieces. There isn't like an industry standard because
not all cities actually have this type of program. So in essence, it is unique
to us in Sanfel. There are cities that do have them, but is there a we call it
the city based standard? I don't think it exists. It really depends on the
condition and stock and investment into this. What we are finding though is the
type and level of complaints coming in for our aging housing stock and also our
ownership too. um have a lot of uh smaller uh owners, mom and pop owners or
say like single and then as an investment and they don't have the
capital to reinvest back into it. So really we're starting to see some of the
transition of that happen too um or they're selling those buildings to
capitalize. >> You know I think that's helpful. I just
think as we talk about this going forward is having that additional
context. I do understand and you had someone had you said seven and 10
buildings were built or units before 1980. I just think we need a little bit
more context so we know that like the program is where it should be. We have
the type right type of metrics I I I just from a policy standpoint
» I I just feel this number needs to be attached a little bit more to what we
see here in San Rafale. Did you want to say something city manager? No. Yes.
» I'll just make a comment and and we can follow up. I'm sort of also interested
in the trends that gets to your question which is you know post pandemic sort of
the last two years a significant increase and you know is that just
because of you know staff focus and staff resources or is that because of
more issues right so to your point is you know we were in the averaging 60
units a year or um properties you know under a thousand and now anyway I'm just
wondering if the current trend is where we need to be.
» Is that more than we need to be? Is it less than we need to be? You don't have
the context for that. >> I don't Yeah, I want to move on to my
other two question, but I do think as we're talking about housing and the
council does have this as one of our goals and objectives that additional
parsing of it, I think is really important.
» Um, so the next question and I was struck by what was said about uh we all
want the same thing which are safe units. One of the challenges there
impediments to that is reporting and people's concern about retaliation when
they report. So I'm curious does staff have recommendations of how do we remove
or reduce those reporting concerns? Obviously the entire program of coming
every five years regardless is one of them. But for the I want to say oneoff
but for the ones that appear we have an anonymous way of doing like I'm trying
to get a sense of how do we reduce that barrier? How did you find out other than
folks having to come to the meeting or in addition to folks?
» Yeah, absent the algorithm that we were talking about which would help that
process. Uh and again, this is this is entirely proactive. It's not response
based. Um just in standard code enforcement practice, complainant
information is protected by law. It's anonymous. We do not release it. That
being said, it's pretty clear when we go out to one of these units that if we go
into unit 13 and find issues, unit 13 was probably the complaintant. There's
not much we can do to disguise that. >> Okay,
» that's another reason why these algorithms will help us because we can
come in rather not in result to a complaint, but because the trends are
telling us that we need to inspect this entire property again. And because it's
proactive, it takes that that uh onus off of the complaining that they're
they're putting themselves at risk. >> Yeah. No, I think that's a really I
think that's worth um continuing to investigate. How do we reduce it? And I
do think that's I want to say an elegant but a very thoughtful solution. So if
you're getting I I guess what we want the community to know is reports should
be made and if they're made from several units in the same building that gives
you the impetus to go and do the proactive of the entire building, right?
because that otherwise when people say we cannot know unless people report it,
that's just the way it is. So, so we have to
» and and honestly, I want us to do a better job of communicating with the
community and getting them to know us and trust us that we're we're not the
bad guys. There's there's a lot of fear about code enforcement and we need to
overcome that through education, through outreach, through through doing events
together and building that rapport >> so that everyone knows us, including the
property owners. It's not a one-sided thing. This this benefits everybody.
» Absolutely. >> And um finding an effective way to
communicate that is is important. And you know that that that transcends
culture, cultural barriers, and everything else. Um for example, I know
we'll do inspections and we'll find a smoke detector is turned off and it'll
be fixed and as soon as we're gone, it's unplugged again.
» Yes. >> Because of reasons. Um, so education is
important and it's definitely something we want to increase and continue to
grow. >> Fantastic. And working with our
community partners, we can continue to >> address those issues. My last question
then we'll have public comment. It was talked a little bit about when you're
talking about the universal basic income. So when there's um improvements
or renovations that need to be made, there's a cost associated with that. So,
as we're improving housing stock and and it's it was both rhetorical, but I'd
like also input like who pays for that cost? Traditionally, landlords and then
residents. Um, are there other entities that pay for that cost? I don't know if
it's government agencies through I don't even know if they have housing stock
programs. I haven't heard of anything like that at the state level, but that's
part of what we're running into, too. So, if we're talking about government
subsidies, where does that come from? What does that look like? or is that
just not a reality? >> It's just not a reality that that we've
come across this for the agency I've worked in and and it's really related to
the responsibility. It's basically a contractual obligation between a
landlord and a tenant. >> Yes.
» Um the [clears throat] thing that we enforce and the thing that we focus on
is minimum habitability standards. We're not asking for the maximum, not this
beautiful. No, the basic health, life, safety minimums. That's the obligation
of a property owner. If you're going to be in the business of renting units, you
need to meet that. So that's cost you bear as the ownership end.
» Um now I think there's possibilities. We look at one of the things we look at in
you know fines is citations. Um and reevaluing our program some of the the
tools we have for compliance. Um, we're still working through some options, but
potentially it's if we do actually go have to go that range and there is a
payout, maybe that that funding is used to actually help buildings get to where
they need to be versus, you know, augment the general fund or other
pieces. But there's other options we need to start really focusing on to get
overall compliance because that's what we're really after.
» Yeah. And that really ties nicely what Lou was talking about the education
piece with the landlord. So having a convening of the landlords to have those
conversations because there are tools that we have. They're a little bit
clunky, but if you're going to be paying, you know, $10,000 to the city,
is there a way that that money then goes to the building or you get a make good
ticket and you instead put it towards the building? So, I think that's really
um I'm excited that those are actually being discussed by staff. I think those
are good tools. Um this is a juicy topic, so we're going to go into public
comment and apologize to some of the other agenda items. We always have more
than we can fit. Um, but if you have any public comment on this item, now is your
chance to say something. We already heard some public comment at the
beginning, but we welcome additional. Yes. And if possible, introduce yourself
because um or just say who you are and what if you represent organization or if
you don't, that's fine, too. Go ahead. >> Kate, [clears throat] Aaron Bernett with
Now Alliance. Lou, welcome to the to the city. I I really appreciated the the
messaging and I think more probably like the tone of your presentation. I feel
like was supportive tone and that's going to
resonate with community. Um, a lot of the things I I wanted to ask have
already been asked and commented on. I appreciate all Alexis's uh points that
she added and like us. Um, I think the third point is simply like we've heard a
lot of community voice here today. Um, but it can always we would love to
continue that conversation and and help do a deeper dive into a lot of those
interviews that Alexis was mentioning and and maybe even do like a walk
through tour of now to kind of help you understand um what community members are
facing and and when it comes to fears I I I've heard a lot of yes there's
certainly fear of retaliation but also want to make sure that we're not opening
a can of worms that can potentially lead to displacement um over time as we close
basically these standards and I know like we can be the guide that forward
kind of
thank you for your partnership. Yeah, go ahead.
» Good morning. My name is Ethan Stroll with Legal Aid of Marin and thanks for
taking the time today to think about this super important issue, what the
convictions are for renters in Centerfell and how they go about
addressing them. Uh at Legal Aid, we get lots of calls from tenants who are
wondering what their rights are surrounding repairs. And California law,
like was mentioned, is pretty clear about this. Tenants have the right to a
habitable home, but it's about how they go about enforcing that. Um whether
they're making a repair request to their landlord in writing or whether they're
making a code enforcement complaint. The question that often comes up for tenants
uh on the phone uh when they're speaking to our attorneys is, "Can they evict?
Can my landlord evict me? Um, and in Sanfell currently, the answer is
complicated. No tenant in Sanfell, if they're displaced by code enforcement
due to a red tag, has the right to return to their home. Uh, as was just
passed in Nevada. And tenants in one to two unit buildings uh uh can be evicted
for any reason at all uh arbitrarily because their protections that currently
has don't apply to them. um and tenants outside the opportunity zone in the
canal can be permanently evicted um when when their landlord conducts uh
substantial renovations. So, we'd love to be able to tell tenants if you hold
up your end of the bargain, you pay your rent, and you follow your contract, you
cannot be evicted. But today, that's currently um not the case. So, we're
asking for a basic floor protection so that tenants can feel comfortable uh
requesting the repairs that they need in their home. So, thank you.
» Thank you. We also did receive a letter from Lucy one Hollingsworth at Legal
Aid. So, the council, we did receive that. So, thank you for those additional
comments. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Go ahead, Stephanie. I'm
Stephanie Plant. I'm a commercial landlord. Uh, first of all, I'd love to
change that term and we could Could you come up with something besides landlord?
» Uh, land woman. Um, I appreciate what you said about a convening of the
landlords and I also heard what you said that uh there's it seems to me that it's
really easy to the the onus is on the landlord and the
conversation can be driven by the landlord or property owner. But I think
if if we sat them all down and convened together, there would be a a I I would
imagine that 90% do want to do the right thing. And the 10% bad apples probably
wouldn't come to a convening, but um the 90%
» maybe don't know. They don't probably know what all I just think communication
is always better and we can't just assume that people don't want to perform
if they don't know. and and I I heard a little you know there's always an ad it
sounds like there's an assumption of an adversarial relationship and I don't
think that that's always true and I would love to see that convening
» and um I don't know how I can help but I would try to help if I have you helped.
[laughter] >> Thank you. No, it's No, we appreciate
that because we have ideas here but that's why we have this
» and I think tenants right I am all for tenants rights and and they we need more
of them and protections. I I also think that landlords can be a little stuck in
their lane and they that conversation can always help.
» Thank you. >> Other comments over here.
» There might be one here. >> Yeah, go ahead.
» Yeah, just to close because I already take time at the beginning of the
meeting, but I just want to say thank you for the presentation and thank you
for being open to the conversation with the community. That is really important
for us. Uh I think like historically decisions that are being made just for
people that it works for certain cities or it works in certain like places but
in order to have a city that it drives for a long term. We have to involve the
community and their needs as a center. So we just want to connect that is a
work that parent voices does all the time. We have a big community in San
Rafael. Uh we have parents uh today from Canal but also like we have
conversations with parents that they live in other areas in San Rafael. We
have a building that is sustained on pallets right now in San Rafale. Um so
I'm glad that you are educated about this 78 no and you are supporting them.
We will have a conversation and I want to follow up with you with the rest of
the tenants because they are getting organized to have a conversation with
the landlord too and they have the same response as you. There it is. There is
no response basically for them. So we have to go with the next step. So we
want to learn how we can connect better with you guys at at the level so we can
work together and educate not just the tenants but the landlords about like
what it is expectation when families that are paying $4,800 plus utilities.
Um I think like many of you know what it is like the minimum wage over here in
San Rafel. But those firms in order to cover those $4,800
they have to work three jobs. they have to share their homes and they have to do
like they have to leave their children with others and then do other um things
to to pay and live over here in San Rafael. But um just going back to
Ethan's point and talking about the ordinance that we just passed in Nevada,
it it has the right to return. It has uh higher relocation payments that what the
states offers. Um it has all the communication on their language, the
preferred language. And then also one of the important things that I want to
mention that that creates was it gives them like
certain coverage for the people to be able to speak because they know they
have protections. So if we want to see more people involved at those
conversations, we have to offer the minimum.
» Thank you. >> Um so I'm going to close out this agenda
item, but I'm going to turn it to our city manager because there's been uh
we're going to keep talking about this. So maybe just um uh expectations around
what that looks like. I mean again a subcommittee is only two of us. This is
not we're not a decision-m body here. It always comes before the entire council
part of our upcoming policy looking at the policy. But if you could speak to
that just so folks can have an expectation.
» Yeah, I think there's a lot of good information being shared and the
feedback's always helpful. Um we probably need to huddle up internally. I
think there's uh um you know we heard the you know
fine-tuning the program tools and metrics we talked about the you know the
property owner side and then the you know community centered piece of it. So
I think each of those have immediate next steps and then maybe the work on
how to bring it together. So whereas the policy piece is kind of at the intersect
of those. So, um, didn't answer your question, but I think there's some, um,
good feedback for staff to come back to and, uh, bring the conversation back.
» Okay. >> If I can just add
city, um, the council actually had multiple
these items identified in work plan uh, of which we are, uh, structured to bring
forward before the end of the year. So, we are framework. This is a continuous
pieces and this engagement part is really important but we do will come
back for these items. We have been working on them.
» Thank you. Fantastic. Thank you all. >> One one more just piece of context and
this is for us. The other thing that um >> I don't want it in any way to sort of
dilute the focus of this conversation. But the other thing that comes to mind
is that this effort is just one of the bodies of work for the enforcement team
at the city. And so also understanding how to appropriately prioritize and
focus on the um property inspection program and you know how that might mean
it's going to come down to resources. So we'll have that conversation as well
because we don't want to just >> of course
» you know pull resources from another um
» yep at least some we context. Thank you. Um, we are going to jump right into the
quarterly development pipeline update. And again, we're watching our time. And
I know you speak really quickly, director Hinkle. So
» that's what I want to make. Uh, assistant director Miner speak quickly.
» He is a quick speaker. >> I can speak even quicker hopefully. Good
morning, Greg Miner, Community Economic Development Department. This is our
quarterly pipeline update on major projects that are uh being processed by
our planning division and and uh moving forward. They're mostly um housing
developments as was kind of alluded to earlier. Uh first off in the corner you
might see a QR code going to make our monthly or quarterly plug for our major
planning projects web page. You could just Google Sanfell major projects. You
get a web web page that has a map and you can see major projects and you can
see what's happening what stage of the process are they uh did they submit a
pre-application? Have they submitted a formal application? has it been approved
or entitled or have they started construction? So, if you're curious
about what's happening in Summerfell and you don't have to wait for this monthly
meeting or the quarterly update, you can check it anytime. Um, and you don't even
have to make your own map like Joe was making earlier. [laughter] You're
welcome to make your own map, but you don't have to.
» Uh, so in terms of the the update for this uh quarter, I would actually
highlight the bottom half of this screen. It's probably not a coincidence.
We we have more pre-applications than formal applications that we're working
through at the moment. Um pre-applications are kind of a a product
of a 2019 state law, the California Housing Crisis Act or Senate Bill 330 or
SB 330. It was uh designed to encourage more housing production in California
and lowering barriers for housing developers, including allowing them to
submit a pre-application that freezes development standards, zoning and and
fees in particular. So, uh, the council is well aware, uh, roughly two months
ago, they adopted a development impact fee, a park impact fee to charge housing
developments their fair share of their impact on the city's recreational
system. Those fees are starting to kick in. So, it's we we've observed uh a
little bit of a rush for from uh developers submitting pre-applications
to to uh lock in the fees before that new impact fee took effect. So, it's uh
just last week, starting from the bottom, we received a pre-application
for 515 Third Street. If you recall the the presentation from Newark earlier,
that's the United Markets site by the Whole Foods. So, they're proposing a 285
unit sevenstory housing development. Um, above that on this slide, 88 Vivian,
folks may be aware, that's the former country club bowling site that, um, very
disappointed is no longer a bowling alley, but has been red tagged for
structural deficiencies. We have a new application uh, submitted for 129 units,
two three-story buildings. Um 700 B Street, that's the current
Safeway location. Uh we received a pre-application for 331 units,
eightstory building. Uh and above that, 901 East Street's 200 units of housing
proposed for eight stories. And the last pre-application listed uh is going is a
proposal for 100% affordable project and 192 units. Um so my understanding that
is that site was previously entitled for a market rate. This is this would be
100% affordable uh development. So that's exciting.
» I just had that project at 88 Vivian. The same thing, 100% affordable.
» We're trying to keep it tight. [laughter]
» Um and then the the applications above are are are projects that uh are formal
applications that we've received. Uh obviously Kaiser Hospital is not a
residential development. That's a replacement of the existing hospital in
order in in order to meet seismic standards. And I believe um the city's
uh environmental consultant has has produced a draft environmental impact
report uh which is part of complying with the California Environmental
Quality Act or SQL. >> Yeah, we're still we're still working on
that internal draft. It's not ready for publication yet, but really it's just
we're framing up next steps that will likely come forward. So it's really a
key critical uh investment in the community for that Kaiser hospital. So I
wanted to kind of frame up we're finalizing kind of the draft EIR for
publication. Uh and so the last three developments listed under active
development applications are in different stages of kind of consistency
analysis. They've been deemed complete. We're just uh confirming their
consistency with the city's uh planning requirements. 245 Nova Albon that's 93
single family homes 790 Mission is proposing 105 units um multifamily
eightstory uh development taking advantage or utilizing the state density
bonus law to have a mixture of affordable and market rate housing and
50 uh Maryale's a 12unit subdivision. So those projects are are moving forward
and will be going to the planning commission in the coming months. That's
the date for today. >> Wow. Fantastic. questions.
» No questions. >> I don't have any questions other than up
the good work because uh we know that the sheer volume is very different than
it was even two years ago. >> So I will open up public comment on this
item and we always appreciate public comment here and when it goes to the
planning commission or if it ends up the city council we also like public comment
there. I think that's important. So we really appreciate the community staying
engaged when these projects come forward because u not all we want all voices
represented in the room. Um, so additional comments. No. Yeah,
Hayden, go ahead. >> Just a question. The FARC fee, how is
that determined and what does it when somebody pays into that, where where
does the money actually go? What what what's the result of that? Because we're
we're getting asked about it and I I'm not educated on
» city manager. >> Take a stab at that. So um you know the
park impact fee that you're referring to and there's also a park and zoo fee
component and basically it's the mechanism by which we can ensure that uh
new development is as was um mentioned kind of their fair share of maintaining
our um park standards right acreage per thousand etc etc. So, uh, the short
answer is we have a park master plan. We have, um, tied to the planned growth and
so carved out part of those projects are, um, responsive to projected
increases in population. And it's really just the, you know, math exercise of um,
uh, the total funding needed to support development's impact as a function of
the the planned growth. Um and so uh the city has not here to for had a park
impact fee. So there is a little bit of a catch-up and that's why you see a
little bit of a you know reaction from the development community about this new
fee. Um in response to that and in order to you know um not have it have undue
impact in adopting the fee it's important to note that the council um
opted for a three-year phase in of that fee. So, even though it's going to be
effective here shortly, um the first year is 50% of the fee and then it'll go
up to 75% and then 100% of the fee. But those dollars by state law are required
to be accounted for tracked separately and used solely to fund park um and
facility improvements uh to support the pipeline of projects that are coming in.
And we can talk some more about that if we need.
» Yeah. just there's a perception that it's an
attempt to make it more difficult to develop. You know, this is this is just
a mechanism because the state >> has made it easier to develop. Now the
city comes in and makes a hurdle. These as I mentioned these projects,
» most of them don't pencil. So when you add another layer of cost, it means
maybe you get nothing. So just >> yeah,
» it's it's a good cause. I you know I think everybody agrees that we need to
pay in but >> those are pretty big.
» If I could add one more flavor to that the park impact fee is one such fee
right there's traffic mitigation fee we're looking at public safety and one
of the things that um in looking at this at the staff level through our
subcommittee the council we're also keenly focused on what is the cumulative
impact of all of these on prospective developers. So as we're working on these
additional fees, the idea is not necessarily just to pile on, but to sort
of ensure that in aggregate we're staying u hitting that sweet spot
between the very real costs of u maintaining and updating the the
infrastructure and the burden that it falls on the development.
» So there could be relief in other areas. So the aggregate
» 100%. >> Thank you.
» And there's a whole council meeting has a lot of that too that we did talk about
it extensively. Okay. I know there was more. Is there public comment over here?
No, >> I'll withdraw.
» What? >> I'll withdraw.
» This time I don't know if I have Yeah. Okay. Really quick comment.
» There's a question and a comment, but I'm not sure maybe our friends at New
Market answer that question, but when it comes to these sites specifically that
are going to be replacing supermarkets. Um, in the pre-application, it's 100%
housing, but is there still room in the later parts of the application to
incorporate commercial opportunities into those, or is that something that
we're not seeing or does it not pencil out?
» Just a short answer on how the city can influence whatever project is coming in.
» Uh, the short answer, no. For housing projects, the city really has no
authority to require commercial. It's actually the opposite for state law. If
you actually have a commercial zone parcel, you want to do 100% residential
that meets affordable housing requirements, the city has no control
points over that. So really, it is up to the developers to make that push.
» Although we do pass along community input, course that we received. Okay.
Any other public comment on this item? >> Thank you so much. And the next item on
our agenda is a status update on opportunity zone 2.0 census track
nomination process and a state and their infinite wisdom reacting to what the
count what the city proposed. So, who is assistant director of minor? No, there
was down here. Oh, Alexis somebody Stacy >> I think Stacy if she can maybe leading
this this item. >> Hi, good morning Stacy Lman economic
development. Jen, thank you very much for your presentation.
» Um, today I'm just providing an update on the opportunity zone 2.0 process.
That is a stated driven process to nominate eligible census tracks to
become an opportunity 2.0 So zero, which is part of a federal program to um allow
tax incentives for investment in certified census tracks. So um in July,
your city council made a recommendation to nominate certain tracks in a priority
order to the state of California that was submitted by staff. Um recently the
state has come back with two identified um census tracks that they're
recommending for nomination. Um these are the only two census tracks that were
named in Marin County. So we're very pleased to have Sanfell recognized with
economic opportunity. Um and um her uh being consistent with the city
council's nomination of priorities. Um, we will respond to the state's
nomination with a support of census tract 11
my glasses here 1110 01 which is the downtown census tract. And we would um
also recommend a replacement of one of the canal tracks in southeast Sanfell
with a larger tract in southeast Sanfell. So the state nominated um
census tract 112203 which is highly um residential, very dense, doesn't have a
lot of economic development potential other than housing. Um whereas uh the
tract 112204 which is the larger um southeast track that has primarily
industrial lands um we've found through our analysis has a greater um
opportunity for economic investment and housing development as well. So um we
will be submitting that response. There is um been a lot of collaboration with
community partners including Canel Alliance, other folks at this table. Um
so um there is an opportunity to reach out to interested parties in the
community and respond. the city uh can in fact collect uh comments and submit
our response um with a packet of other community respondents so that the state
receives um comment in aggregate. >> What's the timing on that?
» We will be responding by September and I'm sorry August 28th and um my goal as
a staff person is to respond a few days before that. So, we were asking for any
folks that would like to respond and have the city uh compile a response and
submit with the cities. I would like to receive that by the 25th of August so
that we can submit on the 26th. >> Where are we on the draft letter we've
been working on >> to you within a few hours. We all
reached we all agreed on who was going to reach out to which uh elected offices
and we've had some I think Omar got Huffman's office to say yes while we've
been sitting here. Uh Connellyy's office said yes. I'm waiting on Magguiire's
office. So we have a So we have some um answers some ready to put their
signature on the letter. So I was just fantastic. We were waiting for some I
know you were waiting for some review. >> Yeah. No, that's fantastic.
» We're ready to Thank you. We're ready to Thank you for your involvement and and
responding and getting this uh in the right place for our community. Quick
questioning. >> No quick questions.
» No quick question. >> The Yeah. 03 was the tragedy we had in
opportunity zone. I'm sorry. Sorry. >> The initial approval, right, was the one
we had in the first goround, >> right? So, we are just and and I
understand that we are allowed to >> want to say thank you, but could you
» Yes. >> And I I guess we learned from the
consultant at the Canal Alliance that that we won't be taking anything away
from anybody else. Like to be given two slots and to still ask for only two
slots doesn't like say um hey Los Angeles, sorry for you. But there's no
adverse ramifications which we were all also happy. I hope we live in a world
where that map makes sense. >> Well, what we were hoping So, any other
public comment? I think those are excellent. Oh, I'm sorry.
» Put a, you know, highlight exclamation point that of the five priority areas
that we had in rank order one through five. Correct me if I'm wrong, but what
the state came out with was San Rafll, you get your number two and your number
four from your own list. So really what we're asking for is number one and
number two would probably make more sense particularly for all the reasons
that we think these are um available to >> Yeah. No and and you have a full support
of the council because the council already passed resolution and um so yeah
» go ahead and be successful. Additional public comment on this item. Yeah. Go
ahead. >> Yeah. Yeah, I guess gratitude to the
city um for coming together on this and supporting community a collaborative
that involves now Alliance and and our work, but also
like the the center federal working group. Um I think we have the right
pieces in place to make this successful and and bring opportunities for all and
really appreciate that the the city council is all behind this. Um, so
beyond this letter, if you're able to text or call any of your state reps, we
would appreciate >> making that making that switcheroo.
[laughter] >> Switcheroo, like, you know, our request,
our initial request. >> Yes.
» Maybe they could just reread the fine print.
» Actually, I do have a quick question. Yeah. In the letter is there does it do
we regard it as um [clears throat] harmful to say and could you toss in a
third if you have an extra or is that or is it not that straightforward to just
say hey we we have a third in mind if you have a free slot?
» Uh the way the response portal is on the state's website you could nominate an
additional tract. Um, how
» it's a it's a it's a very interesting, you know, you don't want to take one.
You know what I mean? You don't want that.
» It's a fair answer. I just want to say yes, it's fraught, so let's not do it.
That's >> never wanted to. And I think adding in
more stuff and making it more complicated. You risk them picking the
one you don't want. No, I think that's >> Thank you. So, I appreciate that. That's
the game. Let's play the game. Well, thank you.
» So, we're all learning. That's learning the game, too. and so are they.
» Any other public comments? >> Just to thank you for your leadership,
Stacy, and also the collaboration with the Canal Alliance and the business
community has been robust and um I'm very proud. Thank you. Proud.
» Stacy Cassid, hopefully the letter will underscore I know in earlier
conversations um I think that highest priority track that
wasn't included was sort of the consensus uh highest priority track. We
had discussions about other priorities. So, it's just odd that the state would
come back and say, so just emphasizing the fact that there's consensus
um that went into that number one selection would be important.
» Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you for that uh fate and hopefully we'll have good
news at the next update on this. So, our final and our last minute, we have
future agenda items. Um, if there's anything I know that the staff has been
listening to this conversation, tenative future items are anti-displacement house
housing policy, cannabis program, follow-up action, the 2026 city council
housing sess study sessions. Is there anything else? And we're going to just
do just shout it out at this point if there's something else that you would
like to possibly hear. just to underscore what we heard as part of the
anti-displacement housing policy update just because we definitely heard it loud
and clear today um around right to return as part of that analysis just
confirm that that's included in that policy consideration.
» Yes. >> Thank you.
» Any other agenda items that the community would like to have us consider
going forward? Okay. Not seeing any. As always, great discussion. Appreciate
everyone being here. This meeting is adjourned right on time. Thank you all
for being here. >> Thank you.
» Give this to you. So let's let's talk about
» Yeah.
That's good.
» [clears throat]
» like the same day last week. I was like, "Wow, let's
see. Thank you.
» Okay, now you're on
a little conversation.
» So, I'll have that conversation because that that's a little weird and I know
there was some other things going on.
» You want to just give me a call? >> Yeah, give me a call this afternoon.
Yeah, call me and let's talk. Yeah, thanks Paul and congratulations.
» Let's definitely talk. >> Thank you so much.
» I think one time there was update but no East Sanell update and I said something
live and she didn't >> No, I know. There's a few like
» Yeah, we'll talk because there's some history damage.