Souang Vesting Tentative Map and Tree Removal Permit

On May 24, 2023, a Preliminary Application for a proposed Project was received, followed by a formal application on November 17, 2023. This formal application included requests for a Housing Compliance Review (HCR), a Tree Removal Permit, and a Vesting Tentative Map for subdividing the lot. On May 14, 2025, Planning Staff issued a ministerial HCR approval of the housing development project with conditions of approval that require the applicant to meet the minimum public safety requirements related to pedestrian sidewalks, street width, emergency vehicle turnarounds, and safe vehicular access to and from the Project site. The decision to approve the HCR application is based on the fact that it complies with the Board-approved Form Base Code (FBC), which was adopted on January 26, 2023. 

County staff determined there were no statutory or categorical exemptions provided in the State CEQA Guidelines that apply to the Project. Thus, on July 8, 2025, a project status letter was sent to the applicants informing them that the Project would be subject to environmental review pursuant to Section 15183 of the State CEQA Guidelines, which is meant to streamline or tier from a previous environmental review document, in this case the 2023 Housing & Safety Element Programmatic Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

On October 17, Environmental Planning staff sent the Project applicant a funding request letter along with a proposal from Sicular Environmental Consulting to prepare an environmental review checklist pursuant to Section 15183 of the State CEQA Guidelines. On October 22, the applicant filed a timely appeal of the Environmental Coordinator’s decision to request funds for a proposal to prepare the Section 15183 checklist, citing several objections. The Marin County Planning Commission was held on Monday, December 8, 2025 wherein the Planning Commission denied the appeal and required that the applicant fund the Project environmental review, including an evaluation of two grading options and a preparation of Response to Comments memo in an issue-based format, and allowed the Environmental Coordinator to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit additional environmental review proposals. On December 15, 2025, the applicant filed a timely appeal of the Planning Commission’s decision. The Marin County Board of Supervisors hearing was held on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 wherein the Board of Supervisors denied the appeal and affirmed the Planning Commission's December 8th decision. 

On April 23, 2026, the applicant filed a timely appeal challenging the Environmental Coordinator’s selection of LSA as the environmental consultant for the project through the RFP process, citing multiple objections. The Marin County Planning Commission hearing will be held on Monday, June, 15, 2026. Please review the relevant notice included below in the “Public Notice” section for further details about the public hearing and please check the Planning Commission webpage for updates about the agenda, the time of the hearing, and other details about the public hearing. 

Environmental Review Status

It was determined that the Project will require environmental review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 15183. Marin County Community Development Agency Staff will select a consultant to prepare and submit a proposal for the preparation of the environmental review checklist per CEQA's Appendix G. The environmental review checklist will include a complete description of the project, a discussion about the particular setting for the project, and an analysis of the potential environmental impacts relative to multiple topical areas: 

1. Land use and planning
2. Population and housing
3. Geophysical conditions
4. Water
5. Air quality
6. Greenhouse gases
7. Transportation/circulation
8. Biological resources
9. Energy and natural resources
10. Hazards
11. Noise
12. Public services
13. Utilities and service systems
14. Aesthetics/visual resources
15. Cultural resources
16. Tribal cultural resources
17. Wildfire

Once the environmental consultant is under contract and prepares an environmental review checklist for the Project, the draft environmental review document will be posted on this webpage and circulated with the public for a 30-day review period. To be notified when the draft environmental review document is available, please subscribe to this webpage by selecting the blue "Subscribe to page" button in the top right-hand corner of this page.