Pacific West Communities, Inc. (TPC) Design Review (P4722)

Proposal Overview

The applicant, Lauren Alexander, on behalf of Pacific West Communities, Inc. (TPC), requests Design Review approval to construct a new 32,378-square-foot multi-family apartment building on a vacant lot in Mill Valley. The project would entail the construction of a five-story, 58-foot, five-inch high residential building with 32 units restricted to lower-income households, a manager's office, residential amenities, and seven on-site parking spaces. The proposed development would result in a building floor area of 32,378-square-foot and a floor area ratio (FAR) of 1.26-percent on the 25,570-square-foot (0.587 acre) lot. The exterior walls would have the following setbacks: 28 feet from the west front property line (and 10 feet from the access easement); 30 feet, two inches from the south side property line (20 feet, two inches from access easement); 56 feet, nine inches from the north (side) and 29 feet, nine inches from the from access easement; and 23 feet, seven inches from the east (rear) property line. 

The proposed building will be designed to accommodate a mail room, leasing office, maintenance room, other miscellaneous rooms, and four residential units on the ground floor, and 28 residential units disbursed from the second floor through the fifth floors. As detailed in Table 1 below, the residential rental units would range in size from a one-bedroom 544 square foot apartments to two-bedroom 751 square foot apartments. 
 

The exterior finish would consist of cement plaster clad in tan, light and dark brown colors. The main entrances would feature projecting metal canopies. These elements would be covered in a dark brown color to march the base (ground floor) of the building. The building would feature a flat roof with a parapet, which would conceal roof-mounted solar panels and power storage batteries.

The proposed site improvements include asphalt pavement, sidewalks, a patio, and 2,858 square feet of landscaped areas, including a bio-retention drainage area and a bio-swale on the southern portion of the lot. The bio-swale would drain towards the rear (east) and a new drain inlet with a pipe leading to the existing catch basin. The landscaping would be integrated into an onsite stormwater treatment system consisting of bioswales and a vegetated bio-retention basin, capturing and treating all stormwater runoff from the site's impervious surfaces, including rooftops. Various other site improvements would also be entailed in the proposed development, including a new concrete curb, sidewalk, and seven onsite parking spaces, two of which would be EV charging spaces.

In addition to Design Review approval, the applicant requests the following incentives, concessions, and waivers of development standards under Government Code Section 65915–65918 (known as the State Density Bonus Law): 

1. Relief from the Tamalpais Area Community Plan, Policy 33.1.b.h to increase the height limit from 25 feet to 58 feet, five inches above the surrounding grade;
2. Relief from the Countywide Plan Land Use Designation’s floor area standards to increase the maximum floor area ratio from 0.35 percent to 1.3 percent; and,
3. Relief from the Marin County Code Section 24.04.340(a) to reduce the required residential parking from 12 spaces to eight spaces.

Affordable Housing Density Bonus

The State Density Bonus Law allows applicants that provide sufficient affordable housing in their residential projects to receive an increase over the otherwise maximum allowable residential density (a "density bonus"), and to qualify for incentives/concessions as well as waivers and reductions of development standards that will have the effect of physically precluding the construction of a development. To determine how many bonus units and concessions/incentives are awarded, the Density Bonus Law uses a sliding scale based on the percentage of affordable units provided and their level of affordability. The applicant has requested an 80 percent density increase over the otherwise maximum allowable gross residential density, under the Gov’t Code Sec. 65915(b)(1)(G).

As discussed below, the project site is located within the Commercial Planned (CP) zoning district, which permits a density of 30 units per acre. Given the site's area of 0.587 acres, the CP zoning allows for the development of 18 units prior to the application of any additional units under the State Density Bonus law. With the application of the State Density Bonus law, the allowable density on the site could potentially increase to a total of 33 units. For further details, please refer to Table 2 below, which summarizes the density bonus calculations.

Since the proposed project is exclusively an affordable housing project for lower-income households, as defined in Health and Safety Code § 50079.5, and is located less than one-half mile from a major transit stop, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code, the project qualifies for a density bonus increase of 80 percent, or 15 units, above the otherwise maximum allowable density under the Countywide Plan under the State Density Bonus law. As illustrated in Table 2 above, the project density would increase from 18 units to 33 units. In this case, the applicant is proposing 32 units.

Concessions and Waivers: 

Since the project would set aside 100 percent of the units for very low-income households, it is entitled to receive five incentives/concessions under Gov’t Code Sect. 65915(d)(2)(D), as well as an unlimited number of waivers to modify applicable development standards. Incentives typically involve financial measures or changes in use intended to achieve identifiable and actual cost reductions for a project and modification of development standards. Waivers typically involve reducing site development standards or modifying zoning code or architectural design requirements to accommodate the project. In this case, the applicant has thus far requested three waivers as described above. 

Residential Requirements in Commercial/Mixed Use Districts.

The Planned Commercial zoning district does not establish a maximum floor area ratio, while residential density and development standards are established by Section 22.12.040, Table 2-8 of the Development Code. As proposed, the proposed ten residential units would result in a density of 30 units per acre before the density bonus and 54.51 units per acre with the density bonus, where the Marin County Code Section 22.32.150(A)(4) allows a maximum residential density of one unit per 1,450 square feet of lot area (or 30 units per acre). 

Project Setting

The approximately 0.6-acre vacant site is within a mixed-use development known as the Howard Johnson's Master Plan area, which was adopted on September 29, 1960. The Howard Johnson's Master Plan is subdivided into five small lots, with each lot designated for a specific use. The Master Plan designated the project site as a gasoline service station and was used by Exxon as a gas station until 1994. In 1996, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a letter confirming the completion of site clean-up and remedial actions for the underground fuel storage tanks. The Howard Johnson's Master Plan has been amended over the years, and the most recent amendment occurred on December 14, 2021, when the Board of Supervisors amended it to allow a mixed-use development and approved a two-story, apartment building consisting of 10 residential units, 11 extended hotel rooms, 20 on-site parking spaces, common areas, and other improvements. 

Regulatory Requirements

The Countywide Plan

The Countywide (CWP) is the governing general plan for the unincorporated areas of the County and establishes goals, policies, and programs that govern existing and future land uses and developments. The CWP also includes adopted community area plans as they pertain to specific unincorporated communities.  The Community Development (Chapter 3.4) and Planning Areas (Chapter 3.12) sections of the CWP together form the Land Use Element of the CWP. The CWP designates the subject site with a land use designation as General Commercial/Mixed-Use (GC).  Under the Countywide Plan, the development limit on the site is expressed in terms of FAR, with a range of 0.05 to 0.35 percent. 

Tamalpais Area Community Plan 

The project site is in the Tamalpais Area Community Plan, which specifies that projects within the planning area are subject to the policies and development standards contained in the CWP and development code. The Tamalpais Area Community Plan designates the project site as Multiple Residential-Visitor Commercial (MRVC) land use, which allows both commercial and multi-family housing development. The Tamalpais Area Community Plan declares that “multiple family housing is an appropriate and acceptable use within [MRVC] land use designation.” (Page 86) 

Development Code 

The subject property is currently zoned Planned Commercial (CP), which allows mixed-use and multi-family affordable housing development subject to the Design Review process. Moreover, market-rate multi-family housing development is also permitted as long as it is an accessory to the primary commercial use, while entirely income-restricted developments are principally permitted uses. THE CP zoning district permits 30 dwelling units per acre.
Senate Bill 330.

The application is submitted under Senate Bill (SB 330), added Government Code section 65941.1, which mandates the zoning, design, subdivision, and fee requirements that will apply to the housing development project throughout the review and entitlement process will be based on the date that the application was submitted, which is November 23, 2024.

Zoning: Planned Commercial (CP) 
Countywide Plan Designation: General Commercial (GC)
Community Plan: Tamalpais Community Plan