Frequently Asked Questions

On January 9, 2025, the National Park Service, Resource Renewal Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watersheds Project, the Point Reyes Seashore Ranching Association, and other Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) ranchers, reached an agreement to settle a decades-long land-use conflict over the future of dairying, cattle ranching and wildlife management at Point Reyes National Seashore. The settlement is based on the decisions of 11 multi-generational family lessees to retire their 12 ranching operations on the National Seashore in exchange for compensation from The Nature Conservancy. In response to these decisions, the National Park Service determined it was appropriate to issue a Revised Record of Decision on its general management plan amendment which affects 28,000 acres of former and current ranch and dairy lands in Point Reyes and the north district of Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). Under the revised management plan, NPS will rezone approximately 16,000 acres of former agricultural lands into a Scenic Landscape zone, which prioritizes resource conservation activities. Under the revised plan, tule elk will be allowed to generally roam freely within the National Seashore and expand their numbers without a population cap.

The settlement resolves a long-standing and complex conflict at Point Reyes that created an untenable situation. Multi-generational family ranchers regularly voiced concern about the constant challenges and uncertainty surrounding their leases, which impacted the viability of their family operations. Environmentalists pointed to the impacts of agricultural leasing on wildlife management and the protection of the park’s natural resources. Concerns over environmental degradation led the Resource Renewal Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, and Western Watersheds Project to file lawsuits against the National Park Service in 2016 and 2022. Numerous ranchers then intervened in the litigation to help the National Park Service defend the General Management Plan EIS and Record of Decision. During the summer of 2022, the parties to the litigation agreed to enter into mediation to seek an acceptable solution that acknowledges the legacy of agriculture in the Seashore and establishes a plan to support departing lessees, their ranch workers and their families, while ensuring the protection of the Seashore’s natural and cultural resources in the long term.  

As part of this settlement: 

• 11 lessees who currently operate 12 organic dairies or cattle ranches within the Point Reyes National Seashore will receive compensation payments as part of their agreement to end their operations and transition off the Seashore.
• Nine ranches will continue at PRNS and Golden Gate National Recreation Area: Seven historic ranches in the north district of GGNRA will receive new 20-year leases to support viable agricultural operations with continued protection of park natural and cultural resources, and the NPS will negotiate long-term leases for two ranching operations within the Point Reyes National Seashore.
• The departing lessees will have approximately 15 months from the signing of the agreement to complete the wind-down of their operations on the Seashore and move off the land.
• The Nature Conservancy will collaborate with the National Park Service through an agreement to mutually support and share resources to promote conservation activities on the vacated lease areas. Both entities are interested in using the best available science, traditional ecological knowledge through consultation with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and an array of management tools to pursue park natural and cultural resource objectives.      
• A tenant and employee transition support plan is well into development and financial resources have been secured to proactively support finding employment and housing alternatives for the employees and tenants of the departing ranchers residing at Point Reyes.

Marin County was not a party to the Point Reyes National Seashore litigation and could not have played any role in the final settlement. Though located within Marin County boundaries, Point Reyes National Seashore is under the jurisdiction of the federal government. The lawsuit brought by environmentalist groups (Resource Renewal Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, and Western Watersheds Project) was made against the National Park Service and the Point Reyes Seashore Ranchers Association (12 of the families operating ranches on the Seashore).

In the aftermath of the settlement, Marin County’s urgent goal is to lessen the negative consequences of the settlement on the ranch tenants and the County as a whole. The impacts are complex and will be long-lasting. The settlement directly affects the ranch families as well as the tenants living on the ranch lands who are losing their housing. The settlement impacts the need for housing in West Marin, the loss of agriculture as an economic driver in the region, schools, and more. 

• Ranch families party to the settlement: each of the 12 ranch families have entered into individual, privately negotiated settlement agreements that include compensation. It is the County’s understanding that some ranchers are choosing to retire, while others are looking into moving their operations to other locations within and outside of Marin, likely taking their workforce with them.
• Ranch tenants living on settlement affected ranch lands: The Nature Conservancy (TNC), which helped broker the final settlement, has developed a transition support plan that includes funding for each household living on the ranches, whether or not those tenants are ranch workers. To ensure equitable distribution, the funding is formula-based dependent on household size. In addition, TNC has engaged professional services for relocation support, Associated Right of Way Services, and partnered with local nonprofit, West Marin Community Services, to facilitate delivery of support services..

Upon learning about the settlement, the County immediately created a cross-department working group to connect those directly affected by the settlement to existing or new County services. The needs range from:

• Immediate housing alternatives
• Access to healthcare
• Services for those with accessibility needs
• Immigration services

Four working groups are now coordinating overall Countywide efforts: 

• Housing - intermediate and permanent solutions
• Transition and Stability - ensuring access to critical resources that foster stability and promote long-term resilience of West Marin residents
• Agriculture and Economic Development (economic development and vitality of the ag industry sector). 

Funding – coordinated by The Nature Conservancy to support the housing needs of ranch tenants

The Nature Conservancy is raising funds to assist ranch families and tenants, some of whom are losing their jobs and their housing. The Nature Conservancy is contracting with a West Marin Community Services and Associated Right of Way Services that are in direct contact with the affected tenants to learn about their needs, which range from housing and employment resources to logistical issues of having to move. There are 26 known households encompassing 89 individuals living on the settlement affected ranches. While the above partnership has taken the lead on communication with the affected households, the County has established a hotline and email to provide a direct line of contact for the ranch tenants and workers. 

In addition to tenants on the settlement affected ranches, the County is also including the needs of other West Marin ranch tenants in the development of transition and stability programs and initiatives.

The County has approved about $15 million to purchase and help rehabilitate the former Coast Guard housing in Point Reyes. The former Coast Guard housing is being developed into 54 rental residences, which contain a total of 134 bedrooms. 

The County purchased the property from the federal government in 2018 and is selling it to the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin (CLAM) and Eden Housing, an affordable housing developer, for just $1. The county’s recent $9.4 million allocation is coming from two sources: the county’s housing trust and proceeds from Measure W, which increased the transient occupancy tax that visitors to West Marin must pay. Half of Measure W funds go to support long-term housing. The County will front the dollars with the housing trust dollars and then pay the housing trust back over the next five years.

We do not yet know when the first units are expected to be ready for move-in. 

It is hoped that the majority of those who will live in the rental units will come from the immediate area; however, federal laws require that a lottery be used to determine who gets to live there. The developer will be conducting outreach to those in West Marin in the most need of housing to encourage them to apply.

The County’s goal is to make the rental homes affordable to people earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area median income. That equates to a household income between $58,740 and $117,480 for a household of four.

No. Marin County's Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) in the unincorporated areas only is 3,569 units, with the County's goals broken down as follows:

• 1,100 units (37%) for households earning a very-low income and under
• 634 units (14%) for households earning a low-income
• 512 units (18%) for households earning a moderate-income
• 1,323 units (31%) for households earning an above moderate-income

The Coast Guard site was constructed with no wastewater treatment facility and wells on the site are used for public drinking water. Addressing both issues has required significant funding, coordination and time.

Homelessness continues to be an important issue in Marin County as evidenced by the continued inflow of individuals and families into homelessness, the persistence of street homelessness and encampments, substandard living conditions on farms and ranches and most recently the displacement of residents at the Point Reyes National Seashore. 

Further tools are needed to reduce hurdles to create temporary emergency shelter. The measures being implemented will remove regulatory barriers to emergency shelter and expand the ways the County can implement interim measures that improve conditions for unhoused or underhoused individuals during the time it takes to pursue permanent solutions. Specifically, it will allow the County to permit dwelling types that are not on a permanent foundation, which normally are not allowed.  These are more feasible solutions than traditional permanent housing. 

The County of Marin supports improved living conditions for residents of unsafe or unhealthy housing through innovative, comprehensive policy development, aggressive planning support and service delivery, and partnering with community organizations.   The goal is for all Marin residents to be in permanent housing.  As an emergency measure  for people who are currently unhoused or living in unsafe living conditions the County is seeking ways to make it possible for safe and healthy emergency solutions to be put in place.

The shelter crisis designation is an enabling policy; there are no funds tied to this specific action to build temporary emergency shelters or emergency housing units, and the declaration would apply only to the unincorporated areas of Marin County, not to the 11 incorporated cities and towns. 

The Declaration and associated code changes will immediately reduce the barriers to developing emergency shelter facilities. Specifically, the Shelter Crisis legislation establishes that during the declared shelter crisis, emergency shelter established on property owned or leased by the County is not required to comply with local permitting procedures or with state housing, health, habitability, planning and zoning, or safety standards, with the adoption of health and safety standards for emergency shelter. 

The required standards would be incorporated into the County’s building code and can be put into use to permit new dwelling types like mobile homes or portable cabins.  Dwellings that are not on a permanent foundation can’t be permitted at this time, so the ordinance will allow for easier, less expensive ways to provide shelter where it is allowed under zoning.  The Board adopted an urgency ordinance to amend the building code so this mechanism became available immediately. 

A further benefit on County property is that projects would not need to meet planning and zoning requirements, opening up possibilities for shelter solutions that would not be allowed otherwise.  Since in some cases establishment of emergency shelter would be precluded or affected by compliance with planning, zoning and building laws, this measure in the Shelter Crisis legislation can expand the possibilities for potential shelter solutions for unhoused and underhoused county residents, especially on County-owned or -leased land. 

The changes to the building code would create the possibility for private property owners to legally establish low barrier living arrangements on their properties such as relocatable cabins, mobile homes, or other facilities without a permanent foundation.  While in many cases extra dwellings can be entitled on private property under planning and zoning laws, in the form of an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), agricultural worker or caretaker housing, or other similar measure, such accommodations must be on a permanent foundation with connections to utilities or permitted onsite water and wastewater systems.  As a result, the Community Development Agency is unable to permit less expensive relocatable solutions even where they are allowed under zoning.  Amending the building code opens up possibilities for willing property owners to establish an expanded range of dwelling options on their properties, helping mitigate the consequences of Marin County’s shelter crisis.

The crisis designation allows for the bypassing of land use regulations such as zoning density, coastal development permit or use permit requirements, or environmental review but would only be available on lands owned or leased by the County, and only for shelter in operation during the declared crisis period.  The County is not pursuing or contemplating any such projects.  On private property all zoning and other planning requirements would apply, but an expanded range of housing types could be made available.

This is a tool that may be used to help address immediate emergency shelter needs of residents impacted by the Point Reyes National Seashore settlement, however the shelter crisis declaration and related urgency ordinance are not specific to nor a direct result from the settlement action.

Since no projects are planned or funded at this time it will be some time before this declaration will result in a clearly apparent change.  The most likely initial use of the new regulations would be on private property for a small number of units.  Some solutions might serve current residents of substandard housing, which is a less visible and apparent form of the homelessness crisis.

Since 2017, the County has  housed 819 chronically homeless individuals through permanent supportive housing and connected 1,423 additional individuals to housing through strategies such as Rapid Rehousing since 2017.  Additionally, the County has engaged in the construction or renovation of five properties through the State Homekey Program leading to the development of 151 units of permanent supportive housing. The County has also sheltered 2,596 individuals and provided transitional housing to 318 individuals,

Although these accomplishments are significant and position Marin as a leader in addressing homelessness, these shelter and housing resources are not adequate to keep up with the immediate needs of the homeless population.  The results of the 2024 Point-In-Time Count were released on May 20, 2024; it found that, on any given night, there are 1,090 persons within the County experiencing homelessness, with 788 of those living on the street.

The designation will be in effect for three years with the option to renew it prior to the designation ending.