Demolition is on hold at a controversial housing site in Marin City where developers plan to construct a five-story, 74-apartment building.
Work at 825 Drake Ave. began Tuesday but was quickly challenged by the community group Save Our City, which is working to stop the project.
The developers, Pacific West Communities and Affordable Housing Land Consultants, reached a stipulated agreement with the group Thursday to limit further work prior to a hearing on the activists’ request for a preliminary injunction.
Save Our City is led by Bettie Hodges, a founder of the Marin City Community Development Corp., and Marilyn Mackel, a board member. The group filed a lawsuit May 18 seeking a temporary restraining order to halt the project. Thursday’s court hearing was scheduled before the demolition work took place.
“Save Our City believed they had an understanding that the developer would not begin demolition,” said Joshua Steinberger, a spokesperson for the group. “This feels like a breach of that good faith understanding between them.”
Caleb Roope, chief executive officer of Pacific West Communities, was traveling and could not be reached for comment.
Sarah Jones, director of the Marin County Community Development Agency, said demolition and building permits for the project were issued May 26.
“There wasn’t any requirement that they notify the county per se before initiating the demolition,” Jones said.
Nevertheless, Jones said planning staff learned of the demolition in advance because the developer contacted the county over problems meeting a requirement that he provide prior notice to tribal organizations.
Tribal notification was a federal requirement triggered by the project’s plan to use federal housing vouchers.
The demolition work this week included the removal of vegetation and a modular trailer most recently occupied by the Hannah Project for Academic Achievement, an education and cultural organization. The Village Baptist Church, which once occupied the site, was destroyed by fire in October 1999.
The stipulated agreement limits work at the site to land clearing and site cleanup for the immediate future. No excavation or foundation work is permitted until the court rules on Save Our City’s request for a preliminary injunction.
Save Our City had sought to block the issuance of bonds needed to finance the project by the California Municipal Finance Authority, but that has already taken place. The stipulated agreement, however, also prevents the authority from conveying any proceeds of the bond issue unless the court denies the preliminary injunction.
Save Our City and other opponents of the project have criticized Marin County supervisors for previously approving issuance of the bonds. Supervisors Stephanie Moulton-Peters and Eric Lucan cast dissenting votes.
The supervisors’ consent was required because under federal law governing tax-exempt financing, a government whose territory includes the location of the project had to approve the bonds.
The three supervisors who voted to approve the bonds said they lacked the legal grounds to do otherwise. They said Senate Bill 35 had tied their hands.
Because of SB 35, the project, which is in unincorporated Marin, is exempt from local zoning laws and review by the county Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. It also does not have to conform with the California Environmental Quality Act.
The project has faced fierce opposition from some Marin City residents concerned about the effects on traffic, a shortage of parking in the area and the project’s proximity to Village Oduduwa, a low-income seniors complex.
The project calls for just 24 new parking spaces. Under SB 35, the developer is not required to provide any parking because the site is within a half-mile of a bus stop. If the project didn’t qualify for special treatment under SB 35, the county would require two parking spaces per apartment.
Concerns have also been raised about evacuations when the area floods, and some Marin City residents feel their community already accounts for more than its share of the county’s low-income housing.
“For over 80 years, the black residents of the Marin City community have battled against power, money and politics from outside high-stake developers, influencers, challengers and infringements to control our destiny,” Felecia Gaston, a member of Save Our City, wrote in an email.
After intense lobbying by local government officials following the supervisors’ vote, Roope signed an agreement with the county that guarantees more parking for the project and could result in more substantial changes in size and scope.
The agreement signed by Roope on April 30 commits his company to providing at least one parking space per apartment, and to “make every reasonable effort to reduce the size of the project.”
Furthermore, Roope has pledged to donate his entire $2.5 million development profit to underwrite local projects in the Marin City community.
“The discussions with the 825 Drake developers continue to be guided by our April letter agreement,” Marin County Administrator Matthew Hymel wrote in an email Friday. “Mr. Roope has committed to investigating a reduced project size and scope and aesthetic improvements to the project to be discussed with the county prior to starting construction.”
Moulton-Peters said she “was not aware that demolition work was going to take place.”
“I am going to work with county staff to provide information to the community in advance about work planned at 825 Drake,” she said.