Under pressure from no-growth groups such as Marin Against Density, the Larkspur City Council Wednesday night cut the number of units planned for the Bon Air Shopping Center.

The council voted 4-1 with Councilman Kevin Haroff dissenting to forward its updated housing element to the state for approval.

Haroff said he thought the council needed more time to weigh its options. “This is not a theoretical exercise,” he said.

But Councilwoman Catherine Way said the housing element is a conservative approach to meeting Larkspur’s future housing needs.

“In fact,” Way said, “I think we need to do a lot more.”

Councilman Dan Hillmer said the housing element “doesn’t take us into a universe of high-density development as many people fear.”

State law requires all Bay Area counties and municipalities to periodically update their housing elements to demonstrate that there are sufficient sites available for the jurisdiction to provide its fair share of regional housing needs. The housing elements must identify sites with appropriate zoning densities to meet the needs of all income levels.

While it must be demonstrated that these sites could reasonably be developed over the planning period, there is no requirement that the housing actually be built. Larkspur was required to plan for 382 units during the 2007-2014 period, but only 57 units were built over those seven years. During the 2015-2023 cycle, Larkspur must plan for just 132 new units, 40 of which must be affordable.

Traffic concerns

In its previous housing element, Larkspur designated Bon Air Shopping Center as a site capable of accommodating 90 housing units, 42 affordable to very low income households. For a family of four in Marin, that would mean an income of $56,550 or less. The housing element that Larkspur’s city council sent to the state for approval Wednesday night reduced that number to 40, with 20 being affordable to very low income households. The residential units would be located above existing commercial space.

For development opponents, traffic was a major concern voiced, along with the possibility of increased demand for water and additional children attending Larkspur schools.

“Traffic has caught up with us,” said Peter Orth, who wore one of MAD’s signature red T-shirts.

But Debbie Levy of Larkspur said, “For the most part, affordable housing in our area can help to reduce some of our traffic concerns. By making it possible for people who work here to live here, it goes a long way to cutting down traffic.”

Beverly Russell of Greenbrae said, so far “Water resources have not been part of the calculus,” when the state assigns housing targets to jurisdictions. But Russell said with the state facing a worsening drought that is likely to change. “It defies common sense that sustainable communities should not consider water resources,” she said.

The town’s planning staff told the council Wednesday night that there is no guarantee state housing officials will accept the housing element because it relies on the use of something known as the “default density standard.” If a jurisdiction zones a site for a certain minimum number of units per acre — the default density standard — those units are automatically judged as meeting the very low income requirement.

Suburban area

The density per acre varies depending on whether the jurisdiction is in a metropolitan, suburban or rural area. Legislation introduced by Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, and passed by the Legislature in 2014 switched Marin’s designation from a metropolitan area to a suburban area and thus reduced the minimum required from 30 units per acre to 20 units.

Nevertheless, Larkspur planning officials told the council it is uncertain if state housing officials will accept the application of the default density in its housing element since it involves “varying miscellaneous sites that are small in area and unconnected.”

Those opposing development also voiced concern that Bon Air developers might take advantage of the state’s density bonus law, which could grant developers a maximum 35 percent increase in densities if their projects contain specified amounts of low income or senior housing.

Neal Toft, Larkspur’s planning and building director, pointed out, however, that the city’s general plan already allows developers to take advantage of the density bonus law at Bon Air.

Councilwoman Way said, “Our housing element doesn’t rezone anything. We’re not changing densities.”