Denis Hemmerle is the developer of the proposed Posada del Sal, a solar powered complex that would provide 281 housing units for the elderly. He is currently involved in a law suit with the city of San Rafael over the rezoning of his proper­ty on San Rafael Hill. Hemmerle, who lives in Sausalito. is also president of the University for Advan­ced Studies in San An­selmo.

How San Rafael stifles housing

 

By Denis Hemmerle

 

IN 1975, SAN RAFAEL HAD A HOUSED POPULATION OF ABOUT 45,000 PEOPLE which meant it contained about 22 percent of Marin County’s population at that time. In 1980. San Rafael has a housed population of about 43,000 people which means it contains about 19 percent of Marin County’s population. In the past six years San Rafael has constructed a low share of housing units built in Marin and a high share of commercial and public building construction in Marin.

 

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                           San Rafael’s                     San Rafael’s

                           percentage of                   percentage of

                           housing units                    commercial and

                           built in Maria.                  public building
                                                                        construction in
                                                                        Marin.

 

Year 1975                    8%                                           20%
        1976                    4%                                           20%
        1977                    5%                                           21%
        1978                    5%                                           24%
        1979                    19%                                         32%
        1980                    5% (est.)                                  30% (est.)

6 year average           8%                                           25%

 

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Commercial and public building construction creates jobs in San Rafael but the job holders must be housed outside of San Rafael.

 

 

SAN RAFAEL’S HOUSING PRACTICES ARE FOR­CING BOTH ITS OWN YOUNG AND ITS OWN OLD OUT OF SAN RAFAEL.

Because of San Rafael’s historic housing limitation practices (92 residential units built per year on the average for the past six years, for a city with a population of about 45.0001, San Rafael’s housed population has declined by about 2,000 people in the past six years. During this period San Rafael generated a substantial increase in its own population. but those persons had to find housing outside of San Rafael, mostly to the north.

Instead of zoning to provide sufficient housing units to meet San Rafael’s own population in­creases, San Rafael is presently in the process of downzoning its available residential land. As San Rafael’s population increase moves to the north along Highway 101, millions of unnecessary

miles are traveled, pollution is worsened, valuable resources are wasted. Thus San Rafael’s lack of planning forces longer commutes to places of em­ployment.

 

PRESENTLY IN SAN RAFAEL A ONE-ACRE SINGLE FAMILY LOT UNIMPROVED BUT READY TO BUILD ON COSTS ABOUT $75,000 TO $250,000. A builder will ordinarily construct a house which will sell for approximately $225,000 on a $75,000 lot and construct a house which will sell for approximately $600,000 on a $250,000 lot.

SAN RAFAEL HAS 1,367 UNDEVELOPED ACRES (ZONED RESIDENTIAL) WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS THAT ARE ON ONE ACRE OR MORE.

San Rafael is in the process of a series of housing limitation plans that would limit this urban infill to less than one housing unit per acre. Therefore, if San Rafael’s present housing limitation policies continue, urban infill will provide about 1,000 houses costing between $225,000 and $600,000 each. The average price will run $400,000. Very few houses costing $400,000 will be bought by present San Rafael residents.

San Rafael’s young people and old people will continue to be forced from San Rafael if such housing limitation policies continue.

SAN RAFAEL’S HOUSING CRISES HAS BEEN PRECIPITATED, IN LARGE PART, BY THE CITY’S REFUSAL TO ZONE A SUFFICIENT QUANTITY OF ITS 1,367 ACRES OF URBAN INFILL AT SUF­FICIENT DENSITIES TO PERMIT AFFORDABLE HOUSING TO BE BUILT. An affordable house can­not be built in San Rafael at densities of one unit per acre. But affordable single family attached houses can be factory built at densities of 10 units per acre. If built today such a unit could sell for $80,000 per unit in most locations.

It is possible, with most of the 1,367 Un­developed acres of urban infill left in San Rafael, to produce single family attached houses at 10 units per acre and leave 70 percent of the land as open space. Such an approach would benefit San Rafael’s own young and old in their quest for affor­dable housing and still provide environmental beauty.