Editorial: Ensure state’s land gift results in needed affordable housing

For many years, local school districts have talked about the need for affordable housing for teachers; a way to recruit instructors and to help keep them from being enticed to leave for much shorter commutes.

But the opportunities to fulfill that goal have been in short supply, hampered by financing and having difficulty finding sites that weren’t going to be uphill political battles.

The state is trying to help resolve both, advancing a plan to build a 135-unit apartment complex on state-owned land situated between San Quentin State Prison and Larkspur Landing.

Most of the units – 101 apartments – will be reserved for local school teachers and workers. Thirty-four will be reserved for county workers, picked by a lottery.

Another 115-unit apartment complex will be built next door – also on state land – by Eden Housing, a Bay Area-based affordable housing nonprofit. It will be open to all applicants.

The state making the land available for free is critical to the ability to provide them at affordable rents. Its funding for construction will also make this opportunity a reality. The state land also put the state in charge of the planning process, shifting the needed approvals away from Marin’s no-growth politics.

The larger of the two projects – Village at Oak Hill – will be overseen by a new public joint-powers agency involving the Marin County Office of Education, the county and a nonprofit,  Education Housing Partners, which was formed in 2004 by Mill Valley-based developer Thompson Dorfman Partners. It has built projects in San Mateo, Redwood City and Santa Clara that have provided affordable housing for educators.

The Larkspur development is being reviewed in an environmental impact report and its supporters hope construction can begin by the end of 2023.

The lack of affordable housing in our high-priced county is often cited as a significant hurdle for attracting job applicants and losing teachers to districts in other counties where their commute would not be as far from where they can afford to live.

The county schools office says a countywide survey shows that 78% of local school teachers and workers commute to their jobs from outside of Marin.

The professional and personal conclusion to want to work closer to your home is understandable. Gasoline prices of $5 or $6 per gallon will likely lead more educators to make that decision.

The quandary has left local districts with troubles filling vacancies, retaining workers and facing increased pressure to increase wages and benefits – a long-term financial commitment.

The same goes for other public employers.

From an environmental point of view, having workers make long commutes contributes to traffic congestion and pollution.

Mary Jane Burke, the county superintendent of schools, hopes the joint-powers group can be used to build teacher housing in other parts of the county, mentioning the neighborhood of Novato’s Indian Valley campus of College of Marin as a possible site.

While Oak Hill’s neighbors aren’t opposed to building on the 8-acre site off Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, they have voiced concerns that the development may be too large.

The findings of the EIR, particularly its evaluation of traffic safety, will test the proposed size.

Marin’s state lawmakers – currently, state Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Marc Levine – need to stay involved to make sure that process is complete, open and fair. It should be a prime example of good planning, one that can set the stage for other similar projects.

But there appears to be political momentum in support of the project’s goal.

Dorfman estimates that the doors of these apartments could be open and ready for occupancy in late 2025.

This project is a possible answer to an important need that local school districts have faced, without a viable solution, for many years.