Bob Silvestri's Presentation March 20
- Details
- Category: Housing
- Created on 23 March 2013
The presentation Bob Silvestri gave at the Citizen Marin event on Wednesday, March 20 was significant for Marin, Novato, and Novato Community Alliance. Before the event occurred, it looked like protesters might disrupt Mr. Silvestri’s talk, but the police presence and the skillful moderating by Susan Kirsch and Toni Shroyer allowed the event to proceed in a productive manner. When the program began, many protesters came in and listened to the presentation.
In summary, Mr. Silvestri argued that local control, as opposed to state control, was best for helping local people in need. He argued that state enforced affordable housing mandates from ABAG and other state agencies mostly served to increase the wealth of developers and bankers without effectively solving the problem of providing affordable housing. Mr. Silvestri, as we understand it, will make part of his digital visual presentation (Powerpoint) available and we’ll post it on our website when he does.
To help our members learn more about the specifics of Mr. Silvestri’s speech, NCA offers these links to articles and videos.
The Marin IJ wrote an article called "Marin residents protest meeting in San Rafael on affordable housing developments."
The Novato Patch wrote an article called "Hundreds Turn Out for Controversial Affordable Housing Meeting."
There is a video of Mr. Silvestri’s talk, although the quality is poor.
We at our NCA table expressed our support for Novato’s Housing Element Draft that requests 20 units per acre, rather than our 'default' density of 30 units per acre.
Silvestri Speaking on Affordable Housing Challenges in Marin on March 20
- Details
- Category: Housing
- Created on 18 February 2013
Bob Silvestri will speak on "Planning and Affordable Housing Challenges in Marin" on March 20, 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Al Boro/Pickleweed Community Center at 50 Canal Street, San Rafael. The host of the town hall meeting is Citizen Marin, formerly known as the Marin Coalition of Communities for Local Control, a county-wide group.
His keynote speech will focus on affordable housing and the governmental agencies that mandate each community’s housing requirements.
An article at the Mill Valley Patch summarizes some of Silvestri’s major points:
- The agencies that dictate affordable housing demands are using outdated and inaccurate methodology.
- Silvestri cited one example of mismanagement by ABAG and MTC: despite the fact that the latest census showed Marin County to have stagnate growth during a booming economy, the agencies are still calling on a 10 percent growth for the next decade—and using those figures when creating affordable housing demands. … If the statistics are skewed, it derails the system.
- He said ABAG is ignoring the Department of Finance findings. "It’s problematic how these agencies are overreaching the interpretation of the laws."
The NCA urges you to attend this town hall.
Click here to download a flyer for the meeting.
Stellar Job by Novato Planning Staff in Answering SUNN
- Details
- Category: Housing
- Created on 12 December 2012
Pam Drew wrote an op-ed for the Novato Patch that describes the Novato Planning Staff's reply to SUNN's letter that demands 133 more affordable housing units be built in Novato. Fortunately, the Novato Planning Staff does not agree with SUNN's claims. Read Pam's op-ed here.
NCA Supports the Novato Draft Housing Element
- Details
- Category: Housing
- Created on 31 January 2013
Dear Novato Residents:
The executive board of Novato Community Alliance invites you to support a petition that says: "We the undersigned Novato residents support the City of Novato Draft Housing Element received for review by the Department of Housing and Community Development October 25, 2012."
To sign the petition, click here.
Novato is a suburban/rural community of 52,000+ residents. In 2012, Novato city planners submitted the Draft Housing Element for 2007 to 2014, to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) in Sacramento. This document describes how Novato will meet state mandated guidelines to provide land zoned for a diverse range of housing needs.
In order to comply with state regulations, Novato City Planners have zoned 20 units per acre for low income multifamily housing. Opponents from special interest groups believe that the 20 unit per acre designation is inadequate. They want to maintain a 30 unit per acre designation. 20 units per acre represents a designation of suburban while 30 units per acre represents a designation of metropolitan. Novato is a suburban/rural community.
We support the work of the Novato City Planning Department. We believe that the Draft Housing Element should be approved as it was written. We believe that a density of 20 units per acre for multifamily housing fits with the suburban /rural character of our city. If you agree, please sign our petition to let the City Council know what you think.
Novato Community Alliance is a grassroots neighborhood organization whose goals are to protect the quality of life in Novato through information, conversation and resident participation in the community and local government. Be heard and be informed. For more information on how to gather written signatures please contact NCA through the website.
SUNN Criticized Novato's Draft Housing Element BEFORE It Was Sent to the State
- Details
- Category: Housing
- Created on 23 October 2012
Stand Up for Neighborly Novato criticized Novato's Draft Housing Element BEFORE it was sent to the state. The letter of October 15th, 2012 simultaneously complained to the Novato Planning Commission and to Novato's housing element advisor, Melinda Coy, of the California Department of Housing and Community Development. See the cc at the end. Last year SUNN's founders waited at least until a day or two AFTER the Housing Working Group submitted its report of housing sites before they issued their highly critical minority report. See what they had to say then and compare the two.
For more discussion about the SUNN letter, read Brent Ainsworth's article on the Novato Patch.
More Articles...
