Lucas Valley development pitch: 29 family homes, 29 ADUs

A developer has filed a preliminary application with Marin County to build 58 residences in Lucas Valley.

The proposal for 7 Mount Lassen Drive calls for the demolition of four, two-story office buildings on the 2.35-acre site. They would be replaced by 29 single-family homes, each with an accessory dwelling unit and a two-car garage.

Twelve of the family homes would be 1,826 square feet with three bedrooms. The other 17 would have four bedrooms and range from 2,725 square feet to 2,757 square feet.

The ADUs attached to the three-bedroom residences would be 261 square feet, while the ADUs attached to the four-bedroom residences would be 588 square feet.

In addition to the 58 parking spaces provided by the garages, the project would include 16 parking spaces distributed throughout the site.

The residences would all have three stories and would reach a maximum height of 42 feet from surrounding grade. Each would feature a roof deck.

The site is adjacent to Miller Creek and includes numerous mature trees.

“The initial concerns we have are the absence of a setback from Miller Creek and the roof decks that would impact the privacy for neighboring properties,” said Kelby Jones, one of the founding members of Lucas Valley for Responsible Growth.

“But on the positive side,” Jones said, “this proposal would deliver the number of units that are zoned for in the 2023 housing element, including 20% affordable units. And the 29 ADUs would provide potentially more affordable choices for housing in the community, which is all very positive.”

Marinwood resident Stephen Nestel, however, called the project another “overdense apartment building in a suburban neighborhood.”

“It offers little ‘affordable housing’ but will cram 29 homes on a small lot,” Nestel wrote in an email. “Sacramento’s ‘housing fix’ is ridiculous and only benefits developers.”

The site, which is among those upzoned for inclusion in the county’s new housing element, is zoned for 58 dwellings. Unlike many of the applicants who have filed with the county recently, the prospective developer of 7 Mount Lassen, Ciyavash Moazzami, is not planning to seek more homes by claiming a density bonus allowed under state law.

Moazzami is proposing that six of the single-family residences be priced to meet the classification of “affordable,” including one low-income household, three moderate-income households and two above-moderate-income households.

The low-income home would be affordable to a family of four earning between $87,500 and $140,000. The moderate-income homes would be priced to be affordable to a family of four earning between $140,001 and $210,000, and the above-moderate homes would be affordable to the same sized families earning between $210,001 and $262,500.

The county’s housing element, however, hopefully projected that all 58 residences would be priced to be affordable to lower-income families.

“That is not economically feasible,” said Moazzami, who grew up in Marin County. “We’re providing as much affordable housing as we can.”

Aline Tanielian, a county planner, said the “conceptual project as proposed does not currently meet the county inclusionary housing requirements for a 29-unit development.”

The county’s inclusionary housing regulation requires developers to make a certain percentage of their homes affordable.

“We kind of anticipated that there would be multifamily housing there,” Jones said. “They’re taking a novel approach, but it should deliver the number of units that it’s zoned for.”

The housing element included three Lucas Valley sites among its preferred sites for development. In addition to the Mount Lassen Drive site, the housing element assigned 80 homes for lower-income residents at 2 Jeannette Prandi Way near Marin County Juvenile Hall, and 26 homes for above-moderate-income residents at 1501 Lucas Valley Road.

When the housing element was being written, the Lucas Valley for Responsible Growth group said it believed the area’s infrastructure could safely integrate this level of growth, about a 25% increase in dwellings, and no more.

“The community generally has concerns about the traffic aspect,” Jones said. “We worry greatly about the congestion involved in an emergency evacuation, such as for a wildfire event.”

A developer has already submitted a plan to build 44 residences on the 61.3-acre site at 1501 Lucas Valley Road.

“So that particular location is not going in the direction we’d prefer,” Jones said.

For Moazzami, who has been a developer for the last 20 years, this will be his third project in Marin County.

Last year, working with Edge Development Group, Moazzami helped secure approvals from Larkspur to redevelop a site at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Estelle Avenue. The project calls for the partial replacement of two commercial buildings with five, three-story townhome buildings. The new buildings will house 16 market-rate homes, four affordable residences and 1,488 square feet of commercial space.

Also last year, working with Haven Development, Moazzami helped secure approvals to build 28 single-family homes at a site northeast of Lucas Valley Road and east of Las Gallinas Avenue. The project is being marketed as “Legacy in Lucas Valley.”

“We’re hoping to go vertical there in the next four weeks,” Moazzami said.