Published by the Point Reyes Light with image created by David Briggs
The Bolinas Community Land Trust has scored some prime real estate on the Big Mesa, where it hopes to build up to eight new units of housing for farmworkers. With help from an anonymous donor, the trust this month acquired 20 acres of undeveloped land that border the Bolinas fire station.
The land is part of a nearly 70-acre property ranched by the Tacherra family for the better part of a century. A court-appointed receiver has been in control of that land since 2006, following a lawsuit filed by one brother in the family against another brother over alleged embezzlement.
The receiver, Stinson Beach resident Larry Baskin, made the decision to sell the 20-acre parcel to the land trust to help pay off remaining debts and tax liabilities. A Marin Superior Court judge approved the decision in October.
Mr. Baskin said he felt the land trust was uniquely positioned to make good use of the land, which is currently under a Williamson Act contract with the county. The state law provides relief from property taxes in exchange for rolling 10-year agreements to keep the land in agriculture.
“It was my hope that the trust will be able to make some provisions for low-income housing, coming up with something that will work well for the community and the land,” Mr. Baskin said.
Mr. Baskin also described the possibility of the trust exiting the Williamson Act contract—which seeks foremost to limit development—to better serve its goal of providing affordable housing. Such a decision would fall under the purview of the Board of Supervisors.
The trust’s executive director, Arianne Dar, emphasized that the project was in its early days and that there was much left to figure out.
Ms. Dar first announced the vision to create eight units of agricultural housing on the land in the Bolinas Hearsay News earlier this month. She wrote that such development was a contingency of the anonymous donor’s funds. The housing would likely be for local workers, though not necessarily for those whom the Tacherras employ.
“The BCLT had not planned to develop the Tacherra land but [has] been given this rare and exciting opportunity,” Ms. Dar wrote. “We hope to garner the support of the entire community and will seek to be as transparent about our process as we can be and intend also to be as communicative about the process as we can be.”
Speaking with the Light this month, she explained that the donor covered the cost of the land and will pay for its development. The trust will cover permitting and other pre-development expenses, for which Ms. Dar expects help from both the county and the Marin Community Foundation. Under the agreement with the donor, the trust has 18 months to complete the permitting process.
In the interim, Ms. Dar said Jim and Susan Tacherra, who live on the neighboring land and raise chickens, pigs and cattle, will continue to use the 20 acres for grazing. She also outlined the possibility that the couple would use the land even after the housing is built. (The Tacherras could not be reached for this story.)
Although the trust has widespread community support, it met some local opposition last summer after it announced plans to create low-income housing on two other properties on the Big Mesa.
A group of neighbors who called themselves MUSSEL—for Mesa United in Support of Solutions for Equitable Land use—expressed concerns about increased density and compliance with county development rules. They worried over the effects of more residents on the natural habitat, traffic congestion, water use, septic load, noise and more.
Polly Levin, who lives on Overlook and is a member of MUSSEL, has voiced her concerns. Ms. Levin describes herself as very supportive of housing for agricultural workers and affordable housing in general. But in her view, converting existing properties is far more preferable than new development. If the land trust is to undertake new construction, she emphasized the importance of doing so on land that is not suitable for other uses, such as agriculture or conservation.
Regarding the new project, she explained her concern about creating eight units tied to one water meter, which is all that is available for the 20 acres. “I think the for-profit developers are waiting in the wings,” she said. “What kind of precedent is this setting to break the water moratorium in Bolinas?”
Jennifer Blackman, the general manager of the Bolinas Community Public Utility District, has not been in contact with the trust about the plans, but said the general procedure is for developers to obtain county permits first. “Any project to develop the property that requires a water meter will be subject to our district’s rules and regulations,” Ms. Blackman assured.
She added that it is not uncommon for one connection to serve multiple users.
She pointed to the fact that the BCPUD adopted new policies last spring that streamlined the district’s approach to imposing water usage limits on connections, including how to address the biggest users and connections that have been out of commission while still honoring the water moratorium put in place in the early ‘70s.