Moulton-Peters says term focuses will include combating sea-level rise and furthering affordable housing

Southern Marin Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters says she’ll prioritize combating sea-level rise, easing traffic congestion and coordinating affordable housing efforts across the county as she heads into an uncontested second term on the Board of Supervisors.

Moulton-Peters, 66, is running unopposed in the March 5 election to retain her seat representing District 3 — which includes Tiburon, Belvedere and Strawberry — on the five-member board. She said she’s looking forward to continuing the work she’s been doing for the past four years, after she was first elected to the seat in a three-way race in March 2020.

“I have a lot of initiatives and projects underway in Southern Marin, and I’m very passionate about seeing them through,” she said.

A native of Southern California, Moulton-Peters graduated from Stanford University with degrees in human biology and environmental policy. She and her husband, Roger Peters, have two adult sons. Before joining the board, she served more than a decade on the Mill Valley City Council, taking turns as mayor in 2010, 2014 and 2018.

She is also on the board of the Transportation Authority of Marin.

Moulton-Peters started her first term as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, noting that right away she was “really focused on the pandemic itself and just getting through that.”

She said otherwise her first term was largely focused on addressing equity and public-housing issues in Marin City.

She said she also focused a lot of her attention on efforts to clear Richardson Bay of anchor-out boats. Moulton-Peters represents the county on the Richardson Bay Regional Agency board of directors. Under a settlement agreement with the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the agency has agreed to clear all liveaboard boats off the anchorage by 2026. In 2022, the agency was awarded a $3-million state grant to fund a temporary one-year housing voucher program that would help anchor-outs find subsidized rentals onshore. She said the number of boats on the water has decreased from about 200 in 2016 to 40.

As she enters her second term, she said she wants to coordinate affordable-housing efforts throughout Southern Marin and the county to share best practices and “to help each other accomplish creating affordable housing in all of our communities in a way that is thoughtful, blends with our communities (and) creates those walkable, bikeable neighborhoods that we want.”

The county’s 2023-2031 housing plan, which was approved by the state of California in June, identifies about 150 sites across the county’s unincorporated areas where nearly 5,200 new housing units could be built over the next eight years, a 30% buffer over what’s required by the state in case future projects don’t materialize or develop fewer new units than expected. That includes six areas of Strawberry earmarked for 386 new units.

She cited plans to develop the former seminary site in Strawberry as a top issue in her upcoming term. Property owner North Coast Land Holdings’ plans to bring a 1,000-student commuter school, 336 units of housing and a 150-bed residential-care facility to the site were approved for environmental review in 2020; the environmental-impact report on the project is expected to be released to the public in the next couple of months.

The proposed development has long drawn the ire of the property’s neighbors, who say the plans are too dense.

Moulton-Peters said she will continue engaging with the Strawberry community to help them reach a consensus on a project that the developer and residents can agree on.

She also noted she’s been involved in conversations regarding housing elements in Belvedere and Tiburon, though those plans are governed by the City Council and Town Council, respectively.

She said she disagreed with Tiburon’s decision to include a controversial property above unincorporated Paradise Cay in its state-approved housing element. The site, at 4576 Paradise Drive, was rezoned to accommodate about 93 housing units, but residents in the area objected on traffic, safety and environmental concerns. A group calling itself the Committee for Tiburon has filed a lawsuit seeking to block implementation of the entire housing element and get the property removed as a housing option.

Moulton-Peters said while she has “great respect” for the council, she would have preferred to see the units allocated elsewhere, adding that multifamily housing in that location goes against best practices for planning and land use.

“Multifamily housing belongs in downtown areas and areas where there are services and transit,” she said.

Moulton-Peters said she plans to continue efforts she began in her first term to combat sea-level rise, pushing for a countywide solution to the issue rather than leaving cities to their own devices.

She notes Marin County conducted a vulnerability assessment about five years ago of all the bay coastlines in Marin.

“We know where the water is going to go over time, and the public and private infrastructure and properties that is going to impact,” she said.

The next step, she said, is developing an adaptation plan to find solutions to address rising sea levels. She said she anticipates that next month the county will award a contract to develop a strategy for that planning.

She said she’s also eagerly anticipating Caltrans’ planned repaving project on Tiburon Boulevard, which is slated to begin in 2026 and would span 4.5 miles from just outside Mill Valley city limits to the boulevard’s Main Street intersection in Tiburon. It would add bike lanes, update aging traffic infrastructure and build a concrete barrier near Greenwood Cove Drive and Cecilia Way to help control water levels amid rainfall, among other priorities.

She said she is also passionate about reducing traffic and increasing safety for children heading to school, noting she is a champion of the Safe Routes to School program.

She said school traffic contributes to a fair portion of the Tiburon Peninsula’s morning commute traffic. Walking and biking to school helps reduce congestion for everyone, she said. She said she thinks Caltrans’ planned project will increase safety for kids due to the planned added bike lanes, bulb outs and better signalization.

She also said she is currently working on creating walking paths to schools in Strawberry and hopes to focus in her next term on further advocating for age-friendly programming, including expanded transportation options for seniors and addressing issues like isolation and food insecurity.

Reach Belvedere, Strawberry and public-safety reporter Naomi Friedland at 415-944-4627.