Tiburon presses on with housing, zoning for Paradise Drive site

Tiburon is moving full-steam ahead with plans to keep a controversial Paradise Drive property in its eight-year housing plan, putting pressure on neighbors who’ve already filed a lawsuit to stop it.

Just a week after state reviewers rejected Tiburon’s 2023-2031 housing element for the third time, Town Hall on Aug. 8 released revisions intended to address reviewers’ concerns about sewer service, water access for residents and first responders and how two seasonal streams might limit potential construction at 4576 Paradise Drive, above Paradise Cay.

Those revisions — which don’t include housing-site changes preferred by neighbors — head to the Planning Commission for review tonight, Aug. 23. They’ll go to the Town Council for adoption as early as Sept. 6 and then back to the state Housing and Community Development Department for another 60-day review.

The state’s three-page review letter July 28 also noted the property must be rezoned by Jan. 31, a process Tiburon had already begun.

On Aug. 10, the Design Review Board held the first of several public hearings to help the town’s housing consultants’ draft objective standards and zoning requirements for multifamily hillside properties. For now, those rules would apply to two vacant lots in the housing element that haven’t yet been rezoned: The 9.6-acre Paradise Drive property, which the town says can accommodate 93 market-rate units at 10-12.4 units per acre, and a 2.8-acre plot at Reed Elementary School, which the town says can accommodate 58 affordable workforce units at 20-25 units per acre.

For the complete story, pick up this week's edition of The Ark on newsstands or SUBSCRIBE NOW for home delivery and our e-edition.