4th and Grand Apartments

The Planning Division has received a letter of intent and pre-application pursuant to Senate Bill 35 (“SB 35”) for a new six story multifamily residential building with 35 residential units. The project proposes to demolish all existing buildings on the site and to merge the three existing parcels into one parcel.

SB 35 took effect on January 1, 2018 and it requires that development applications meeting certain criteria must be subject to a streamlined, ministerial approval process. This criteria includes providing a certain amount of affordable housing, paying prevailing wages to construction workers, and complying with objective development standards. For San Rafael, at least ten percent (10%) of the units of a SB 35 project must be provided as Below Market Rate Units affordable to low income households.

In order to pursue an SB 35 application, an applicant must first submit a formal letter of intent that includes: 1) location of project; 2) brief project description; and 3) statement of intent to submit an SB 35 application. A letter of intent will trigger the City’s requirement to commence the tribal scoping process in accordance with AB 168 , which took effect on September 25, 2021. AB 168 modified SB 35 to require consultation with interested and affected Native American tribes for all SB 35 projects. That consultation process will identify whether there are any significant tribal cultural resources or tribal sacred landscapes that could be impacted by the proposed project. If cultural resources could be affected by a proposed development, a mutually agreeable and enforceable agreement between the developer and the tribe must be documented that avoids or addresses impacts to tribal cultural resources. If such an agreement cannot be reached, the project is not eligible for SB 35.

The City is currently conducting the tribal consultation process with an affected Native American tribe for this project.