Corte Madera Council Upholds Planning Commission Approval of 99‑Unit Tamal Vista Affordable Housing Project

The Corte Madera Town Council on Wednesday denied an appeal and upheld the planning commission’s decision to approve a six‑story, 99‑unit affordable housing development at 240 Tamal Vista Boulevard.

The appeal was filed May 2 on behalf of 91 neighbors; the planning commission approved the developer’s design review on April 22 by a 3–2 vote. After a multihour hearing that featured staff presentations, testimony from fire and traffic experts, a five‑minute rebuttal period for the appellant and applicant, and more than two dozen public comments, the council voted 4–0 (one member recused) to deny the appeal and approve a draft resolution upholding the commission.

Why it matters: staff said the project implements Corte Madera’s recently adopted housing element and takes advantage of state housing laws that limit local discretion for qualifying affordable projects. Those laws — including Senate Bill 330 and California’s density‑bonus statutes — narrow the grounds on which the town may deny or condition such developments and, staff warned, expose the town to statutory penalties and litigation if it improperly rejects qualifying projects.

Town staff framed the council’s role as a narrow review of whether the planning commission’s findings were erroneous or unsupported by the record. Amy Ackerman, the town attorney, told the council the Fair Political Practices Commission advised that Council Member Eli Beckman had a potential conflict of interest and recused himself because he leases a unit within 500 feet of the project. Ackerman summarized the controlling legal standard: to deny or materially alter approval the council must make a written finding, supported by a preponderance of evidence, that the project would cause a "specific, adverse impact" on public health or safety and that no feasible mitigation exists.

Staff presentation and project details

Amy Lyle, community development director, and Martha Battaglia, senior planner, led the staff briefing. They described the proposal as a roughly 226,000‑square‑foot building on a 1.57‑acre site that would…