GPAC recommends reclassifying small hillside parcels and enacting hillside development ordinance

The General Plan Advisory Committee voted July 9 to recommend that the town amend land-use designations on R1 parcels smaller than 1 acre from Very Low Density (VLD) or Single Family Conservation (SFC) to Single Family (SF) and to concurrently enact a hillside development ordinance.

The change is intended to fix inconsistencies between San Anselmo’s general plan land-use map and its zoning map and to reduce the town’s exposure to legal challenges under state law, including SB 330. Lindsay (planning staff) told the committee that “the general plan land use map and the zoning map should match, according to state law.” Emily Longfellow, town attorney, warned that SB 330 (adopted February 2019) effectively prohibits downzoning without compensating upzoning elsewhere and said leaving the maps inconsistent could lead developers to claim the more permissive standard.

Why it matters: State law requires consistency between a jurisdiction’s general plan and zoning maps; where the two conflict, courts and state guidance increasingly favor allowing the more permissive outcome. The committee was presented two staff solutions: (1) change the land uses to match current zoning and pair that with a hillside development ordinance to maintain design and safety protections;…