Sarah Jones, Marin County's director of the Community Development Agency, told the Planning Commission on March 24 that the department's proposed annual work program must be narrowed and prioritized because current staffing and fee-cost recovery structures do not support the full set of initiatives the public and board have requested.

Jones said CDA conducts an annual work program that focuses on policy initiatives and projects rather than permitting or entitlement review. "We do a work program annually," Jones said, and recent budget analysis showed the planning division accounts for roughly $5.5 million of CDA expenditures and carries a low cost-recovery target (about 50 percent) that limits capacity for policy work. She told commissioners that the department estimates roughly 15 staff are available for discretionary policy initiatives but that the full list of potential initiatives would require about 23 additional FTE.

That gap, Jones said, means choices: "Ultimately, the work program that we recommend to the board is going to have some tradeoffs, with needing some more resources, maybe pulling back on some efforts, more likely a combination." The presentation identified three goal areas for the work program: proactively supporting communities through change; responding to critical needs; and undertaking mandated initiatives tied to the county budget and the housing element.

On specific items, Jones said CDA will continue implementation work on the housing element and flagged several priorities for the commission's input: renewed, more focused attention on housing solutions for West Marin ranches; advancing septic regulation work and community wastewater systems with Woodacre rising to the top of proposed pilot sites; and limited, targeted adjustments (not a major overhaul) to the San Geronimo stream ordinance. Jones also recommended strengthening CDA communications capacity to improve public engagement and to better match resources to board priorities.

Commissioners pressed staff on cross-agency coordination. In response to questions about transportation modeling and vehicle miles traveled rules, Jones said CDA coordinates review of traffic and safety with the Department of Public Works and that VMT is a CEQA significance metric rather than a complete replacement for traffic- or safety-related review. On other timing questions, staff said the county will present an annual housing-element performance report to the Board of Supervisors the following day and that some housing-element implementation efforts are already underway.

Jones said CDA intends to pursue an organizational assessment and fee-recovery review to align staffing with the department's prioritized work. "We need to take a really close look at how we're funded and what our fee cost recovery is, and also more broadly have a strategic plan for the agency," she said.

The Planning Commission did not take formal action on the CDA work program at the March 24 meeting; commissioners asked staff for additional details and signaled they will provide input as CDA prepares a recommended package to the Board of Supervisors.

Ending: Staff asked for the commission's input and said the department would return with adjusted materials and analyses as part of budget and work-program planning.