After heated hearing, Marin supervisors approve Upper Bay Road permanent road division

Marin County supervisors voted June 23 to form the Upper Bay Permanent Road Division (PRD), authorizing a process that can lead to a special tax to fund repaving and ongoing maintenance for the non‑county‑maintained portion of Upper Bay Road in Tam Valley.

DPW staff described the petition boundary, explained that petitioners had obtained signatures from roughly 73% of affected landowners and noted that state Streets and Highways Code governs PRD formation and subsequent steps (including a later petition and an election if a special tax is proposed). County counsel said the board has discretion to approve formation and that proportionality case law does not automatically apply to the next stages of a PRD special‑tax proposal.

Several longtime residents and property owners spoke for the formation, citing decades of failed voluntary repairs, deteriorated pavement since the last professional paving in 1984 and safety and infrastructure concerns for sewer, gas and water lines beneath the road. "The road hasn't been properly repaved in over four decades. It's a clear safety hazard," said Ted Leeser, co‑chair of the PRD advisory committee.

Two property owners objected, seeking either exclusion or a proportional assessment. They argued their physical use of the short lower section of the roughly 700‑foot dead‑end road was minimal compared with uphill neighbors, and they cited Civil Code provisions and Proposition 218 principles that charges must reflect special benefit. "Prop 218 says the county has to show the charge to each property must match the actual benefit it receives," one objector said.

County counsel and staff answered procedural questions about next steps: if the PRD is formed, petitioners would later present a proposed project and an associated special‑tax proposal tied to specific costs, and any tax would require the two‑thirds vote under Proposition 218. Staff said most PRDs use a uniform rate for developed parcels (with reduced rates for undeveloped parcels), though code provides mechanisms—like zones of benefit—to tailor assessments.

After discussion, supervisors voted to form the PRD with the petition boundaries; staff and petitioners will proceed to the next steps where project scope, estimated costs and any proposed tax methodology will be set and submitted for the required voter approval for a special tax.

The vote does not itself levy a tax; it establishes the district and clears the way for a follow‑up process that will include further public hearings and, if a tax is proposed, an election.