Enact Regulations on Lot Splits - YES

This is—we hope—the final installment in an issue that's come before the Council multiple times over the past year.

When the state passed Senate Bill 9, or the "lot split bill," it gave owners of a single-family residential properties the right to split their lot in two, and then build up to two units on each of the resultant lots (with some limited exceptions). The law allowed cities to impose limited local regulations on these lot splits, but the wording of the law was vague and unclear, and our Town Attorney advised that Corte Madera should adopt interim regulations (which we first did last January) and then wait until the intent of the state law was flushed out in the courts before adopting permanent regulations.

Fast forward through a year in which the issue has been examined more closely through litigation, and our Town is finally ready to adopt permanent regulations. I voted to adopt common-sense regulations proposed by Town staff that use the authority allowed under state law to ensure any lot splits in Corte Madera are both safe and appropriate for the community, while respecting the letter and intent of the state law, and residents' associated right to create and develop a lot split.