WHO IS SAVE OUR CITY?
AND WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP TO STOP 825
SAVE OUR CITY is a recently formed coalition of residents, allies, and activists who have come together because of our deep love for Marin City. Aligned with Golden Gate Village and other equity and social justice efforts, SAVE OUR CITY is intent on protecting the historical legacy, rich cultural diversity and environmental integrity of our beloved community whose viability is being threatened by an aging and neglected infrastructure, gentrification, and development pressures. The 825 Drake Project by design will exacerbate these threats and puts a nail in the coffin that will remove the black and low-income persons from Marin City and the county all together.
825 must be stopped.
What is the 825 Drake Project?
Approved in November 2020 without any consultation with Marin City residents or our governing body, the 825 Drake Project is a 5-story, 74-unit, 23-parking space proposed development located on the old Village Baptist Church property. The development will be comprised of 24 one bedroom, 42 two bedroom, and 8 three bedroom units that are scheduled to be affordable to very low and low income households. The plan was approved under California Senate Bill 35 ("SB35") which created a streamlined and ministerial approval process for certain housing projects in jurisdictions that have not met their Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) goals. The County of Marin is subject to SB35 because it did not issue sufficient building permits to meet its RHNA obligation for the most recent reporting period. The 825 Project would help the County of Marin satisfy all its RHNA low-income housing requirements and a little less than half of its very low-income housing obligations.
NOT NOW. NOT EVER - Why the community opposes 825.
The 825 Project is a massive, poorly conceived, unsafe, and dangerous 74 unit, 5 story, development that threatens to overwhelm the bucolic one acre 825 Drake site, and in the process, expedite the torrent of gentrification that will swallow up our tiny historically black community - all because our county leaders are comfortable stuffing “affordable” housing in our community and not theirs. The 825 Drake Project is a continuance of the paternalism, inequity and disregard for the interests and concerns of Marin City residents that have characterized the County’s relationship with the Marin City community for the past 80 years.
The construction of 825 Drake will overburden Marin City
Marin City occupies only .1% of the county’s land area but already holds 44% of the total Publicly Assisted Multi-Family Rental Units and 41% of the Affordable Housing Units that exist in Marin County. The development is a perversion of the SB35 legislation that should not be applied to our community.
THE 825 DEVELOPMENT IS DANGEROUS
The proposed development of 825 poses serious and dangerous threats to the well-being of Marin City’s children and families. It will block sunlight to seniors living in the Village Oduduwa complex. It will have a significant impact on the parking available for residents which not only creates a tremendous inconvenience for families but will impede the access of emergency vehicles into the senior complex on Park Circle and adjacent streets. It will tax emergency evacuation in a community that is designated a very high fire severity zone, is a high flood occurrence area, and has one road for egress and ingress in and out.
OUR ONLY RECOURSE– STOP 825 THROUGH THE COURTS.
The ONLY way Save Our City CAN STOP 825 is to take legal action to halt the distribution of public funds (bonds and Section 8 vouchers) that will subsidize the project. SAVE OUR CITY has filed a lawsuit to stop the distribution of the $40 million Tefera bonds awarded by the Board of Supervisors in March and Golden Gate Village recently filed another to halt the release of Section 8 vouchers slated for the development. Without this funding, SAVE OUR CITY believes the 825 Project cannot be built.
Our fight is ultimately about self-determination and the survival of Blacks in Marin City
Generations of Black Marin Citizens have fought for voice, representation, and self -determination. We, the people of Marin City, deserve to have a voice in our community’s development. Now, we have a shot at getting it.
Please help us Stop 825. Help us Save Our City
SAVE OUR CITY is appreciative of any gift you can give. $5, $10, $500. Give whatever you can to help us in this fight and thank you so very much for standing with the families and children of Marin City. Never underestimate what a small group of dedicated people can do.
"He who believes in freedom cannot rest until it is won." Ella Baker
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
The Community Speaks Out
GET INVOLVED
The save our city coalition on behalf of the families and children of marin city are asking you to help us raise funding for legal and related costs to save one of the last remaining developable parcels of land in our historic wartime community, 825 drake avenue.
Click Here to Give ➡️ DONATE
ENDORSEMENTS
We endorse and join in solidarity with the SAVE OUR CITY COALITION’s opposition to the 825 Project.
LETTERS TO THE MARIN COUNTY BoS
SAVE OUR CITY PRESS
Broadcast
KQED California Report June 2023
Letters to the Editor
Marin Independent Journal
Pacific Sun
Opinion
Marin Independent Journal
Print News
Marin Independent Journal
Pacific Sun
San Francisco Chronicle
New York Review Of Books
Sierra Club Newsletter/Marin Action
Post News Group
Stop 825 Legal Defense Fund
Marin City is under attack. We are in a David and Goliath battle to maintain the heart and soul of Marin City - and to save one of the last remaining developable parcels of land in our historic wartime community. We are fighting the only way that is viable - in the courts. You can help us in this fight by writing a check to: The Hannah Project (put Save Our City in the memo) 3002 Bridgeway #422, Sausalito, CA 94965 or Give via GOFUNDME below! ⤵️
On behalf of Save Our City and the Marin City Community, thank you for your interest, support and prayers. We appreciate you so. xoxo