1.6 Public Participation

The primary purpose of this chapter is to describe the effort made by the City of Belvedere to engage all economic segments of the community (including residents and/or their representatives) in the development and update of the housing element. This public participation effort also includes formal consultation, pursuant to Government Code §65352.3, with representatives from the Graton Rancheria Native American tribe that are present and active in Marin County. It is also responsive to AB 686 (Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing), which requires local jurisdictions, as they update their housing elements, to conduct public outreach to equitably include all stakeholders in the housing element public participation program.

The 6th cycle RHNA numbers are a sea change for all California communities, and the success of the update process hinged in part on a community outreach and engagement program that was robust, inclusive, and meaningful. COVID-19 pandemic did complicate the community outreach efforts, however the pandemic has also catalyzed the development of new digital tools that have brought interactive engagement to a new level. One such tool is an all-in-one digital community engagement platform called Engagement HQ, or Bang the Table (https://www.bangthetable.com/).

Bang the Table

The City of Belvedere partnered with Bang the Table as a cornerstone of its community outreach and engagement program. Using the “Bang the Table” platform, the update team developed an interactive engagement plan that allowed community members to engage on their own time. Components of the interactive engagement plan included:

Website. Blueprint for Belvedere at https://blueprintforbelvedere.com is a dedicated website that provides portal to all of the housing-element-related public engagement activities that are available to members of the public. This includes information on housing element basics, site surveys, an SB-9 survey, and materials from the community workshop;

Ideas. These “virtual post-it notes” were a way for Belvedere community-members to share what inspired them;

Places. Gathered feedback and photos directly on a map with a simple “pin” drop;

Interactive mapping (Balancing Act). Encouraged participation throughout the sites analysis process;

Polls. Questions were posed to get immediate insight with this quick and targeted tool; and

Surveys. Encouraged Belvedere community-members to voice their opinions in a convenient way that also helped City staff understand what areas of the city need more encouragement to participate. Aggregate data also helped the city understand generally who is participating with the outreach tools.

Belvedere’s community engagement program included an initial presentation to the City Council and Planning Commission Retreat (open to the public), a community meeting, in-person open house, a stakeholder focus group, and online/virtual participation opportunities made possible through Bang the Table (described above). Also, as part of this effort, the update team developed a list of organizations that were contacted to participate in the update process, and that list is attached as Appendix F.

Public Participation to Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing

The Belvedere public participation program was also responsive to AFFH, which requires local jurisdictions to conduct public outreach to equitably include all stakeholders in the housing element public participation program (see the discussion above for more complete information on AFFH.)

Outreach to individuals who may benefit from affordable housing available in Belvedere involved interviews with people who live in the nearby affordable housing development, the Hilarita Apartments in Tiburon, managed by at the EAG Housing. The intention was to learn from resident experience from the perspective of those who have successfully secured affordable housing to impact policy ideas. At the Hilarita, rent is based on 30% of Income and tenant-based vouchers for units that vary in size from 550 to 1,300 square feet. The wait list is currently closed for this housing development. The interview report is available within Appendix F.

Tribal Consultation

This public participation effort also includes formal consultation, pursuant to Government Code §65352.3, with representatives from the Graton Rancheria Native American tribe that are present and active in the Marin County. A meeting took place via Zoom and discussion was led by the tribal representatives, with a primary focus on sites. There were no initial requests to change course with the initial draft. Future meetings may occur as requested prior to a final draft.

Public Review of Draft and Final Housing Element

[to be completed later in the process]