San Anselmo Councilman Ford Greene has taken legal action against the town to contest previous rulings that the living space he occupies is illegal.
Greene’s refusal to drop the issue has resulted in two fellow council members suggesting that Greene consider resigning his post. The town has so far spent more than $100,000 battling with Greene.
Discussing the matter during Tuesday’s Town Council meeting, Councilman Tom McInerney said, “The bigger issue for Ford, and for all of us, is how can he serve as a leader of the town he is suing? The time, in my opinion, has come to choose between being an adversary of the town for personal financial gain, or to serve as a leader of this town.”
Responding to McInerney’s suggestion that Greene consider resigning if he proceeds with his suit, Councilman John Wright said, “That wouldn’t be a bad idea, in my view.”
“It is not a legal conflict of interest but a real ethical problem,” Wright said.
Greene did not respond to requests for comment. An email message said he was on vacation until Monday.
In a writ filed on Monday that runs over 100 pages, Greene asked Marin Superior Court Judge Paul Haakenson to set aside a decision issued by Administrative Law Judge David Benjamin in May and rule that the lower-level apartment in which he lives in at 711 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. is legal and doesn’t require a special permit to allow his continued occupancy.
Greene’s unit is located on the bottom floor — below sidewalk level from some vantage points — of a turn-of-the-century, three-story building. The councilman purchased the building in 2001 and has lived there for a number of years. His law office is on the second floor. The building has two single-bedroom apartments on the third floor that are currently occupied by tenants. The legality of these units has not been disputed, even though the building is located in a district zoned for large scale commercial uses.
San Anselmo’s interim Planning Director Diane Henderson ruled in 2012 that Greene needs to secure a conditional use permit to continue living in his unit. That is because the previous use of Greene’s apartment for residential purposes has been disputed, unlike the apartments on the third floor, raising the issue of whether its use should be grandfathered in.
The writ Greene filed on Monday repeats legal arguments that he has made before that his residential unit has been in place since the 1920s and is a legal, nonconforming use.
To get a conditional use permit, Greene would have to make costly improvements to the building, including the installation of a fire sprinkler system throughout the building, installation of a fire alarm system and the raising of ceiling heights in the lower level unit.
Greene appealed Henderson’s decision to the town’s Planning Commission in February, but the commission unanimously upheld Henderson’s decision. Greene then appealed that decision to the Town Council.
Fearing that Greene might eventually sue over the matter, the council hired an independent hearing officer to rule on the appeal. Administrative Law Judge Benjamin ruled against Greene, writing in his decision: “This is not a close case, legally or factually.”
Hiring Benjamin cost the town more than $20,000.
Wright said, “That was a very expensive process, and it was made much more lengthy by Ford’s rather difficult approach to it. It’s clear he is doing a lot of the legal work on his own. A normal person dealing with this kind of issue would never spend the amount of time and energy on it that Ford does.”
Councilman Doug Kelly said, “I think Ford has used his position in a way that nobody else could or should or would.”
Kelly recalled that the council chastised Greene in February for verbally abusing members of town staff for their enforcement of the alleged zoning violation at his residence. Greene, who apologized for his behavior, was instructed not to talk to town staff about his zoning issue in the future.
“He’s a landlord,” Kelly said. He has a responsibility to people on the upper floor there to protect them. He needs to put in modern sprinkler systems.”
Kelly added, “I’m not going to ask him to step down. I’m going to ask him to stop a frivolous lawsuit that is simply wasting the town’s money.”
