Richardson Bay Regional Agency buys time for anchor-outs to find housing

Anchor-outs facing an Oct. 15 deadline to clear off the Richardson Bay have been granted a one-year reprieve while the Richardson Bay Regional Agency’s housing-voucher program gets underway.

The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission’s enforcement committee agreed at its Aug. 23 meeting to grant a request from bay agency Executive Director Brad Gross, who said the agency needed more time to help the occupants of 17 anchor-out boats find housing on land.

“We were concerned that there wouldn’t be adequate housing and support resources in place for the anchor-outs if they were forced to leave by this October,” said Gross, who pointed to funding delays. In his June 29 email request to the commission, he said the deadline could have pushed the anchor-outs into other jurisdictions on the bay or left them homeless on Marin’s streets.

The agency’s June 2022 transition plan states that all anchor-out boats that arrived on the anchorage after an August 2019 census were subject to this year’s removal deadline. Boats already on the anchorage at the census still must relocate by Oct. 15, 2024, unless they are participating in the agency’s “safe and seaworthy” program, which allows them to stay until Oct. 15, 2026.

For the complete story, pick up this week's edition of The Ark on newsstands or SUBSCRIBE NOW for home delivery and our e-edition.