A Strawberry neighborhood group has sued Marin County to block its just-approved 337-home redevelopment of the former Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, arguing the county used state density-bonus waivers to override a local hillside protection the county's own planners had refused to amend.

The suit, filed July 6 by Strawberry Residents for Sensible Development, is narrow in target and large in implication. It challenges just 40 of the 337 homes — market-rate units slated for the top of Chapel Hill, a ridge overlooking Richardson Bay, the San Francisco skyline and Mount Tamalpais. But its legal theory reaches beyond one hilltop: it argues Marin misused the State Density Bonus Act to waive a viewshed rule when the project's own environmental report identified a way to build the same number of homes without touching the ridge. If a judge agrees, it becomes a marker for how far California's housing-production laws can push aside local land-use plans.

Marin County supervisors unanimously approved the redevelopment on June 9, calling it the most consequential land-use decision in southern Marin in decades. Developer North Coast Land Holdings, which bought the 127-acre campus in Strawberry for $85 million in 2014, won the green light to build 337 residences with 859 bedrooms, plus a 267,354-square-foot residential care center for 150 residents and a building for a preschool and fitness center, according to the Marin Independent Journal.

Supervisors framed approval as unavoidable in a housing crisis — and warned that rejecting it could invite something bigger. "This project is for 337 residential units, but the entitlement under state law is for 606," North Coast attorney Andrew Giacomini told the board.

The lawsuit does not contest the density. It contests the ridge.

The Strawberry Community Plan names Chapel Hill "a prominent visual landmark within the community" where no housing shall be placed to preserve the viewshed. When North Coast asked to amend that plan, the Marin County Planning Commission said no, concluding the changes "failed to represent the overall vision of the community." The county approved the hilltop homes anyway — by granting waivers and concessions under state density-bonus law, which rendered the rejected amendments moot.

That maneuver is the crux of the case. The State Density Bonus Act, the petition argues, allows a "waiver" of a local development standard only where the standard would physically preclude building at the approved density. Here, the suit says, it would not. The project's environmental impact report flagged an "Alternative 4" as environmentally superior — one that relocates the Chapel Hill units to lower elevations while delivering the same unit count and amenities, no waiver required. Supervisors, the suit contends, "declined to consider that option or provide any reasoning" for rejecting it.

For residents, the stakes are visible from the trailhead. The 40 market-rate homes would sit flush with the flat hilltop, said Dr. Lewis Williams, a Chapel Hill resident and one of the group's leaders. "So you won't be able to recognize it as a hill at all," he said. "You will just see a lot of houses and then a flat spot between them." He added: "This area is enjoyed by so many people in Marin County — walkers, cyclists and people who have a picnic in their cars just to take in the view. A lot of the views people appreciate from visiting this area will be blocked."

The county and developer say the approval was sound. "The county's project approval complied with the law," County Counsel Brandon Halter said in an email, adding that the county is still reviewing the petition and will respond in court. Because North Coast agreed to indemnify the county, Halter noted, defending the suit will cost taxpayers nothing. Giacomini called the environmental review "extensive" and the lawsuit "wholly without merit," noting the company is building a fraction of the density state law allows.

Notably absent from the plaintiffs' side is the Seminary Neighborhood Association, which fought the project for years. In March, its board signed an agreement with North Coast pledging not to oppose the project or join any legal action, in exchange for concessions including a cap of 325 commuting students. Its president, Michael Gallagher, said the association had no involvement with the lawsuit and is staying disciplined about that commitment.

That leaves Strawberry Residents for Sensible Development to carry the fight alone — and a judge to decide whether a hillside protection can survive a state law built to make housing harder to stop.