Ninety-three percent of the occupied homes here were built before 1989, and they sit in two different places: flats beside San Anselmo and Sleepy Hollow creeks, which the Town says flood from clay soils and a drainage network that cannot keep up, and steep lots above them where the zoning rules change at 150 feet of elevation. Old wood and water drive most of the work.
A fence seven feet or under needs no building permit here. Anything within twenty feet of the front property line is a separate matter: it goes to the Public Works Director for its own fence permit, judged on visibility at driveways and intersections, and the height drops to three feet. Elsewhere on the lot, zoning allows six feet with a two-foot lattice top. So the gate by the sidewalk and the fence at the back of the same property answer to different rules. Replacing split boards, resetting a post rotted off at grade and rehanging a gate that drags are all straightforward once you know which run falls where. More about fence, deck and gate repair
On the slopes, much of the circulation of a house is outdoors: landings, a long flight down to the street, a deck standing in for a level yard. All of it takes the full winter. Treads soften at the fasteners, posts rot where they meet the soil, and a stair that felt solid in September flexes by February. The fire department also wants vegetation and stored lumber out from under a deck and the underside enclosed in fire-resistant material where that is possible, which is worth folding into the same visit. Replacing treads, rails, posts and deck boards is ordinary work. More about carpentry, shelves and trim
The town grew around a railroad junction from the 1870s and filled in after the 1906 earthquake, when San Francisco families turned summer houses here into permanent ones. The windows from those decades are wood sash: cords part, paint seals a sash shut, and stop beads split when somebody forces one open. Down on the clay flats, doors bind seasonally as the ground swells and dries back. Freeing a painted-shut sash, fitting new cords and hardware, easing and rehanging a door and setting a new threshold keeps the original joinery working rather than replacing the whole opening. More about door and window repair
Ross Valley sheds water quickly, and the Town is blunt about the cause: steep slopes, shallow soils with low absorption capacity, and a drainage network whose capacity falls short, so ponding and overflow reach low-lying properties even in a five-year storm and even outside the FEMA floodplain. A blocked gutter on a hill lot sends all of that straight down the fascia and against the foundation. Clearing gutters and downspouts, re-securing loose runs and extending the discharge well away from the wall is autumn work here. Quarter-inch mesh over roof and basement vents, which the fire department asks for, goes on in the same trip up the ladder.
The Town's exemption list is unambiguous on this one: replacing a receptacle, a switch, a circuit breaker or a light fixture needs no permit as long as no wiring is changed or moved. That covers a dated fixture in a 1920s hallway, a pendant onto the existing box over a dining table, or a ceiling fan onto a box rated to carry one. It stops where new wiring starts. A new circuit, a relocated switch or a light where no box exists is a licensed electrician's job, not a small repair.
Detached single-family houses are 76 percent of the housing stock, a far higher share than Marin County's 61 percent, spread between the small lots on the valley floor around San Anselmo Avenue and Tunstead Avenue and the larger hillside parcels running up toward Bald Hill, Red Hill and Butterfield Road. Ninety-three percent of occupied units predate 1989.
Wood frame, and what sits underneath decides the repair list. The Town blames Ross Valley flooding on clay soils, steep slopes and shallow ground with little absorption capacity, and its Safety Element puts the moderate and high liquefaction susceptibility along the existing and filled stream channels. Houses on the flats stand on that ground; houses above it depend on stepped foundations, retaining walls, long outside stairs and decks that take the whole winter.
An extreme heat day starts at 95.3°F here and the town averaged four a year across the 1961-1990 baseline, while autumn brings Diablo winds and the PG&E power shutoffs that follow them.
The Town publishes its own exemption list. No building permit for a detached shed up to 120 square feet and 8 feet tall, which in R-1 may even sit inside a side or rear setback unless you run utilities to it; a fence up to seven feet; a retaining wall under four feet measured from the base of the footing, holding level dirt; a deck up to 200 square feet, no more than 30 inches above grade, unattached and not serving an exit door; walkways under 150 square feet on grade; painting and papering; and clearing a drain stoppage. Replace a plumbing fixture instead of reinstalling the old one and you are back in permit territory.
The Town traces Ross Valley flooding to clay soils, topography and climate, made worse by undersized bridges, buildings spanning the creek, railroad berms across the floodplain and added paving. Center Boulevard and the Miracle Mile ride on that former right of way. The County bought and removed the buildings in front of Creek Park, at 634 San Anselmo Avenue, as part of the San Anselmo Flood Risk Reduction Project, and the plaza left behind has been fenced off since fall 2022 pending structural repairs. On low ground, note that Town Hall keeps elevation certificates on file and the flood horn sounds five blasts, a pause, five, a pause, five.
CAL FIRE has identified no Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone inside the town, but San Anselmo sits in a mapped wildland-urban interface bordering Marin Municipal Water District watershed land, and the Safety Element puts moderate to high wildfire threat on the northeastern and southwestern parts of town. Seven Firewise USA sites are recognized, among them Bald Hill, Oak Springs, Upper Sequoia Park, San Francisco Boulevard and Sleepy Hollow just outside the town limits. Note also that for R-1 lots at or above 150 feet elevation, design review takes precedence over the usual setback and height exceptions.
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Not from the building department if it is seven feet or under. But a fence, privacy wall or solid screen planting within twenty feet of the front property line, or twelve feet of a street-side line, needs a separate fence permit from the Public Works Director, decided on visibility at driveways and intersections, and it cannot exceed three feet there. In other yards zoning allows six feet with a two-foot lattice top. Bald Hill properties also have fence design guidance in the Bald Hill Area Plan.
Yes. The Town's exemption list covers replacing receptacles, switches, circuit breakers and fixtures as long as no wiring is changed or moved, so a fixture or a fan onto an existing box rated for it is ordinary work. Moving a switch, adding a circuit or putting a light where there is no box is a different job and goes to a licensed electrician.
Gutters and downspouts cleared and discharging away from the walls, the garage floor emptied of anything you would mind losing, shelving fitted so storage sits high, door sweeps and thresholds replaced, grates and weep holes clear. The Town notes that localized flooding here comes from drainage that cannot keep up and can happen outside the FEMA floodplain in a smaller storm. Town Hall holds elevation certificates for many properties, and building work in the floodplain needs a floodplain development permit.
Not per CAL FIRE. The Safety Element states the town currently has none mapped, though it does sit inside a wildland-urban interface next to water district watershed, with moderate to high threat on the northeastern and southwestern edges. The last major wildfire inside the town boundary was the Sorich Park fire of 1976, which burned over 284 acres. Quarter-inch mesh on roof and basement vents, clearing under decks and limbing trees up ten feet are the practical items.
No. The Ross Valley Fire Department states resale inspections are no longer required in San Anselmo, while Ross and Fairfax still require one on a single-family home listed for sale. The vegetation and wildfire standards behind those inspections apply to your property regardless, so clearing, fence repair and vent screening are better done before a sale than after someone raises them.
Checked against these public sources in October 2026. Rules change: confirm anything permit-related with the city or town of San Anselmo before work starts.
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