The purpose of including an Economic Element in the Countywide Plan is to set forth objectives, policies, and programs which support and encourage economic vitality throughout the county. The Element is a preliminary one, which will be supplemented in 1994 by a more complete analysis of economic conditions and policies and programs based on the analysis. The Economic Element will be developed under the supervision of the Marin Economic Commission, appointed by the Board of Supervisors in 1993 to promote and encourage economic vitality.

After the adoption of revisions to the Countywide Plan in 1982, an Economic Element was prepared under the direction of an Economic Advisory Committee. Policies and objectives in this Element included information gathering and analysis tasks to be performed by the County Planning Department and tasks that required coordination between the eleven cities and the County. Since the adoption of the Element the Planning Department has developed land use databases which inventory existing, proposed, and potential commercial and industrial development countywide.

In the 1993 update of the Plan information on the Marin County economy is included in Community Development Technical Report #4, The Marin County Economy. Economic policies in the Community Development Element are repeated in this preliminary Economic Element as an interim statement of County policy until a revised Element is prepared.

In the preliminary Economic Element an objective for economic development is to provide a sustainable economy which results in balanced communities where residents have opportunities for employment, housing, shopping, services, and recreation. The objective states that the County should encourage economic development which matches the county and regional economy, job base, and employment pictures and that coordination between local governments and businesses is essential.

The Element calls for the formation of an Economic Commission to make recommendations about suitable areas for relocation or expansion of businesses and location of mixed-use development, coordination of gathering and dissemination of economic data, studying fiscal and economic effects of Countywide Plan policies on the local economy, and advocating the streamlining of the local government permitting process. Other policies call for: encouraging development opportunities for businesses which provide a variety of benefits to the local economy and a diversity of employment opportunities; retaining and attracting business and industries that meet the needs of Marin residents; and location of employment centers in areas where transit, public services housing, and shopping are available.