Mill Valley Housing Element Update
Newsletter Post, June 15, 2022
by Nancy Carlston
The MVFREE Housing Group has contributed ideas for the Mill Valley Housing Element, which is currently being developed by the City of Mill Valley. We encourage everyone to participate in the surveys and meetings so your voices can be heard. The City is facing high RHNA (Regional Housing Needs Allotment) numbers that will require Mill Valley to have the zoning, incentives, and other changes in place to add about 800 to 900 possible housing units in Mill Valley. The City doesn't need to build the units, but it must create the conditions necessary for developers to get approval to build that many units. We are pleased to report that Mill Valley staff have presented the City Council with many creative ideas--including overlays that reduce parking requirements, allow increased density and smaller units, and offer other incentives to encourage affordable (below moderately affordable) housing. This is much more than we expected. For more information, check out the City of Mill Valley Housing Element Update.
Our group is committed to affordable and equitable housing. The current draft of the Housing Element goes a long way toward encouraging the development of affordable housing. We need more suggestions on how the Housing Element--a highly technical document--could incorporate specific recommendations to make housing more equitable. Please text Nancy Carlston at 303-579-7007 or email her at nancycarlston@gmail.com with any ideas. MVFREE will have the chance to influence the City's commitment to equity more fully when Mill Valley begins work on the City's next General Plan, but we would like to address it in the Housing Element if we can.
MVFREE had a booth at Mill Valley's Earth 2050 event, thanks to the work of Sacha Bunge and Tammy Herdon, who are members of the Parks and Recreation JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) Group. In addition to other volunteers, Housing Group members Kyle Hughes, Gilda Harger, Eileen Fisher, and Nancy Jacobs helped connect folks with MVFREE by working in our booth, where about 15 people signed up to receive our newsletter and others wrote what the Earth meant to them and took away paper globes embedded with wildflowers to plant. The booth was decorated with banners and flags designed by Gilda, as well as informational cards to introduce folks to MVFREE, also designed by Gilda.
We continue our support for the Golden Gate Village residents. Mother Jones had a great article about their struggle. There is definite progress--the Residents' Plan has been accepted as the "preferred plan" by the Board of Supervisors for example--but there are many details yet to be decided and some red flags that will need to be addressed. We attended the Marin County Supervisor Candidate Forum moderated by Pastor Floyd Thompkins (from St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Marin City) that covered several topics and had a strong housing focus, including specific questions about Golden Gate Village. All the candidates seemed to be familiar with the GGV and agreed to meet with the Resident Council members if they were elected.