Mill Valley refines housing goals ahead of report
Members of a Mill Valley committee gave their blessing this week to a series of programs and strategies they say will be instrumental in the creation of new homes.
The city's housing advisory committee met Tuesday night to discuss the development of a draft housing report that it plans to submit to the state early next year for review.
The city intended to gauge the committee's reception to certain housing strategies to determine whether they will be included in the draft housing element.
The draft will be available for public review this summer. The city plans to draft the strategies into resolutions and pass them alongside the housing element later this year.
Mill Valley is under a state mandate to show it can allow 865 more residences over the next eight years.
The committee has highlighted housing overlay zoning districts as key to the plan. They would allow for development with more residences, less parking and increases in building height on the identified sites. The residences would be developed as smaller and affordable under those revised standards.
“I think the housing advisory committee was supportive of the overlays, which will be adopted with the housing element,” Danielle Staude, a city planner, said after the meeting. “In moving forward, sources of funding and streamlining are some new things that are of interest to the committee while working toward monitoring existing housing stock.”
The city's goals include protecting and preserving existing housing stock with historic preservation, home maintenance and regulations, which include the “soft story ordinance.” The soft story ordinance is a retrofitting ordinance for apartments built on top of structures such as garages, Staude said.
The city also hopes to diversify the housing stock. Officials plan to promote mixed-use zoning in commercial districts, non-traditional housing, micro-apartments, accessory dwelling units and the adaptive reuse of commercial spaces. They also hope to address affordable housing at a proposed development at 1 Hamilton Drive and find new locations for affordable housing.
Jon Yolles, a committee member and planning commissioner, said accessory dwelling units have been “a great tool for us and one we should keep in place.”
Mill Valley's housing is 75% single-family residences with an average household size of 2.3 people, according to the city. Officials estimate that 28% of the population lives alone while only 17% of housing is less than two bedrooms.
Housing affordability was also identified as a primary goal, with possible inclusionary requirements on new developments, new fees to sup
port affordable housing, partnerships with outside organizations and potential financial support.
The city's plan includes the adoption of design guidelines and overlay zoning districts to facilitate the development. The city has also sought to remove government restraints to development.
Members of the public signaled their support for more workforce housing.
“If we don't address this issue, our traffic situation is going to get worse. We're going to be really struggling to provide basic services for the community,” said Phillip Hinderberger, a representative of the community housing foundation.
City officials noted that workforce housing could not be legally prioritized for people in specific trades, but said the goal of new affordable housing could provide for a wider swath of income levels to live in Mill Valley.
Committee member Matt Franklin called the overlay zones “really exciting.” He also noted some of the frustration from the public who felt the city could be more proactive on public outreach.
“I hear some `show me' in those comments and think that's a fair challenge for all of us,” he said.
The city has said it plans to consider banks, offices, hotels and other businesses for new housing, as well as parking lots. Proposed sites include a Comcast building on East Blithedale Avenue, Goodman's Building Supply, the former KFC/Taco Bell restaurant and the Travelodge.
The commercial areas might involve office space conversions, reusing vacant buildings, constructing additional floors on existing buildings or adding new homes on a property. The city reported that 365 parcels of commercial and multi-family-residence zoned lots that are less than a half-acre. There are 50 commercial sites more than half an acre, and most are being used.
The committee also said it would support a building retrofitting plan and a possible transfer tax to fund new affordable housing projects. City staff plan to make sure that updates in state parking requirements align with city policy.
The city has struggled to meet the housing requirements. Councilmember Urban Carmel said the city is “97% built out” and the remaining area is on steep slopes.