The Mill Valley City Council has adopted a resolution that takes deliberate and thoughtful action to directly address community concerns about the preservation and protection of the community’s very special Steps, Lanes, and Paths (SLPs). The resolution implement's City Council's 9-point action plan for SLPs (adopted January 17, 2017) and gives direction to:
The adoption of the resolution occurred a week after the City of Mill Valley settled an agreement with trail advocate and plaintiff Victoria Talkington, whose lawsuit prompted a greater community conversation about the state of the Steps, Lanes, and Paths program.
Over the course of the last 2 months the City has worked to address community concerns over encroachments on Steps, Lanes, and Paths. Code Enforcement Officer Denise Stoneham has logged over 20 complaints from the community to address specific encroachments onto existing SLPs. A majority of encroachment complaints have been resolved while a few remain under investigation or will require additional abatement action.
Dan Murray, president of the Save Our Trails Committee, expressed his appreciation of City Council and City staff for listening to the community. “This whole process has reaffirmed my faith in a representative democracy,” Murray said. “The constituency loudly said what they believed in and the ability for our representatives to hear that and act on it reaffirms my faith in how things work. It was wonderful to be able to work with you all and I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for making Mill Valley the place that we all love and protecting it so future generations will have the same opportunities to fall in love with it the way we love it today.”
The City of Mill Valley is committed to the success of the SLP program and will continue to engage community members around SLP issues and seek community volunteers for SLP improvement and maintenance projects.