On October 13, 2022, the City of Mill Valley and EAH Housing hosted a community Open House to discuss building approximately 40-50 affordable rental apartments on the northern portion of the city-owned parcel at 1 Hamilton Drive. The main topics at the Open House included preliminary design and building concepts based on input, Council direction, and financial feasibility. We thank the many community members that attended and shared their feedback with the planning team.
Open House materials included:
The conceptual designs presented at the Open House identify specific features such as unit count, building height, building location(s), driveway locations, number of parking spaces and relocation of existing facilities on the site. These details are required for the City to fully evaluate building housing on the site, including design review and environmental review.
Joint Meeting
The City Council and Planning Commission will hold a joint meeting on November 2, 2022 at 6:30 pm at the Community Center to further discuss the conceptual designs presented at the Open House.
At the meeting, City Council and Planning Commission members will have the opportunity to discuss the conceptual designs and determine if there are feasible housing opportunities that should be fully evaluated as part of submitting a development review application, which will include environmental review. City staff will post the staff report for the meeting on the project webpage once it is finalized.
Upon Council direction, planning staff will assemble a planning application, which will include a detailed scope and project description of the proposed development to fully evaluate the project, including design review and environmental review.
A planning application will include the following elements for consideration and action by the City Council:
- A proposed tentative parcel map to create a separate parcel for the northern portion of 1 Hamilton
- A request to rezone the newly created parcel from O-A (Open Area) to RM-B (Multi-family Residential-Bayfront) to permit multi-family residential on the property
- Proposed Site Plans and Building Design as part of Design Review
- Environmental review of the proposed project in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act
Since the 1 Hamilton property is owned by the City, the City Council would also be asked to consider approving a long-term ground lease or similar document allowing EAH to construct and manage housing on the site
The City has hired an environmental consultant to conduct the environmental review of the proposal on behalf of the City. The City is working with EAH to develop a project scope/project description based on Council direction and EAH’s work to date. This is required for the City to initiate the environmental analysis. The City intends to fully evaluate the potential environmental impacts of building affordable housing on the site through what staff anticipates will be the issuance of a project-level Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The California Environmental Quality Act provides multiple opportunities for public feedback on the environmental analysis. Once the project team prepares a project description is prepared, the City will invite community members to provide input on the scope of the environmental review.
Comments and attending the upcoming meeting:
Please note that the City will host the November 2nd joint meeting at the Mill Valley Community Center (180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley, CA) at 6:30pm. You may participate by attending the meeting in person or providing comments in advance of the meeting. Please send written comments to Danielle Staude via e-mail at dstaude@cityofmillvalley.org or US mail 26 Corte Madera Ave., Mill Valley, CA. Staff will post video of the meeting after the conclusion of the meeting.
Project website:
Answers to recent questions asked are available on the 1 Hamilton project website (LINK).
Other City-related work:
The City of Mill Valley is also updating its Housing Element and has identified a program (#10) in the Draft Housing Element Update to rezone and amend the General Plan land use designation for the northern portion of 1 Hamilton. The land use designation for the site will be revised to “multi-family residential” in order to effectuate the Housing Element Update.
The Housing Element is one of the required elements of the General Plan, and adoption of the Housing Amendment amends the General Plan. In order to maintain internal consistency within the General Plan, the City Council will amend the land use designations in the General Plan Land Use Element at the time of Housing Element adoption to revise the land use designation for the 1 Hamilton site to “multi-family residential.” This will occur concurrently with the adoption of the Housing Element. See, Government Code Section 65302(a).
Identification and evaluation of other city-owned sites will also continue as part of the housing program.
For more information about the Housing Element Update, click here (LINK).