City Puts Final Touches on MV2040 General Plan Update

After 12 months of work and more than 50 community meetings to draft the Mill Valley General Plan update, city staff is putting the finishing touches on the document before it goes before Planning Commission and City Council for approval.

During the final meeting last Wednesday, the 43 members of the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) provided last minute recommendations that included weaving in another over-arching goal around sustainability, and making sure the newly established Housing Committee is truly advisory in nature, said Mill Valley Mayor and GPAC Chairman Andy Berman.

The edits will be incorporated into the draft  MV2040 General Plan and 2009-2014 Housing Element which will be posted on the city’s website in July once the general plan environmental review is complete. You can see the current version on the city website now, with tangible documents at City Hall and the Mill Valley Public Library.

The next step is for the city to schedule public hearings with the Planning Commission and City Council for final review and adoption. In the meantime, staff and consultants will send the Housing Element to the State Department of Housing and Community Development for review and draft a separate environmental impact report for that portion.

The General Plan, which was last updated in 1989, is a required undertaking that establishes a road map for development in Mill Valley through 2040. The plan also includes the hotly debated Housing Element that deals with planning and zoning as it relates to residential growth and affordable housing, and is subject to strict state regulations. It identifies sites that could accommodate enough new housing for the 2014-2022 period. Mill Valley has not updated its Housing Element since 2003. This Housing Element update addresses the RHNA for the current cycle (2007-2014), and the city must do another update next year for the 2014-2022 cycle.

City Manager Jim McCann, who has worked on several general plan updates throughout his career, said this has been by far the most constructive and rewarding experience, with many different voices and points of view coming together to create a shared vision for the future of the city.

“The process has yielded a document which will guide the community for many years reflecting the wonderful history of Mill Valley and retaining intact our special community character,” McCann said.

The final GPAC meeting on May 29 meeting concluded with a champagne toast marking the milestone and thanking city staff, the consulting team, and all the volunteers who served on the Land Use and Mobility, Natural Environment and Community Vitality working groups, and the Community Vitality’s Arts and Culture Subcommittee.

“But most of all I want to thank our community, of which we are all a part, for embracing and appreciating the collaborative, inclusive approach we have taken to get to this point,” Berman said. “We would not be here but for this community spirit - in fact a thirst - to create a shared vision for Mill Valley. I feel truly privileged and honored to be part of it."