On Tuesday, January 10th at 6:30 pm at the Mill Valley Community Center, the Mill Valley Planning Commission will continue the hearing that started on November 17. Members of the community are urged to attend.
Freeman Park Neighborhood Association
January 6, 2023
The Richardson Project fails to qualify for a CEQA Exemption. Deny the Project
To: Planning@cityofmillvalley.org
Dear Mill Valley Planning Commissioners: Alan Linch, Chair, Jon Yolles, Vice-Chair, Greg Hildebrand, Eric Macris, and Ernest Cirangle
Please add this correspondence to the public record.
We have received confirmation from Mill Valley City Manager Todd Cusimano that your decision re: the Richardson application is final unless the decision becomes subject to an appeal or litigation. In an email on 1/4/23 Cusimano wrote:
“The project (Design Review, Tree Permit, CUP and Parcel Map) is subject to Planning Commission approval and does not require Council approval. The City’s subdivision ordinance requires a “report” to the CC on the PC’s decision on the Tentative Map but again, that action is limited to the Map.”
If you, your planning colleagues, or your neighbors thought a decision of this magnitude would automatically be heard by the City Council, you would be mistaken.
New housing laws deny the right of constituents to have elected officials engaged in making decisions for their community about zoning, planning, and development. The laws have eliminated the right of the City Council to hear the application, falsely assuming the new laws will increase access to affordable housing. But as we see from the application, the Richardson project fails to use the land to maximize the affordable housing that could be built.
The Mill Valley Planning Commission stands on solid ground if you deny the project. You have the backing of the law, with details in the letter submitted by Community Venture Partners, Burton Miller, and from attorney Alecia Cotton, Rogers Joseph O’Donnell.
You have strong backing from the Mill Valley community who counts on you to act in support of the goals, policies, and programs of the Mill Valley General Plan and the health and safety of the people who live here, not the profit margin of a developer whose project has been legally, thoughtfully rejected twice in the past 18 years. As in years past, this project requires an EIR.
The neighbors in the Freeman Park Neighborhood Association are impacted by this project, as are all Mil Valley residents who traverse the E. Blithedale Avenue / Camino Alto Avenue intersection.
We urge you to deny the project’s CEQA exemption and deny its qualification for streamlining treatment under SB300. Instead, require an EIR. Ask the developer to provide more housing that is smaller and affordable, and require a safe and workable solution at the entrance and exit from the project.
We appreciate your expertise and the challenge you face making this decision. We encourage you to proceed with confidence to boldly do your part to make this a better project for all the residents of Mill Valley.
Sincerely,
Susan Kirsch, President
On behalf of the Freeman Park Neighborhood Association Board: Cathy Cook, Tara Huffman, Katheryn Lovell, Liz Specht, and Judy Thier
CC:Co-Planning Team: Karen Holly, Amy Kalish, and Toby Kennedy
CC: Mill Valley City Council: Mayor Jim Wickham, Vice Mayor Urban Carmel, and city council members Stephen Burke and Max Perry
CC:Former mayors, city council, and planning commission members