Mill Valley forum vets Hamilton Drive housing plan

Plans are taking shape for a proposed affordable housing complex on Hamilton Drive in Mill Valley.

EAH Housing, an affordable housing nonprofit based in San Rafael, held a public forum to solicit opinions from the public as it undertakes pre-development work at the proposed site near Hauke Park.

The meeting on March 10 was considered the first of many public sessions that will guide a design plan that will be voted upon by the Planning Commission and the City Council.

“They’re going to determine what’s feasible, what’s possible, what’s appropriate,” said Mayor John McCauley during the forum. “We’ll all go down this journey together.”

EAH is in the process of determining the location, design and concept for the development on city-owned land on Hamilton Drive. The proposed complex will have all low-income housing and will likely include about 40 residences, said Rick Williams of the architecture firm Van Meter Williams Pollack.

The project site is an estimated 1.6 acres between Hamilton Drive and Roque Morales Drive. The proposed housing site would eliminate 38 public parking spots. The parking lot area was proposed because it is the flattest location, Williams said.

There were possibilities of a visual impact to residences on Roque Morales Drive if the building reached a certain height, Williams said. The building is tentatively planned to be three or four stories tall.

Williams said officials are in discussions with city officials, firefighters, police and PG&E to add parking at nearby sites. In the surrounding area there are 48 spaces designated to the public safety offices and about 67 public spaces.

Williams proposed adding spaces on Hamilton Drive, in a PG&E easement lot on the other side of Hauke Park, and in lots next to the Mill Valley fire station and the Mill Valley Police Department to make up for the losses by the complex.

Williams also said a roundabout might be installed to assist in traffic circulation.

“What we really want to do is listen to you one more time before we start the building design process,” he said.

More than 100 people attended the meeting, which exceeded two hours. Many inquired about the scope and specifics of the project.

Gary Batroff, a Mill Valley resident and member of an organization called Friends of Hauke Park, said in a phone interview that many residents had found “some level of acceptance” because they did not believe the City Council would be receptive to changing the site.

“This train’s been running down the tracks for a while,” he said. “But there’s still a very many things around the site that mean they can’t build there. There’s a lot of hurdles they have to jump through.”

The public comment period was guided more by questions than criticism. Still, many asserted potential problems, such as a fault line through the property; asbestos-laden rocks in the hillside; the complex’s access to utilities; the impact of drought; cost increases; impact on views; and the financial entanglements of EAH that could jeopardize the project’s completion.

Officials have cautioned that all plans are considered tentative. Many sought to dispel rumors surrounding the size and scope of the project.

City Planning Director Patrick Kelly said there would likely be multiple iterations of the project plans. He said a vote from the Planning Commission and City Council was about a year and a half away at the current scheduled pace.

The city plans to hold an open house at the community center on May 3, which will allow for in-person discussion on relocation of restrooms, parking, massing and circulation. EAH plans to present concepts in June and have a pre-submittal design meeting in September.

Design approval, financing and pre-construction preparation is expected to last about two years. Construction is tentatively set to begin around the start of 2025. Leasing is set to begin in mid-2026.