Mill Valley commission begins rezoning for housing influx

Overlay districts will allow up to 40 dwellings per acre in some areas of the city.

The Mill Valley Planning Commission has adopted zoning changes as the city moves to implement its updated housing element.

The commission held a hearing on the changes on Tuesday as part of program 20 in the housing element, which requires the city to rezone 61 sites. The city adopted the updated housing element in October, and the state certified it Jan. 12.

The state’s mandate for Mill Valley is 865 new residences in the 2023-2031 planning cycle. The city has outlined space for 969 homes at various income levels.

The city established three overlay zoning districts, which keeps the base zoning but eases restrictions. The districts include office conversion housing overlay, which allows existing office buildings to be converted to residences; small lot housing for sites that are less than half an acre; and “opportunity site” housing for sites that are more than half an acre.

The small lot overlays allows for 17 to 40 dwellings per acre and a maximum height of 40 feet, but the ground floor spaces facing Miller Avenue, Throckmorton Avenue, Camino Alto Court or East Blithedale Avenue must be commercial. The city added an exception for access to the residential areas.

“That’s important, I personally believe, based on these conversations with property owners that are looking to modify space and include residential areas, but they need that ground floor for either access or parking, bike parking, or garbage or shared communal rooms,” said Danielle Staude, a city planner.

The same restriction on the bottom floor applies to the office space overlay, which requires a minimum of 17 to 40 residences per acre. However, property owners will have discretion on the floor area of those dwellings.

For sites exceeding a half-acre, density is set at 20 to 40 residences per acre. These sites will help the city meet its state housing mandate, Staude said.

Specific parcels were rezoned, including 401 Miller Ave., which is considered an opportunity site, or a mixed-use area. Additionally, 300 E. Blithedale Ave. — a Comcast building that was updated to a residential zone — was rezoned to fix inconsistencies with the city’s land use and zoning regulations.

“These changes will allow owners to then understand what they’re allowed to build,” Staude said. “For instance, for Comcast, we would much rather see that be converted to multifamily residential use than a single-family multiuse based on the building and the size of the building.”

The Planning Commission also discussed objective design standards for multifamily residential, downtown residential and mixed-use zones. The discussion included topics such as building and ceiling heights, landscaping, lighting and roof designs.

The commission also changed a portion of what were previously defined as “guidelines” to “objective standards.” Staude emphasized that these standards will most likely need to be revisited and changed with experience and feedback.

“It’s not going to be perfect,” she said.

Roy Nee, who owns 38 Miller Ave., said he is interested in redeveloping his space for housing. He urged commissioners to examine design standards carefully, especially building height limits.

“I’ve owned the building for 35 years now,” Lee said. “I think there are property owners like myself who are very eager to participate.”

The changed design standards are effective immediately, but the changed zoning ordinances are effective 30 days after a second reading at the next City Council meeting, according to city staff.