City Council
Dick Spotswood & Mill Valley Councilmember Stephen Burke Brainstormed on the Difficulty Building Housing, Unveiling
Tax incremental financing. Use it now to finance workforce housing: A developer selects a site and applies for permits to build multi-unit homes. Half would be market rate to generate profit; the remainder will be affordable for our workforce, including first responders and teachers. That initial development, like all that follows, will need to be subsidized. Those dollars will need to come from an existing public sector source. The incremental difference between the amount of the “before tax,” and “after tax” determined once construction is complete is reserved. Designated local governments then use that sum to fund the next affordable project, and on and on. Applying tax incremental financing to fund workforce housing is another example of thinking outside the box resulting in new, if yet untested, approaches to housing finance.
Read MoreNYT Reporter Conor Dougherty Has Long Educated Marin & Larger Bay Area About How Best to Navigate Housing, Whether its ‘Abundance,’ Affordability, Now He Suggests ‘America Needs New Cities – a Whole City from Scratch. It’s Been Done Before & Might Solve the Housing Crisis
In the United States, where real estate is ultimately about profit and loss, the best way to bend the paradigm is to prove something different can be lucrative. But first you have to build it.
Read MoreThe Mercury News: Are California Businesses Overregulated? This Researcher Compared Requirements Across States
For decades, business leaders have complained that California’s regulatory climate has overburdened companies across the state, blaming a morass of rules, permits and paperwork for pushing businesses and jobs out of state and holding back economic growth. To help measure the impact of the regulations, the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, sought to compare the number of business requirements in the state with those in other parts of the country. In a new report, researchers with the PPIC found that while California is not an outlier nationwide when it comes to state and local business regulations, it has by far the most specific constraints on businesses — defined as regulations containing the words “shall,” “must,” “may not,” “required” and “prohibited.” Researchers found states with more of these types of strict regulations — ranging from environmental standards to consumer safety protections — tend to see fewer new businesses forming, though the report stopped short of establishing a definitive causal relationship.
Read MoreScenes from Marin Sanitary Service in San Rafael: New Report Lays Out Just How Bad California’s Recycling System Is – Will New Legislation Change Anything?
California acts as a model for environmental legislation across the country, spearheading strict regulations and pushing the boundaries on climate action. Even still, its recycling rates remain dismally low. A recent report from CalRecycle, the state agency that oversees recycling and waste disposal in California, estimates just how few of our milk cartons, peanut butter jars and takeout containers actually end up being properly recycled. Spoiler alert: The results are enough to make any concerned citizen feel miserable about the prospect of their yogurt container getting new life. Despite California’s best efforts, no material category came in anywhere near a recycling rate of 100%. The biggest offenders were aseptic and gable-top cartons — the common containers of milk, juice and broth — with less than 1% of those materials recycled.
Read MoreMarin IJ: Marin Transit Adopts Bus Yard Environmental Assessment, Takes a Major Step Forward and Satisfies CEQA Requirements at a Former Auto Dealership at 1075 Francisco Blvd. in San Rafael for a Bus Storage lot for Marin Transit
Marin Transit’s plan to construct an electric bus yard in San Rafael has taken a major step forward. The board governing the agency voted Monday to adopt a study that satisfies requirements set by the California Environmental Quality Act. The adoption was needed for Marin Transit to advance the plan at 1075 Francisco Blvd. East, a 3.5-acre property in the Canal neighborhood. Board member Maribeth Bushey, who sits on the San Rafael City Council, said city officials still have reservations. “The city of San Rafael remains concerned and impacted by the decision to remove this site, this freeway frontage site, from its potential to be a high tax-generating site for the city of San Rafael,” Bushey said. “This has implications for our general plan as well as, most pointedly, for our general fund.”
Read MoreOn January 12, City Council Considers Reapproving Bayfront Terrace Project With a Modified Project Footprint for the Site of 1.60 acres & No Additional Changes to the Design – Hearing is at 5:30pm at City Hall
On January 12, City Council Considers Reapproving Bayfront Terrace Project With a Modified Project Footprint for the Site of 1.60 acres & No Additional Changes to the Design – Hearing is at 5:30pm at City Hall. In a previous post, “We have an opportunity to change the life trajectory of 44 families,” Councilman Urban Carmel added. “Nothing can change your life trajectory more than the place you grew up in. This is really exciting and gratifying – I can’t imagine a better moment.”
Read MoreMarin IJ: Marin Officials Question Projections in Regional Growth Plan – Draft Plan Bay Area 2050+
While the number of Marin households is projected to grow from 108,000 to 131,000 by 2050, the job growth is projected to be stagnant, with a job base remaining at 126,000 over the same time period, the plan says. Across the region, the plan anticipates a population growth of about 7.7 million to 9.6 million, which is nearly four times the forecast provided by the California Department of Finance. Mill Valley Mayor Max Perrey said city officials agree that MTC and ABAG need to revise their projections and develop better mitigations to address impacts to wildfire risk, water supply, emergency services, air quality and flooding, among other issues. “The regional growth forecast the plan relies on differs from the state’s official projections, and it doesn’t take into account the changing economy, both the impact that AI will have on the workforce as well as vacancy rates for commercial space, which continues to persist,” Perrey said. “It also has a large dependence on major future funding streams that have not been secured for projects, which presents funding risks for infrastructure, for services and hazard mitigation measures.”
Read MoreMill Valley Middle School Unveils Environmental Impact Report
“It has taken time and a great deal of careful work to get here, but we are finally nearing key decisions for Mill Valley Middle School,” Sharon Nakatani, president of the district board, said in an email Friday. “The board expects to be in a position this December to certify the Final EIR and select both the interim and permanent campus plans — steps that move us toward delivering the modern middle school this community has asked for and supported from the beginning.”
Read MoreOn the Heels of a Blockbuster 2025 Winterfest, Clifford Waldeck Has a Lot to Be Excited About, Particularly Dec. 14th, Which Will Be the Second Biggest Day of My Life at Episcopal Church of our Savior!
“December 14 at 5pm will be the second biggest day of my life at Episcopal Church of our Savior; the biggest being my wedding 22 years ago” declared Waldeck, who is obviously excited about the churches upcoming concert featuring Lorin Rowan and the Deep Blue Jam playing classic holiday songs reimagined with a fresh, modern twist—blending melodies with contemporary rhythms and warm vibrant textures for a nostalgic yet new seasonal sound. A year ago, Cliff joined the Vestry at COS while the congregation was engaging with several other Bay Area Episcopal churches engaging their respective communities in a program called Vital + Thriving https://www.vitalthriving.org/about/. Cliff, a frequent attendee of musical events at the Sweetwater, the Depot and the Throckmorton suggested “let’s have concert!” and with any volunteer organization, you suggest it, you do it.
Read MoreFrom Pam Keon and All the Amazing People Who Took on the Herculean Task of the 125th Celebration: Join the Dedication of the 125th Time Capsule – Dec. 8th, 5pm at City Hall!
Pam Keon: On Monday, December 8th, I hope you can attend these events at Mill Valley’s City Hall. At 5pm we will dedicate the 2025 Mill Valley Time Capsule. This ceremony marks the celebration of Mill Valley’s 125th anniversary year with the placement of a time capsule capturing daily life in 2025 and documenting the three-day 125th Anniversary Celebration over Labor Day Weekend. The 2025 time capsule will be placed inside the 12+ ton red jasper boulder that sits in front of City Hall, and replaces the 1953 time capsule that was removed from the boulder earlier this year. The new time capsule is to be opened on September 1, 2100 – so mark your calendars, or your children’s or grandchildren’s calendars!
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