20 Sunnyside proposed renderings via Geiszler Architects.
In April 2024, 0n the heels of a pair of major steps forward for housing in Mill Valley – an approved Housing Element by the State of California’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) through 2031 and unanimous City Council approval of a new development of 45 apartments that are deemed 100% affordable – both city officials and local developers hoping to build more housing are coming to grips with the complexities of that Housing Element and the designs standards associated with it.
Around that time, longtime local resident, developer, Barn Owl savior and former Mill Valley Planning Commissioner Steve Geiszler appeared before the Mill Valley Planning to get commission feedback in a Planning Commission Study Session earlier designed to allow commissioners and applicants to have a back-and-forth exchange without yet committing to a public hearing and thus a verdict on the proposal from the commission. In that moment, Geiszler learned that his target was a moving one. “You’re the guinea pig,” Commissioner Jon Yolles said.
But as is often the case at City Hall, the commission and staff did the work necessary to give Geiszler and other applicants more clarity around the roadblock. Specifically, they updated code definitions within Mill Valley’s Housing Element, voting unanimously on a resolution recommending that the City Council approve updated regulations on employee housing, emergency shelters and density bonus law. The changes made were mostly to align with the definitions in state housing law, according to city staff. Greg Hildebrand, commissioner, was absent from the meeting.
“I think this is the last group of, hopefully, knock on wood, ordinance updates related to the implementation plan for just the housing element,” said Linn Walsh, the city’s deputy director of administration.
Mill Valley adopted its housing element for the 2023-2031 planning cycle in May 2023. The state’s Department of Housing and Community Development certified the city’s housing element in December. Program six centers on creating non-traditional, or workforce, housing. However, the city needed to define what employee housing is, which Walsh said was done based on state housing law.
The definition of employee housing includes hosting five or more employees, being privately operated and having living quarters provided in connection with any work, regardless of whether rent is involved. It does not include government-owned and -operated migrant worker facilities.
“I think the effort made to cross reference and simplify a fairly convoluted, complex set of issues and regulations is a difficult task,” said Ernest Cirangle, vice chair of the commission.