Boyle Park.
Mill Valley Parks & Recreation and the Mill Valley Community Center have been a juggernaut for decades, with a history that includes a former roadside cafeteria and a longstanding dedication to leveraging public and private funding to move the needle in a positive way to benefit as many demographics as possible.
While that history runs deep, it was ultimately the construction of the Community Center in 1997, including $6 million from community donations, that propelled the city and the larger community to having a dynamic array of fields and facilities.
When it first opened, the center was about one-third of its current size, and later it expanded to include the main event space, smaller rooms, an indoor pool with a retractable roof, a 120-foot spiral water slide, a Jacuzzi spa, and an outdoor patio.
Why this brief refresher? The Community Center is among the busiest venues in the Bay Area, used for events, meetings, classes, workshops, seminars, dance, art, exercise, swimming and much more.
But the team at Parks & Rec have made it clear in recent months that it is full steam ahead.
Earlier this month, the agency chose longtime Miller Ave-based firm RHAA Landscape Architects + Planners to develop a master plan for Boyle Park upgrades, with the Parks & Rec Commission voting unanimously to recommend that the City Council award a contract to the firm. The council backed RHAA’s work to develop a master plan for Boyle Park upgrades.
“It’s also a company that has a longtime relationship with the city and Boyle Park specifically,” said Mill Valley recreation Director Ashley Howe. “This firm has performed the master plan for the first and second master planning of Boyle Park so this would be the third time around, which is a nice trilogy.” The commission hopes to get City Council approval on the heels of support from a group of stakeholders and commissioners that has been worked on the project since last September. The working group included tennis players, representatives of the Mill Valley Soccer Club, representatives of the Mill Valley Little League, residents with dogs, members of Mill Valley StreamKeepers and nearby neighbors, according to a city staff report.
Potential changes to the park include renovating the restrooms, athletic fields and tennis courts; creating a bicycle pump track; and restoring Warner Creek. “Our vision for Boyle Park is to identify creative opportunities to preserve and enhance existing amenities, add any new desired features, and develop a maintenance plan that addresses the aging infrastructure,” the RHAA proposal states. “We all care about Boyle Park,” said Chris Kearney, vice chair of the parks commission. “It’s such a gem so we really want to get this right. I do think RHAA really stood out.”
But there is MUCH more on the way. The commission has endorsed a plan to install two sand volleyball courts at Bayfront Park and send the project to the City Council for final approval. Recreation officials indicated that volleyball courts have been requested by residents for years. Beach volleyball has more than 5.5 million players in the United States, up from 3.2 million in 2006, according to Mark Neumann, a city official. In Mill Valley, hundreds of youths play the sport in clubs and programs. “We have had no negative feedback and an overwelmingly positive response from the community,” says Parks & Recreation Commissioner Tara Huffman.
Location of the proposed sand volleyball courts near Bayfront, framed in red.
The county has four courts at the College of Marin, two at Piper Park in Larkspur, one at Dunphy Park in Sausalito and one at San Clemente Park in Corte Madera. A new volleyball court was the first recommendation made in the 2004 Bayfront Park master plan. The plan noted that the location and specifics needed to be researched by staff. The proposed project has been in the queue for a while. In 2022, the city’s recreation office was awarded a state Department of Parks and Recreation grant of $177,952 to plan and construct the courts. Staff said the local volleyball community pledged to raise the remaining $162,500 to install the courts.
The city’s courts would be located in the northwest corner of Bayfront Park. A 10-foot-tall fence would surround the court on three sides and connect to the fence at Bayfront Field. The area was picked because it wouldn’t cause traffic-flow hazards to the multiuse path and would preserve the passive use areas around it. It is unlikely a field or other recreational facility would fit there, said Neumann.
City staff estimate the annual revenue for the new courts could be between $5,000 and $10,000. Revenue from sand courts fluctuates. Larkspur at one point received $24,000 in volleyball court revenue and received $8,000 last year, according to a city staff report. Corte Madera’s sand courts generated no revenue last year. Staff recommended hourly fees of $20 per court for nonprofits, $28 for Mill Valley residents, $37 for nonresidents and $42 for commercial users.
A California Environmental Quality Act review is in progress and is expected to be completed this month, said Neumann. The city is aiming to put the project out to bid in March. Construction could begin in the spring, and the courts could be done by summer 2025.
In the interim, volleyball supporters, with support from the Mill Valley Friends of Parks & Recreation, will seek to raise as much as $350,000, particularly for the fencing to support the creation for this new exciting addition to the town. The organization previously donated $50k in 2018 for this project.
At the City Council’s Sept. 16th hearing, the panel approved the Boyle Park project, the volleyball courts, an Introduction and First Reading of an Ordinance Modifying Chapter 8.37 of the Mill Valley Municipal Code Regarding the Downtown Plaza. The second reading of that ordinance will come back to the council in two weeks.
The Plaza Use discussion sought to simplify and clarify the boundaries of live music on the plaza. “The plaza was hopping all (last) weekend with families and kids and the elderly,” said Vice Mayor Stephen Burke. “It was really vibrant, and if we think back to this ordinance being addressed in 2015, the Depot was on life support entering a moment of real uncertainty. A lot has changed in our town, and the policies you’re putting are a recognition of that change. You’ve really hit your stride, and I trust that you’ll do the right thing.”
Mayor Urban Carmel sought to add additional months beyond the summer, but didn’t get the necessary support. “The intent is not to make Mill Valley into the Greek Theater,” he said. “There is definitely a Mill Valley vibe. It’s not a loud rock n roll thing – just lively on the plaza. How do you bring vibrancy into downtown. We don’t control rent, but we can do certain things about how to make downtown vibrant.”
“We’ve got Measure L – the measure would raise the 8.25% rate by a percentage point to support city services, facilities maintenance and public safety. The current rate brings in about $3.6 million in annual revenue, according to the city. The tax increase would generate additional $4.2 million. We need to have retail sales in Mill Valley – our city is an ecosystem. All of these things are in service of the same thing.”