An architectural rendering shows an affordable housing project proposed at 1 Hamilton Drive in Mill Valley. It would have approx. 45 homes. (Rendering by Van Meter Williams Pollack LLP).
There has been no shortage of media coverage around the City of Mill Valley’s attempts to address housing equity in the 94941, particularly around its efforts to build housing at the city-owned property at 1 Hamilton Dr. and the
Mill Valley City Council’s unanimous vote in May to approve a revised housing element to comply with the state housing mandate, agreeing to plan for, but not necessarily build, 865 more residences during the next eight-year planning cycle to comply with state mandates.
Since then, those opposing proposed housing at the city-owned property at 1 Hamilton Dr. have hardened their stance, with
Patrick Soluri, an attorney with the law firm of Soluri Meserve filing a lawsuit on behalf of the Friends of Hauke Park, the organization that has opposed the density of housing in the Enchanted Knolls neighborhood and nearby neighborhoods. The lawsuit cited “
continued discrimination against East Mill Valley neighborhoods in its housing policy and misuse of CEQA,” and thus violating a state requirement to “affirmatively further fair housing.”
Soluri’s suit pointed to a “longstanding policy of steering public housing away from Mill Valley’s most affluent neighborhoods.”
The
San Francisco Chronicle is the most recent news organization to take notice, with reporter
Emily Hoeven quoting Jenny Silva, a YIMBY watchdog and board chair for the Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative, as saying “it’s disingenuous to claim a fair housing violation when the area in question is 70% white and has a median household income of about $124,000. This is not a poor neighborhood by any stretch of the imagination,” Silva said.
“Indeed, the neighborhood group — which explicitly opposes high-density housing — seems more concerned with the building’s five-story height than it does with fair housing practices,” Hoeven writes. As has been the case for the past several months, the crux of the argument has been Soluri’s claim that “if the city actually did a legitimate site inventory and identified other (affordable housing) sites … then they wouldn’t need to construct so many units” at this particular location,” he told Hoeven .
The case has caused Silva to fear that fair housing could become “the next CEQA,” Hoeven reports. Just as the California Environmental Quality Act is often abused to delay or deny climate-friendly projects, rich communities may start filing fair housing lawsuits arguing that affordable housing should instead be built in even wealthier areas, Silva said. The state Housing and Community Development Department told Hoeven in a statement that fair housing law “should not be used to prevent affordable housing from being built in a particular community but should be used to ensure that affordable housing is being built in all communities.”
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Soluri’s claim that if the city “actually did a legitimate site inventory and identified other (affordable housing) sites … then they wouldn’t need to construct so many units” at 1 Hamilton seems to ignore the site inventory that was conducted, including 401 Miller Ave., the complex that’s home to Sol Food and Simple Mills, as well as the large property on East Blithedale Ave. owned by Comcast building. City officials added that property owners interested in the redevelopment include Mill Creek Plaza, Sloat Garden Center, the former Jolly King Liquor store site and the former KFC/Taco Bell building. There are additional plans along other parts of Miller Avenue. The city also plans for 16 residences developed under SB 9, a state housing law that allows property owners to split lots for up to four dwellings.
Councilmembers have countered that the Hamilton Drive site shows the most promise as a City-owned parcel in proximity to transit corridors and commercial areas, but that all other options are on the table.
“This is not going to be the only site we will look at for affordable housing,” Councilmember Urban Carmel added in September, noting that other sites, like the Edgewood Reservoir, the Miller Avenue commercial corridor and areas around the Mill Valley Golf Course and Boyle Park tennis courts, are potentially on the table.
The lawsuit specifically targets the City’s Housing Element update and questions about whether the City’s site selection “complied with its duty to affirmatively further fair housing throughout the City. The purpose of this lawsuit is to set aside the City’s arbitrary and capricious inventory of affordable sites housing so that all suitable sites throughout Mill Valley are identified without improper political influence, and further to set aside the City’s misuse of CEQA so that a final decision on suitable sites is made after meaningful CEQA review,” Soluri added in a statement.
Councilmembers have countered that the Hamilton Drive site shows the most promise as a City-owned parcel in proximity to transit corridors and commercial areas, but that all other options are on the table. “This is not going to be the only site we will look at for affordable housing,” Councilmember Urban Carmel added in September, noting that other sites, like the Edgewood Reservoir, the Miller Avenue commercial corridor and areas around the Mill Valley Golf Course and Boyle Park tennis courts, are potentially on the table.
“The City Attorney’s office is reviewing the petition and will be advising Council on how to proceed,” said City Manager Todd Cusimano. “We are confident that the City’s Housing Element meets state law requirements and that the City’s action to adopt it was in compliance with CEQA.”
“The City recently received a response from HCD on the City’s Housing Element that was adopted by City Council in May,” said senior planner Danielle Staude. “As noted in the HCD letter, the adopted Housing Element addresses most statutory Housing Element requirements and staff is in the process of providing additional information and data to address HCD comments.”
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