If there was any doubt about the void left in Mill Valley's music community by the loss of the Sweetwater in 2007, it was quelled last night in the form of a rousing ovation at the end of the Planning Commission's meeting Monday night. The commission gave the green light to the Woods, a music venue and café located at the Masonic Hall that hopes to enliven a music community with concerts and kid-friendly events.

For Ged Robertson, owner of Small Shed Flatbreads on Madrona Street and the entrepreneur behind the Woods, it was huge step forward in what has been a nearly two-year quest to open a music venue at the 107-year-old building across the street from City Hall.

Robertson said he plans to continue hosting a sporadic schedule of benefit concerts and events through the rest of 2010 before closing the hall in January with a tentative re-opening in March. Local architect Marcy Jones, who is married to Harvey Klyce, the great-grandson of the man who built the Masonic Hall in 1903, helmed the redesign.

"It's going to happen," Robertson said after the approval. "This is unbelievable timing for this room to be opened up. There is a whole network of people that will come together for something like this. There is tradition here."

An array of supporters and a handful of opponents turned out Monday night. Many spoke directly to the void the Woods could fill as a downtown music hub, including local stalwart musicians like Austin de Lone and Jimmy Dillon.

"This place has funk on it – it's got history," Dillon said of the venue.

Some said that while 142 Throckmorton Theatre is a vital cog in the city's arts community, it is more of a formal setting and isn't music-centric.

"I know the Throckmorton is here and I love the place but we need more than that," said musician and former Sweetwater doorman Holt Manchester.

Lisa De Gennaro, a nearby resident of Lovell Avenue, said that while she supported the project overall, she and several neighbors were concerned about the noise impact on nearby residents, particularly the large new HVAC system being installed at the hall. She said the public rehearsal shows at the Masonic for the Grateful Dead offspring band Further last February "were horrible" for neighbors.

Karen Goldberg, who also lives on Lovell, said she hasn't minded the occasional, faint sound of music coming from the Masonic at night when there are shows there.

"It's not noisy - it just feels like community," she said.

William Cullen of the Masons told the commission that Robertson had the full support of his organization, which is excited to have a partner with a vested interest in the success of the venture. The Masons will retain the use of their lodge on the second floor, while the Woods will take over the first floor. The parties spent nearly a year negotiating a lease agreement that was inked in April.

"We look forward to doing whatever we can to helping this succeed," Cullen said.

Parking was the centerpiece of the discussion Monday night, as Robertson's plans to build a 550-square-foot café adjacent to the music hall raised concerns that it would cut into the available parking for customers of nearby Mill Valley Market.

In order for the Woods to maintain its status as an all-ages venue but also be able to sell alcohol to adult patrons, at least 40 percent of its sales must come from non-alcoholic sources like food, according to state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control rules.

A daytime café also provides an additional source of revenue in a tough economy, particularly for live music venues. The proposal calls for the café to be open from approximately 7am to 5pm and then reopen for concert and event attendees at 7pm.

David Canepa, whose family has owned the market since 1929, said his family is "head over heels" in support of the music venue piece of the project, but less so about the café.

"Parking has been an issue in our household from day one," he said. "It's a no-win situation. There's nowhere to put the cars."

Kerry Stoebner agreed.

"Mill Valley Market is the heart and soul of downtown and it makes it a working downtown," she said. "If people don't have parking downtown, they wont shop there, and I don't want to see this push out Mill Valley Market."

But many attendees said the Woods' wouldn't dramatically alter an already problematic downtown parking situation.

"I would hate to see this uber-concern of parking get in the way of something that would add so much to this community," said Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce President Kathy Severson. "I don't think parking is anything that we're ever going to immediately solve here. We have a tendency here that if you can't park right in front if where you want to go that you have a parking problem."

Robertson said he did not envision competition but mutual benefit between the café and the market, citing his visits to Safeway when he goes to Le Boulangerie in Strawberry.

"I never go to Safeway otherwise, but if I'm over there, I'll stop," he said. "We're going to have shared customers."

Robertson said he has inked a deal with Lum Properties, owner of the under-utilized parking lot at 1 Sunnyside Ave. behind the Tyler Florence Shop, to let his patrons have their parking validated at the Woods.

The commission determined that addressing the larger parking issue in downtown was beyond the scope of the hearing and a better fit for the city's future deliberations about its General Plan and possible zoning changes. The panel directed city staff to bring possible parking alternatives, such as outing one-hour time limit on some parking meters around City Hall, to the City Council.

"It's unrealistic to think that there's going to be some shared parking arrangement that does not prejudice the Mill Valley Market," said commissioner David Rand. "We need to provide incentives for daytime users of the Woods to park elsewhere."

The Woods plans to host a variety of youth events and give young people a place to play music, as it has done this year with a Monday evening open-mic night.

"That whole tie-in was what was missing at the Sweetwater," he said. "If you're a kid and you want to play music, you don't have to wait now."

The size of the music hall will be reduced slightly to accommodate a larger stage, a bar in the back and some booth seating on the sides, but Robertson said he didn't think the capacity would shrink too far below the current 225.

While Robertson has plenty of more hurdles to cross, he said he's thrilled about the Woods' short- and long-term prospects. The venue will host a public happy hour throughout the Mill Valley Film Festival, as well as several music-related festival events. That includes a performance by Fishbone, which is the subject of a documentary screening at the festival.

"And we have (British songwriter) Nick Lowe on Saturday – it doesn't get better than that," Robertson said.