Politics & Government

City Launches MV2040 Environmental Impact Process

The public will have until Friday, May 31 to comment on the scope of the Environmental Impact Report for the Mill Valley General Plan update, which includes the 2009-2014 Housing Element.

With a draft of the Mill Valley General Plan update completed and the city gearing up for public hearings, residents and organizations can now weigh in with any environmental concerns.

The city released a “notice of preparation” for an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which is required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQUA). The public comment period closes at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 31 and any feedback will be incorporated into the report.

Notices went out to the public and local agencies such as the Marin Municipal Water District, the Marin County Open Space District, and Caltrans. Input may be submitted through writing, and verbally during a public Scoping Meeting on Tuesday, May 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the Mill Valley City Council Chamber. This is not a public hearing, but a chance to comment on the scope of the study.

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“It should be fairly simple and straightforward,” said Mill Valley Planning and Building Director Mike Moore. “We don’t expect there will be any dramatic revelations in the EIR.”

The environmental impact of the MV2040 General Plan and 2009-2014 Housing Element will be looked at from a policy standpoint, Moore said. The plan doesn’t involve any changes to services or facilities, so rather than scrutinizing specific details the report will focus on big-picture items like the opportunities for improving transportation, preserving natural habitats, and preparing the community for possible hazards such as climate change, Moore said.

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Any policy recommendations can then serve as mitigations for potential projects down the road, he said. For instance, if the report were to determine there would be an increase in traffic over the next 30 years, which will cause congestion at an intersection, the environmental study would potentially support alternative transportation methods to alleviate that impact.

“Typically EIR’s are done for general plans because from a process standpoint, it simply helps facilitate adoption of the general plan, and provides additional information that we can use in the future for environmental reviews,” Moore said.

Once a draft environmental impact report is complete, it will go through a public hearing process through the Planning Commission in conjunction with public hearings on the Draft General Plan and Housing Element.

The General Plan, which was last updated in 1989, is a required undertaking that establishes a road map for development in Mill Valley through 2040. The plan is available on the city website, with tangible documents at City Hall and the Mill Valley Public Library.

Part of the larger General Plan update, the hotly debated Housing Element deals with planning and zoning as it relates to residential growth and affordable housing, and is subject to strict state regulations. It identifies sites that could accommodate enough new housing for the 2014-2022 period. Mill Valley has not updated its Housing Element since 2003. This Housing Element update addresses the RHNA for the current cycle (2007-2014), and the city must do another update next year for the 2014-2022 cycle.

The public will get a crash course on those two items later this month during the Community Meeting on Tuesday, May 14 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Mill Valley Community Center.

The annual meeting with the City Council, Planning Commission and city staff is a chance to update residents on various Mill Valley projects and events, and will include an introduction of MV2040.

“It’s an opportunity to introduce the Draft General Plan to the community before we start the public hearing process," Moore said. That process should start around late June and meetings will be announced soon, he said. The plan will go before the City Council for final approval in the summer or early fall.

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