Public Backlash Prompts Council to Bow Out of Zoning Proposal to Reduce FAR Exemptions for Garages

After receiving nearly 60 letters opposing a proposed zoning change that many residents said would unfairly reduce the size of their homes and reduce property values, the City Council determined the matter would be better addressed by design review guidelines.

Nearly 50 people attended the public hearing Monday night to discuss the possibility of reducing the current 500 square feet of garage space that’s automatically exempt for all homes, meaning it doesn’t count toward the amount of buildable space allowed on your property.

“Probably 98 percent of those [letters] urge the council to retain the existing language and not modify it with the garage exclusion,” said City Manager Jim McCann.

Homeowners, particularly those in the Sycamore Park and Triangle neighborhoods, argued that those with smaller, 4,000-square-foot or less lots are the ones who are most in need of a garage to store everything from washers and dryers, to furnaces, bikes and strollers. With growing families there’s also a strong desire to remodel to a larger home, and limiting the Floor Area Ration (FAR) exemptions for garages will decrease property values, they said.

Planning Commission member Ricardo Capretta said the proposal was meant to establish better clarity for people going through the planning process, and aims to preserve the character and charm of Mill Valley homes – which is better served if the front part of a property isn’t taken up by a two-car garage that’s out of proportion to the rest of the home and neighborhood, he said.

“I respect what people are trying to do, and I respect the challenges,” said resident Bob Silvestri, who also wrote a Patch blog on the issue. “But the Planning Commission is not the style police, and architects are not all bad architects.”

Instead, he suggested the city could accomplish many of the same goals, perhaps better, by addressing the issue through design review guidelines, which are “easier to change, easier to adapt and learn,” than “strict and rigid” zoning ordinances.

“I don’t believe that this is a zoning issue,” Silvestri said. “Zoning is a blunt instrument and if you try to micromanage zoning – is it five feet or six feet, 100 feet or 112 – just like the discussion you were having, you go out of your mind.”

Council members were receptive to the idea.

“I’m in favor of keeping the exiting 500-square-foot exemption and beefing up the design guidelines,” said Councilmember Stephanie Moulton-Peters.

Vice-mayor Shawn Marshall also commended Silvestri’s recommendation of creating different design review guidelines based on topography, with slightly different approaches based on whether a home is on a hill or in a flood plain, for instance.

“It’s a tailored approach so our neighborhoods can be treated equally but also retain the character that they have,” Marshall said. “I think this typography approach is a good one and it perhaps gives the planning commission some of the consistency and framework that I believe really was driving this issue.”

When it comes to remodeling in the Sycamore and Triangle neighborhoods, where many of the 4,000-square-foot properties exist, residents also said they didn’t see many related problems.

“I don’t hear people complaining about monster homes being built in the Triangle area, said Walnut Avenue resident David Harris. “ … Real, normal people that live in this neighborhood don’t have that concern.”

As Shirley Ehrlich of Matilda Avenue put it, “the horse has already left the barn.”

“Many, many people have already taken advantage of the 500 square feet of extra FAR, and the impact in the neighborhood has not been negative, I believe,” she said.

She added that the Triangle has changed. It’s no longer cottages – it’s family homes and people need the space.

Council members acknowledged there may not be as much of a need for that particular aspect of the zoning update.

“It was 500-square-feet regardless of the size, and I think we should leave it that way,” said Councilmember Garry Lion, who along with Councilmember Ken Wachtel, was part of a subcommittee that studied the issue. “They obviously don’t think there's a negative impact. They all seem very supportive of having bigger homes.”

Wachtel was against the proposal from the start, saying he would never vote for an ordinance that has a FAR reduction for garages, and Marshall also supported keeping the ordinance as is.

“I don’t think we need to fall on our sword removing the 500 square foot exemption,” she said.

Mayor Andy Berman agreed that a zoning ordinance was not the right way to go.

“I love everything that was proposed by the planning commission, he said. “I think it’s all great. I just wouldn’t put it in an ordinance. I would put it in the design review guidelines.”