Proposed La Goma Project and Affordable Housing in Mill Valley

By Ken Wachtel

Many people talk about the need for more affordable housing in Mill Valley. Ken is the only candidate who has put his time and effort where his mouth is on housing and the other pressing issues facing our city. See his thoughts on the La Goma project specifically, and on how to increase affordable housing in general.

Long before anyone was thinking of an election, I was working on traffic and development issues with Kathleen Clifford, Toni Brayer, Liz and Ed Specht, Ron Chan, Dave LaDuke, Kirk Citron, Susan Kirsch and others in the Tamalpais Park and Sycamore neighborhoods. Our principal focus was on the La Goma and the Blithedale/Camino Alto projects -- 20 units each. My wife, Leslie, and I have lived in Mill Valley for over 21 years and my interest in the community is not new. During my six years on the Planning Commission I always placed great importance on issues of traffic, parking and congestion. I am the only candidate for City Council who discusses multi-unit projects and their potential negative effect on neighborhood traffic in my Candidate's Statement.

I am the only candidate who attended both the initial Planning Commission meeting and the developer's October 5, 2005, Community Center meeting on the La Goma project. While Mr. Parker has made some design changes, I believe there are still problems with mass and scale, traffic, parking and the number of units being proposed.

1. Design

Although the drawings shown by Mr. Parker on October 5 were significantly better than his initial proposal, a quick look at the story poles tells of a massive building being located next to a fragile creek and a family neighborhood. Progress is being made but still, the highest portion of the new design is only one foot lower than the original design. La Goma is a transition area between commercial and residential neighborhoods. Any development should harmonize with that transition -- not ignore it. The higher portion should be near Miller with the building being stepped down towards the creek. The building should be one story at the creek setback. We need a better design for this project that is more fitting with the neighborhood and creek. Green building concepts should also be proposed.

2. Traffic and Parking

Parking on La Goma is scarce. This project should provide its own off street resident and guest parking. I am very concerned about the impact this project could have on the traffic problems in the Sycamore/Tamalpais Park neighborhoods. The current design has driveways on Miller and on La Goma. I propose the driveway on La Goma be redesigned at an acute angle towards Miller with a "no left turn" sign posted on La Goma across from the driveway and a "no right turn" sign posted at the driveway coming from Sycamore. The angled driveway together with traffic control signs will make it impossible to enter from or exit onto Sycamore. This proposal is supported by everyone in Sycamore/Tamalpais Park with whom I have discussed it, including the Huffmans and LaDukes. It is a minor change that can have a major impact on traffic in the neighborhood.

3. Affordable Housing

At the October 5 meeting, Mr. Parker said that a portion of the project would be dedicated to affordable housing but couldn't tell us how much, or for what income level such housing was to be provided.

Affordable housing is much more than a catch phrase to me. I am a strong supporter of workforce housing in Mill Valley. Our community is poorer because more police, firefighters and teachers can't live here. However, such housing must be considered in conjunction with the character of the neighborhood in which it is located. The promise of affordable housing alone shouldn't be enough for us to swallow a project that is not in harmony with the neighborhood.

Personally, I would like to see an emphasis on using second units as affordable housing. The City could offer incentives to homeowners who are willing to build second units and dedicate them to affordable housing. Residents would be part of a neighborhood rather than "those people" in a multi-unit development. See my website for further discussion of my position on affordable workforce housing.

4. The Empty Threat of Commercial Use

Mr. Parker says that if he is not allowed to build these units someone else will build commercial space which will be a greater burden on traffic. Don't you believe it. This is a threat aimed to persuade you to accept this multi-unit project. No one has ever proposed building an acre of commercial or retail space on this site.

5. The Community's Role

I was proud to see all the residents who turned out for the public hearings in the Council chambers and at the Community Center for the La Goma and Blithedale/Camino Alto projects earlier this year. We cannot let a meeting go by without such large showings from the neighborhoods expressing our common views on such projects. The Planning Commission and City Council will listen if you keep talking. I will listen when I am on the City Council.

In addition to my views on La Goma, I believe we should pursue a number of different approaches to addressing the need for affordable housing sensibly and responsibly.

I will propose renewing the second unit amnesty program. This program was successful in locating and legalizing more than 100 second units when the city first ran it a few years ago. Additional units exist: let's make them legal and part of the city's inventory. Everyone wins.

In certain circumstances, I will seek to have a larger percentage of multi-unit developments devoted to affordable housing than the 20% the city currently requests.

I will recommend that Mill Valley explore the idea of investing in and supporting other low and moderate income housing efforts to the extent financially and legally possible, as was done successfully with the Pickelweed project. In the proper circumstances the city should consider other means of directly supporting such projects. In doing so the city would be investing in its own future.

On the planning and development side, I will recommend exploring amending the zoning ordinances to provide an incentive to single family home builders to create dedicated affordable housing units. This could be accomplished by offering a larger Floor Area Ratio credit for those who build second units held as affordable housing. In addition, the Housing Trust Fund proposed by Interfaith Affordable Housing Committee deserves serious investigation.