Friends of Mill Valley

Dear Sirs and Madams;

The following points I address are the suppositions and unsubstantiated, unverified representations that occur throughout the Draft EIR of 575 East Blithedale Ave.. Many of the referenced documents are out of date and out of step with the most current environmental concerns. These include flood maps from 1979 and the: Potential listed and special status species from 2004 and 2005 Appendix D. In the world of mass extinctions and declining species a six-year old report is an out of date report. Additionally, in 2005 the California State Assembly Bill 18 Tribal Notification (Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria) was codified.

The DIER sections of focus in this letter are Hydrology, Habitat and Species of Concern, and Cultural Resources.

Dear Mr. Moore,

As a Realtor, who lives and works in Mill Valley, I undertand the owner's wish to develop this property to it "highest and best" use. This proposed project does not, however, seem to be the highest and best use for Mill Valley and its residents. It seems that an out of town developer will make a fair amount of money at the residents expense.

Mentioned in the City's Green Building Ordinance December 2008:

“Buildings are responsible for almost 40% of total energy use, 12% of water use, and 40% of all raw materials used,” said Mayor Shawn Marshall. “By adopting this Ordinance, Mill Valley joins other municipalities in the Bay area and across the world in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and our overall ecological footprint.”

Mr. Moore:

We are strongly opposed to the proposed "Blithedale Terrace" development for many reasons, all of which have been expressed by others, but we would like to emphasize one in particular.

We live on Matilda Avenue and frequently travel the portion of East Blithedale Ave. from Hilarita Ave. to the 101 freeway, which is already a very busy stretch of roadway. There have been several occasions when we have seen traffic backed up on East Blithedale almost to Park School.

We live to the south of East Blithedale, and often have difficulty turning right on East Blithedale, although eventually we manage to do it. But we often see cars coming out of Mesa Ave., on the northerly side of East Blithedale, waiting to make a left turn. Often those cars are required to wait a very long time.

Dear Ms. Staude, and Members of the Planning Commission : Mr. McCauley, Ms Richardson, Mr. Utzman, Ms. Chambers, and Mr.Rand:

Please do everything in your power to stop the development of 20 houses on the hill near Blithdale and Camino Alto. Work with the City attorney to pull out all the stops and use whatever means are at your disposal to prevent this development. The site has been openspace since the founding of Mill Valley and should remain openspace. I have been a resident of Mill Valley for 29 years. I am an architect and planner by profession, and a LEED-AP and I say this is a completely inappropriate site to be developed for high density housing at this point in the evolution of our City. We should be developing our 'brownfield sites' and preserving our 'greenfield sites' like this one for future generations to enjoy as openspace.

To All Concerned:

The proposed 30 unit development is not at all in keeping with the surrounding neighborhood. And furthermore, the corner of East Blithedale and Camino Also is already a traffic nightmare. The last thing we need is something to make it worse. If we keep growing at this pace, pretty soon we'll have to force people out of their homes to widen streets.

As a 36 year resident of Mill Valley, and having served two terms on the Mill Valley Art Commission, I have a strong sense of aesthetics and natural beauty. In my view, the soul of Mill Valley is endangered by such proposals.

I ask that you consider this matter carefully, and vote against it.

Respectfully,

Barbara Summers

Dear Mike Moore:

I am writing to voice my concern about the proposed development at 575 East Blithedale.

I believe every inhabitant of Mill Valley who drives a car will be significantly impacted by this extremely poorly conceived development. The existing traffic congestion would be increased substantially at this very difficult intersection, the entryway to our city, not to mention the numerous inhabitants of the proposed building who would find it next to impossible and extremely dangerous to exit the development onto East Blithedale. This is a major public safety concern.

This is not a property for multi-unit residential development. It would sit in a neighborhood of mostly one-story single family homes, making it inappropriate and out of character.

I urge you to deny the applicant's proposal for rezoning this property.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Elspeth Martin
12 Park Terrace

With great concern, I want to address the 575 E. Blithedale Development. We live at 527 E. Blithedale Ave, just a 5 houses away from the proposed Blithedale Terrace/Kite Hill site. Mill Valley CAN NOT let this pass for several reasons that are not being honestly and realistically addressed by Phil Richardson's DEIR. ALL MILL VALLEY RESIDENTS WILL BE AFFECTED.

Images of BLITHEDALE TRAFFIC ISSUES here: http://design-as.com/EBlithedale_Traffic/
Listen to a CONSTRUCTION PILE DRIVER here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBVMGywXVr8

1. TRAFFIC: Every morning I watch a stalled line of cars crawl past my front lawn on E. Blithedale waiting for the light to turn. It's backed up farther than I can see sometimes. If a car parks in front of my driveway and one car tries to turn left onto Amicita Ave, ALL TRAFFIC HALTS heading into the valley.

Dear Mr. Moore,

Mine is the property at 563 E. Blithedale Ave., adjacent to the proposed “Blithedale Terrace Project”. I would like to submit a few comments regarding the subject DEIR.

What a wonderful and extensive document it is, with helpful diagrams, beautiful pictures, figures, tables, and well written texts. Unfortunately, it gives the wholly wrong impression that the environmental impacts of this massive and misplaced project can somehow be mitigated without a complete overhaul and scaling down.

Here are a few specific observations:

Dear Director Moore,

We oppose rezoning of the hillside at Camino Alto and Blithedale in order to accommodate the development proposed by Mr. Richardson. It is unacceptable to cover with cement one of the last open vistas at an entrance to the valley, and to contribute further congestion to an already pressured intersection.

Mill Valley is being tempted to excess. Schemes like this lure us to bloat into another heap of overflowing city. From a remembered time as a refuge for family life and recreation free of constriction and of oppressive traffic, our town risks becoming an overbuilt and rather ordinary sprawl.

Instead of diligence to protecting our considerable natural grandeur, there is lack of vision and ignorance of the unique value of where we live.

Sincerely yours,

Sherrod McCall
Linda Hartney McCall

Hello,

Please allow me to use this email to introduce myself. My name is Samantha Marx. I am the owner and resident of a home in Sycamore Park. My address is 5 Amicita and is located at the corner of Amicita and Sycamore. The traffic is impressive, in a negative way. I cannot understand what good can come out of 20 additional houses at one of the busiest intersections in Mill Valley. There are too many cars for our infrastructure now. Adding more homes or offices will increase the amount of cars at, an already busy, intersection. The Mill Valley Middle School is one block from 575 E. Blithedale. What is the benefit of having more cars near 100s of kids daily? How is it good to add to the already over crowded streets?

Thank you for reading this.

Mill Valley Resident
Samantha Marx