City planning staff and the city’s environmental consultant opened the public scoping period for the 1 Hamilton affordable-housing project and solicited input on what should be studied in the project’s environmental impact report (EIR).

The scoping meeting focused on the EIR process under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the draft EIR timeline and the environmental topics the city plans to analyze. Rob Carnahan, environmental consultant for WRA, said the city released a notice of preparation to start a minimum 30-day scoping period and that the draft EIR is expected to be published in the summer, followed by a 45-day public review period and at least one public meeting during that circulation period.

The project would develop the northern portion of the 1 Hamilton property as affordable housing. Danielle Stoudy, senior planner and the project manager, said the development team (including EAH Housing) has been part of prior community workshops and that the current public meeting is limited to scoping the EIR, not to deliberating or approving the project.

Rob Carnahan described the site and study parameters the city intends to use in the EIR. The parcel to be developed sits adjacent to Hockey Park, includes an existing public parking lot with about 38 spaces, an electric-vehicle charging station and public restrooms, and the site is steeply sloped in places. The project team is proposing roughly 40 to 50 units; Carnahan said the draft EIR will analyze impacts for up to 50 units to set a conservative environmental footprint. He said the project design is still being refined and that the EIR will focus on land use, aesthetics, biological and cultural resources, geology and soils (including serpentine rock), transportation, public services and utilities, and other standard CEQA categories.

The presentation listed specific discretionary approvals that would trigger CEQA review: design review of site and building plans; a tentative parcel map to split the northern portion of 1 Hamilton into a separate parcel; rezoning from the current open-area designation to a multifamily (bayfront) designation; a tree removal permit for about 40 trees identified in the notice of preparation; and a long-term ground lease for EAH Housing to operate the facility. Carnahan and staff said the project would relocate the existing parking, restrooms and EV charging station to adjacent Public Safety Building parking lots A and B, which would be reconfigured, and that vehicle access to the housing’s garage would use the existing Public Safety driveway (no new curb cut on Hamilton Drive).

Members of the public raised issues they want the EIR to analyze or clarify. Elizabeth O'Donnell, a Mill Valley resident, urged the team to include an air-quality/asbestos analysis and parental notification plans, citing concern that serpentine bedrock could produce naturally occurring asbestos when excavated. "Please include an air quality report in the EIR," O'Donnell said, adding that mitigation for asbestos often relies on keeping soils wet and monitoring air during construction.

Nona Dennis, representing the Marine Conservation League, asked the city to ensure hydrology, sea-level rise and tsunami risk are evaluated in the EIR and to consider consistency with the city general plan’s policies on shoreline and climate adaptation. "Because it's so significant to the city… find ways to get hydrology back in to the list of the checklist," Dennis said.

Several speakers raised public-safety and circulation concerns. Teresa Ray and Bridal Kaufman asked the city to consider Hamilton Drive's role in emergency evacuation and the project's effects on evacuation routing and emergency-vehicle access; Ray suggested that average daily trips could warrant keeping Hamilton open as a two-way emergency route. Other commenters asked about reserving units for essential workers and whether flooding or increasing storm surge could impede evacuation.

Visual-impact concerns and requests for story poles to show building height, bulk and viewshed impacts were raised by Gary Batroff and Paula McGrath, who said story poles would help neighbors evaluate visual impacts. Supporters of the project, including Bob Pandoli speaking for the Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative and Martha Viela, urged the city to move the project forward because of local affordable-housing needs. Dennis Klein, representing the Mill Valley Affordable Housing Committee and a certified planner, framed the project as part of broader climate and housing responses.

Carnahan identified a set of topics the draft EIR team expects to examine in detail (aesthetics, biological resources, cultural resources, energy use, geology and soils including serpentine rock/asbestos, hazardous materials, tribal cultural resources, land use and planning consistency, noise, population and housing, public services, recreation, utilities and wastewater, transportation and parking analysis, cumulative and growth-inducing impacts). He said some topics (large-scale air-quality impacts, hydrology and water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, agriculture, forestry, mineral resources and wildfire risk) may be scoped out or covered in the initial study depending on technical analysis, but the team will document those determinations.

The project team encouraged written comments and asked attendees to sign the distribution list to receive future notices. Carnahan said comments on the scope should be submitted in writing by the close of business on the 27th to Patrick Kelly or Danielle Stoudy (as stated at the meeting). He also said the draft EIR will be posted on the city website and available at the planning department when released.

No formal decisions or votes were taken at the scoping meeting; the session was solely to solicit public and agency input to define the EIR analysis and alternatives.