What's happening: Mill Valley and Marin County have begun funding early-stage planning for a possible bike skills facility somewhere in the city's park system. No site has been selected, and no construction funding has been approved, according to Arts and Recreation Director Ashley Howe.
On Aug. 25, the Marin County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to accept a $20,000 donation from the Marin Community Foundation, according to the county's board agenda and staff report. The donation is funding concept-level design work for a bike facility serving southern Marin, in partnership with the city and Friends of Stafford Lake Bike Park, a nonprofit that has supported the bike park in Novato and serves as the fiscal sponsor for the Mill Valley Pump Track Alliance.
Separately, Mill Valley’s staff report shows the city has set aside $115,774 in Measure A capital funds toward future planning and, if the project advances, construction.
Flyers have gone up in recent days around the Bayfront Park dog park, including this one on a bulletin board at the park. (MVB, Oct 3)
The context: The city has looked at a bike amenity before, through a staff evaluation in 2020 and a consultant assessment in 2025 tied to the Boyle Park Master Plan, according to the Parks and Recreation Commission staff update for the Oct. 7 meeting. Director Howe told the Briefing the Parks and Recreation Commission identified it as a priority after community support during the Boyle Park process, and the update says the City Council accepted the commission's work plan listing it as a priority project in April.
The county says the removal earlier this year of unauthorized bike jumps built on public land, which did not meet safety standards, highlighted that southern Marin has no public bike skills facility comparable to Stafford Lake Bike Park in Novato. The Briefing reported on the removal of the Scott Valley bike jumps in May.
"I'm encouraged that the city has identified the pump track as a community priority and directed staff to keep the effort moving forward," said Patrick Linehan, who leads the Mill Valley Pump Track Alliance.
The local advocacy group has proposed a roughly 40,000-square-foot facility at Bayfront Park along the Mill Valley-Sausalito Pathway, made up of a kids' skills area, a pump track, a jump line, and space for an entrance and landscaping. Linehan said the design goal is for roughly half that footprint, about 20,000 square feet, to remain green open space.
He said the full 40,000 square feet amounts to roughly 20% of what he describes as the dog park's 4.3 acres of functional off-leash space. Some dog park users point to the area inside the walking loop as being closer to 3 acres. By that measure, the proposal would cover closer to a third of the current dog park.
Bayfront Park includes beach volleyball courts, soccer fields and a dog park, where dogs are off leash from the path fence to the water except in a fenced-off wildlife area. The green rectangle shows the size of the proposed 40,000-square-foot bike facility, not a location.
The debate: Some Bayfront dog park users have organized in response, saying they worry the city's only off-leash dog park could be reduced or displaced. A group calling itself Save Bayfront Dog Park says it has drawn close to 200 sign-ups on a form asking the city to preserve the dog park and locate any bike facility elsewhere.
Supporters and opponents describe the stakes differently. Kevin McCoy, a Mill Valley dog owner and father of two young boys, supports a Bayfront site. He said concerns that the park can't absorb a bike facility don't match what he sees there. "That park is massive,” he told the Briefing. “I can't say that there's ever been too many people or not enough space." He also pointed out that some families have both dogs and young children, a group he said gets left out when the debate is framed as dog owners against bike families.
Linehan said the Alliance's goal has never been to eliminate the dog park, and that design is central to how the two could coexist. "I think a thoughtful design can maintain that character while safely separating the groups with fencing and separate entrances," he said. "I understand why dog park users want to protect their space."
Vicki Larson, a spokesperson for Save Bayfront Dog Park and a former Marin IJ columnist, said her objection isn't to a pump track itself. "I'm very supportive of the biking community. I'm a real bike person," she said. "I just don't think it belongs at the dog park." Larson said fast movement and noise near the off-leash area could distress dogs that use the park as a refuge, including her own rescue dog.
Lisa Isley, who led a 2023-24 push for separate dog park upgrades, said her concern is safety rather than opposition to biking. "A pump track would bring many more riders through the same shared entrances and along the same path used by off-leash dogs and by walkers, many of them senior citizens," she said, noting that Stafford Lake Bike Park in Novato typically bars dogs for that reason.
Howe said no decision has been made either way: "Bayfront Park has not been formally selected as the site for a bike facility, nor has a specific area of the park been identified for that purpose."
What's next: The Parks and Recreation Commission regularly receives updates on its priority projects, including the effort to investigate and evaluate potential sites for a sanctioned bike amenity. The next update on various priority projects is on the agenda for its Wednesday meeting at 6pm in City Council Chambers. It is a staff update, and no vote or decision is scheduled. The agenda includes time for public comment.
Howe said city staff anticipate engaging a consultant in early 2027 to lead a formal feasibility study and community engagement process, with the commission and City Council reviewing the results before any decision is made. Residents who want to be added to the city's communication list can contact Howe's office directly.
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MILL VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETYThis week in Mill Valley history: The night the festival began
This week, the Mill Valley Film Festival opened this week for its 49th edition — eleven days of films, filmmakers and conversations at the Sequoia and the Rafael. It is one of the most respected film festivals in the country.
It started with champagne at a bank on Throckmorton Avenue on a summer night.
On Friday, Aug. 11, 1978, nearly 300 people gathered at the Fidelity Savings branch at 130 Throckmorton — today the Citibank — for the opening night party of the first Mill Valley Film Festival. The champagne was donated by Napa Valley's Domaine Chandon. City Council members were there. So were filmmakers, neighbors and anyone who had bought a series ticket.
Next door, at 142 Throckmorton — now the Throckmorton Theatre — Odd Fellows Hall was sold out for the opening event, a tribute to poet and filmmaker James Broughton. At midnight, the Sequoia screened Woodstock. Tickets had been sold at the Book Depot.
The first three Mill Valley Film Festival posters, 1978-1980. The 1978 brochure (designer unknown) shows Mount Tamalpais framing the Mill Valley townscape. David Oshiro's 1979 poster used the mountain's silhouette as a logo, its road punched to resemble 35mm film. By 1980, designer John Casado had moved to pure abstraction: yellow, gray, red and a strip of blue film at the center. (Courtesy of the Lucretia Little History Room, Mill Valley Public Library)
The festival had been organized by Mark Fishkin, who had been running foreign films at the Odd Fellows Hall since 1976 under the name Saturday Nite Movies. "I was appalled at the lack of any independent film or diversity in theatrical exhibition when I moved to Marin County in 1977," he said years later. "I wanted to make a place for these films. That was my primary goal."
The timing was not easy. Proposition 13 had passed in June 1978, cutting public arts funding. The backing came from an unlikely source: Fidelity Savings and Loan, whose Mill Valley branch manager had an $8,000 community service budget and was looking for local projects to fund. The festival was one of them — alongside Dipsea race buses and CPR pamphlets. The Mill Valley Arts Commission provided a grant. The program ran across three locations simultaneously, with children's filmmaking workshops at the Golf Clubhouse all weekend, free of charge.
The first festival sold out almost every program. The following year Fishkin expanded it from three days to eight, with more than 100 films in 40 programs. Managing director Lois Cole explained the philosophy: "Basically, what we are doing is bringing the highest quality films we can into Mill Valley's back yard."
The Record's reviewer, Alan Shearer, ended his account of the first festival with a toast: "Let's drink to another successful Mill Valley Film Festival."
That was 48 years ago. Twelve films that screened at MVFF have since won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Sources: Mill Valley Record, Jul 12, Jul 26, Aug 9, Aug 16, 1978 (Alan Shearer), Aug 1, 1979 (John Kearney); Mill Valley Historical Society, MVFF Vignette; OAC, MVFF Collection finding aid; Marin Magazine, Oct 2026 (Bernard Boo, quoting Fishkin from MVFF.com, 2017).
This story was sponsored by the Mill Valley Historical Society. Visit their new website at mvhistory.org.
Sponsors pay for placement, not coverage. Our reporting is always produced independently, without sponsor review or editorial input.
What we covered this week
🚦 The Miller Avenue roundabout may get design money but not construction money. TAM staff ranked the project last among nine. We reported on why Mill Valley has never won a grant from this program and how many votes Councilmember Carmel needs to change the funding amount before the Oct. 12 vote.
🌊 Mill Valley is preparing for an El Niño winter, and the city manager expects trouble by Thanksgiving. We reported on what crews have cleared, the new gates near Sycamore Avenue and what the county admitted about last winter's flood alerts.
🏘️ The council votes Monday on a $2 million loan for the Hamilton Drive affordable housing project. We reported on what the money covers, how the project lost a state award by a quarter point and where the three lawsuits against it stand after months of courthouse record pulls.
🚲 TAM extended Redwood Bikeshare for three years, and Mill Valley is not on the map. We reported on what a new $1 million state earmark could change.
🏆 Two more Milley Award winners told us about their craft ahead of the Oct. 18 ceremony. One made a promise to herself on Mt. Tam in 1976. The other calls a town park the truest art she knows.
If you want to read about any of these stories as they develop, the weekday Briefing lands in your inbox Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6am. A paid subscription makes this reader-funded, local news operation possible. It’s $12 per month, which you can cancel anytime, and the annual subscription comes out to less than $2.50 a week. Upgrading is only two clicks if you use Apple Pay.
📅 Next week in Mill Valley
Sunday, October 4
🐺 Youth Musical: Little Red Met a Wolf, 142 Throckmorton Theatre, 12pm, 3pm & 5:30pm. Closing day performances from the Afterschool Youth & Teen Program at 142 Throckmorton Ave.
🎥 MVFF49 Panel: Innovative Toolsets for Filmmaking, Sequoia Cinema (Sequoia 1), 2:30–3:30pm. A candid look at how advanced tools are reshaping filmmaking, featuring Daniel Kenyon (Co-Founder, Perception Grid) at 25 Throckmorton Ave. Free; ticket required.
🎸 Hydromatic Drive, The Depot Cafe and Bookstore, 4–6pm. Live outdoor blues and classic rock on the downtown plaza at 87 Throckmorton Ave. Free entry; all ages.
Monday, October 5
📚 Author Talk: Laura Stivers with Maya Friedman, Mill Valley Public Library, 6:30–7:30pm. Exploring housing, sustainability, and interconnected communities in A Home for All in the Creekside Room at 375 Throckmorton Ave. Free; registration required.
🎸 Mike Dawes (SOLD OUT), Sweetwater Music Hall Click to open side panel for more information , 8pm. Fingerstyle acoustic virtuoso at 19 Corte Madera Ave. All ages; doors open at 7pm.
Tuesday, October 6
🍳 MVFF49: DocTalk Brunch + Panel, The Outdoor Art Club Click to open side panel for more information , 12–2pm. Nonfiction creators Avi Belkin, David Greaves, Viridiana Lieberman, and Dawn Porter discuss documentary craft at 1 W. Blithedale Ave. Ticketed.
🎨 Mill Valley First Tuesday ArtWalk, Various Downtown & Community Venues, 5:30–7:30pm (unless otherwise noted). The Mill Valley Arts Commission hosts its monthly townwide gallery stroll celebrating works by Bay Area artists that remain on display throughout the month. Free admission.
🌧️ Preparing for El Niño, Mill Valley Public Library, 6–7pm. Local first responders and municipal officials share winter flood and storm preparedness strategies in the Creekside Room at 375 Throckmorton Ave. Free; registration required.
🎭 Tuesday Night Comedy, 142 Throckmorton Theatre Click to open side panel for more information , 8–10pm. Headliner Bruce Jingles alongside Mario Hodge, Adrianna McCain, Chad Opitz, and host Kirk McHenry at 142 Throckmorton Ave. Doors open at 7:30pm.
Wednesday, October 7
🎻 Noon Concert: Cadenza – Solo Cello Beyond the Orchestra, 142 Throckmorton Theatre, 12–1pm. Christoph Wagner performs a free midday solo cello recital at 142 Throckmorton Ave. Free admission.
🪶 First Wednesday: Two Pivotal Native Americans from the Sonoma Valley, Mill Valley Public Library, 6:30–8:00pm. Peter G. Meyerhof reveals research on two 19th-century Coast Miwok figures in the Creekside Room at 375 Throckmorton Ave. Free; registration required.
🎸 Pink Talking Fish, The Junction Beer Garden Click to open side panel for more information , 7pm. Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, and Phish fusion outdoors at 226 Shoreline Hwy ($32 ADV / $41 DOS; all ages).
ℹ️ See the full event calendar and bookmark it as we’ll update the same link each week.
🔍 Businesses and venues mentioned in this section are covered on editorial merit only. No business has paid for coverage. Promotional content is always labeled.
🎙️Mill Valley Briefing presents the ‘Voices of the Valley’ podcast, now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or right in your browser. It features recordings from our live events, and intriguing conversations hosted by a rotating group of locals who know this community from the inside. Listen on your favorite app or see all episodes here.
