City Council adopts Boyle Park master plan and digs into the details

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Today's newsletter: Boyle Park master plan is adopted, and PG&E is putting powerlines under ground. This Briefing is about 1,324 words, a 5-minute read.

- Written and edited by Franz Strasser-Galvis

Mill Valley City Council voted unanimously Monday night to receive the Boyle Park Master Plan, ending a two-year planning process and giving the city its first formal framework for the park since 1991, Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Naomi Gray told the council. The vote itself took only a few seconds. The conversation before it took considerably longer.

Gray opened with the theme that had guided the entire process. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," she said. "People love the park as it is. They don't want dramatic changes or significant new amenities - just maintain and improve what's there." Former Commission Chair Chris Carney, Arts and Recreation Director Ashley Howe and Deputy Director Jay Ingram also presented to the council.

What's happening: Staff have submitted two Boyle Park projects for the upcoming two-year budget cycle: tennis court improvements and picnic area upgrades. Councilmember Stephen Burke said the upper two tennis courts are currently unplayable and unsafe, and staff confirmed the assessment. A third item - the pro shop improvement, listed in the April staff report - drew skepticism. Councilmember Urban Carmel said he had visited the pro shop, found it functional, and that sustainability principles argued for reusing what exists rather than replacing it. Mayor Max Perrey agreed it was not an urgent priority for this budget cycle.

The debate: The discussion revealed four issues the council expects to revisit as individual projects come forward for funding.

Restrooms: The plan's estimate of $1.95 million for two restroom replacements drew the sharpest reaction. "I just cannot get behind $2 million for six restrooms," said Carmel. "You're going to spend the same amount as building a house." Mayor Perrey said he had sent the city manager a news article about the $1.7 million Noe Valley bathroom that made international news as a cautionary tale. Howe defended the figure as benchmarked against a recent installation at Corte Madera Town Park and said replacement rather than renovation was the plan's strong recommendation, based on community feedback and a failed renovation attempt during COVID. A Prop 58 per capita grant - $177,000, the same amount used for the beach volleyball courts - could offset some cost, she said.

Paths and materials: Carmel argued at length for narrower paths, natural materials and no concrete. "I am very much against making these things concrete," he said, pointing to the gravel golf course path - about 8 feet wide and wheelchair-accessible - as a workable model. He also said he would not widen the bridge. "It's $600,000 and you'll get stuck in environmental hell trying to get across that creek." Gray and Howe confirmed that path width, materials and the bridge design are all deferred to the design phase. "The plan is a roadmap, not a blueprint," said Carney, a framing every council member echoed in their deliberative comments.

Vice Mayor Joachim took a different view on the bridge. She said she had walked across it and worried her foot would go through the decking. "It's dilapidated," she said. "If there's some way we can figure out funding for that, I would support it."

The basketball hoop: Burke said he had coached basketball for 30 years and tried for years to get a court installed in Mill Valley, but still could not support the hoop at Boyle. "I don't think it fits in the environment," he said. Councilmember Catherine Jones and Vice Mayor Joachim both supported it as another outlet for kids. Carmel split the difference: the proposal is simply to fix the existing pad and add a pole and hoop. "Somebody waiting for their brother who's playing baseball," he said. "It's not a quarter court."

Dogs: Burke called the situation "thorny" and said the plan had not resolved it. Carmel suggested time-of-day restrictions - dogs in the morning and evening - as a practical middle ground that avoids a fenced area. "We can all coexist," he said.

The details: Jones noted that the pump track was not identified as a survey option and still received the most write-in votes of any amenity. "At every meeting I've attended, a wide swath of our community has been asking for it," she said. "It's the number one priority of the Parks and Recreation Commission this year to find an opportunity to build one." The plan document does not include one. The commission has committed to a feasibility study to find a suitable location elsewhere in Mill Valley.

What happens next: The five-year Capital Improvement Program comes before the council in June. That is when the first real sequencing decisions will be made. Staff said they want to bundle projects where possible to reduce mobilization costs: if paving is happening in one area, what else could that contractor address at the same time.

The debate Monday night suggests several cost figures will be revisited before projects enter the formal budget process. Funding will come from a combination of Measure L infrastructure funds, Measure A park funds, grants and community fundraising, with no single source covering more than a portion of any major item, according to the April 2026 staff report.

Mill Valley Briefing will follow up with the city as the plan moves into implementation.

PG&E plans to underground 16 miles of powerlines across Mill Valley's Blithedale Canyon and Middle Ridge neighborhoods in a $45 million project scheduled to begin in 2027. Streets within the project footprint include West Blithedale Avenue, Corte Madera Avenue, Eldridge Avenue, King Street, Magee Avenue, Marguerite Avenue, Ralston Avenue and Summit Avenue, among others.