City Council voted Tuesday to restore an old incentive for building accessory dwelling units in Mill Valley. Underneath that vote sits a harder question for the city: how much of its progress toward the state's housing mandate is riding on ADUs, and what's actually known about what happens to one once it's built.
What's happening: According to the September 8 meeting agenda and the accompanying staff report from Director of Planning and Building Danielle Staude, Council voted to introduce an ordinance restoring a local rule that lets homeowners exempt up to 800 square feet of a legal ADU, plus 500 square feet of garage space, from their home's maximum floor area calculation. The item passed on a voice vote, with no dissent recorded.
That same staff report states the rule existed for years before the city eliminated it in 2021, when new state ADU laws made it seem redundant, and that staff has since fielded "numerous inquiries" from homeowners who built an ADU expecting a floor area break, only to learn it counts against future additions to their house.
What's at stake: Mill Valley is depending on ADUs to hit a housing number with real consequences attached. According to the city's April 20, 2026, report to council, the state requires the city to plan for 865 new homes by 2031, and the city has permitted 82 so far. The city's 2025 Annual Progress Report, filed with the state, shows that in 2025 alone the city permitted 13 units, 10 of them ADUs, with zero multi-family and zero deed-restricted affordable units.
That same April report explains that cities falling behind this mandate lose local control over certain housing approvals to a faster, state-run process known as SB 35 streamlining.
Why it matters: At an August 11 Planning Commission meeting, Staude said, in a statement she later confirmed by email: "The city of Mill Valley is one of the few cities that is not subject to SB 35 because of our ability to meet RHNA, and that is through ADUs. That won't be the case coming up with the new cycle." Explaining her own proposal at Tuesday's meeting, she said: "Every square foot in Mill Valley is over $1,000. So while the ADUs are helpful in one sense, if they're not rented out, they actually don't help with the affordability."
The context: Here's how that credit actually gets calculated, and it's more mechanical than it might sound. The state doesn't ask anything about a specific ADU, who's living in it, what they're paying, or whether it's rented at all. Instead, every ADU permitted in a given year gets divided up using one fixed formula: 30 percent of that year's total counts as very low income, 30 percent low income, 30 percent moderate, and the remaining 10 percent above moderate.
Take 2025, the most recent year on record. The city permitted 10 ADUs. Applying the same formula, that works out to three very low income, three low income, three moderate, and one above moderate, a Mill Valley Briefing calculation, not a figure the city publishes on its own. The math runs on the count, not on the units themselves.
There is a mechanism that could, in theory, check this against reality. New ADU permits come with a requirement that the owner fill out an annual state survey describing how the unit is actually being used. But Staude confirmed by email that nothing about that survey changes how a unit gets counted. The formula runs the same way regardless of what any individual survey response says.
In a written statement provided through Councilmember Stephen Burke, Staude said the city's original 2016 ADU incentive was intended to come with a deed restriction, a legal requirement to rent below area median income if the unit was rented at all, but that this was discussed at the time and never actually written into the ordinance or implemented, because state law has since changed to bar cities from imposing stricter requirements on ADUs than the state allows.
A 2021 study by the UC Berkeley Center for Community Innovation, conducted with the Association of Bay Area Governments, found that only about a third of ADUs surveyed in Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties were genuine long-term rentals available on the open market to anyone willing to pay for one. That's a narrower measure than it might sound. It only counts strangers renting at market rate, not family members paying a reduced rent or nothing at all.
The debate: In her written statement provided through Burke, Staude said that regardless of state affordability rules, ADUs help meet real, changing housing needs inside existing single-family neighborhoods, citing examples like housing a caretaker, an adult child starting a career, or aging parents in a smaller unit while family stays close by.
Burke told the Briefing the city plans to grow participation in Home Match and Lease to Locals, programs that pay homeowners to rent space, including ADUs, to local workers, using outreach channels including direct mail, MV Connect, social media, and Enjoy Mill Valley, while noting the city cannot require participation.
Burke stated that over the life of the program, the city has produced 29 Home Matches, including 8 currently active, and 2 placements specifically through Lease to Locals. The city's April 2026 progress report to Council separately counted 6 new matches across both programs in 2025.
What's next: Per the staff report, Tuesday's ordinance needs a second reading before it takes effect. At the September 8 meeting, Staude said the city is waiting on new state ADU legislation, typically signed by October, before writing a broader local ADU ordinance update later this year.
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📣 The next Mill Valley Briefing community conversation and podcast recording is this week! Titled ‘Where Mill Valley stands on wildfire, and what comes next’ and coming to Sweetwater this Wednesday, September 16, 7:30pm. Panelists from SMFD, Marin Wildfire, Marin Water and a Stanford policy expert will discuss. Free entry with RSVP, and only a limited number of spots remain.
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MILL VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETYThis week in Mill Valley history: Susan B. Anthony on the mountain
On Wednesday, September 16, 1896, three weeks after the Mount Tamalpais scenic railway opened, the railroad's directors gave a complimentary excursion to members of the California Women's Suffrage League and the Pacific Coast Women's Press Association.
Sixty-five women boarded the train at Mill Valley and rode to the summit. Susan B. Anthony was among them. She was 76 years old and had spent most of 1896 crossing California, campaigning for an amendment to the state constitution that would give women the right to vote.
The Tavern of Tamalpais under construction, circa 1896. The arch over the track had not yet been erected and the dance pavilion was still a construction site when Susan B. Anthony addressed the workers here in September of that year. (Courtesy of the Lucretia Little History Room, Mill Valley Public Library)
At the top, a suffrage meeting was held in an unfinished shed at the station house. Anthony directed her remarks not to the women who had come with her but to the workmen around the building.
"When the 3rd of November comes," she told them, "I expect every man of you to write 'yes' after the sixth amendment before he does anything else."
In November, California voters defeated the amendment by three to one.
As the party descended, the car passed the workmen's station. The men cheered and waved their handkerchiefs for Miss Anthony.
California women won the vote in 1911. Anthony died in 1906 and never saw it. The mountain she stood on that September afternoon is still there.
Sources: Sausalito News, Sep 19, 1896; Topeka State Journal, Sep 26, 1896, via West Point Inn (westpointinn.com/susan-b-anthony).
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
💰 Mill Valley council pay is set to rise from $350 to $650 a month, the first change since 2007. The council introduced the ordinance Tuesday after settling on the number back in June. We reported on the earlier discussion over a $950 proposal, the arguments that reopened the debate and the caregiver reimbursement policy that got tied to the pay question along the way.
🏗️ Mill Valley issued $15.35 million in building permits in August, the city's biggest month of 2026. We reported on the three permits over $2.5 million that drove the jump, the surge in ADU activity and the historic Mill Valley estates behind two of the month's largest projects.
👮 Mill Valley bid farewell to Police Chief Rick Navarro, who is leaving after five-plus years to become Rohnert Park's public safety director. Recruitment for his replacement closes this week, with an assessment center for finalists tentatively set for September 17. We reported on what Navarro's tenure covered, from the e-bike ordinance to the department's mental health response.
⚾ The city's mid-year retreat surfaced updates on three big infrastructure projects. We reported on the Hauke Park softball field renovation heading to council September 21 for bid authorization, the public works building's design reaching 95 percent complete and the city's coordination with PG&E on its citywide undergrounding push.
🔧 Also from the retreat: the Sycamore pump station is delayed to 2028-29 by a county easement issue, the sea level rise plan's public draft slides to December or January and the Community Center pool will close three weeks this year for added ADA work. We reported on the Ethel Avenue landslide repair's timeline and the delayed Blithedale roadside barrier project.
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. And you get full access to the archive. 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
ℹ️ See the full event calendar and bookmark it as we’ll update that same link each week.
Monday, September 14
🎭 The Arrival by Tara Blau Smollen (Staged Reading), Mill Valley Public Library, 6–8pm. In-person staged reading following a Jewish professor and his daughter fleeing Nazi Germany who find refuge at an HBCU, in the Creekside Room at 375 Throckmorton Ave. Free entry; registration required.
Tuesday, September 15
✍️ Comedy Writing Workshop with Jenny Jedeikin, Mill Valley Public Library, 5:30–7:30pm. Two-hour interactive class focusing on personal narrative, comedic timing, and discovering your funny voice in the Creekside Room at 375 Throckmorton Ave. Free entry; registration required.
🎭 Tuesday Night Comedy, Throckmorton Theatre, 8–10pm. Headliner Patrick McDermott alongside Brian Thomas, Josh Argyle, and Emily Van Dyke at 142 Throckmorton Ave. Doors open at 7:30pm.
Wednesday, September 16
🎻 Noon Concert: The ShinoShinoRosso Trio, Throckmorton Theatre, 12–1pm. Free midday chamber performance featuring violinists Beni Shinohara and Karen Shinozaki with pianist Amy Zanrosso performing works by Telemann, Milhaud, Shostakovich, and Durwynne Hsieh at 142 Throckmorton Ave. Doors open at 11:45am.
🦋 Stories from the Field: The Race to Save the Western Monarch Butterfly, The Outdoor Art Club, 6pm. Conservation advocates Mia Monroe and Ole Schell share efforts to restore native habitat and protect California's iconic monarch populations at 1 W. Blithedale Ave. Opens with a garden wine and dessert reception. Free; registration required.
🪕 The Brothers Comatose w/ Winona, The Junction Beer Garden, 6pm. San Francisco roots and bluegrass favorites bring their high-energy Americana and tight vocal harmonies outdoors to 226 Shoreline Hwy ($46 ADV / $52 DOS; all ages).
🗣️ Mill Valley Briefing Community Conversation, Sweetwater Music Hall, 7:30pm. Local community gathering and discussion hosted at 19 Corte Madera Ave. Doors open at 7pm.
Thursday, September 17
🧠 Trivia Night, The Depot Cafe and Bookstore, 5:30pm. Team trivia and prizes on the downtown plaza at 87 Throckmorton Ave. Free entry; all ages.
🎤 Mic Drop: Community Open Mic, Mill Valley Public Library, 6:30–8pm. Supportive open mic night featuring three-minute poetry and prose readings, light refreshments, and community listening in the Creekside Room at 375 Throckmorton Ave. Doors open and signups begin at 6:15pm; registration required.
🎸 Larkspur Community Battle of the Bands Winners, Sweetwater Music Hall, 8pm. Showcase featuring top-placing local bands from the Larkspur community competition at 19 Corte Madera Ave. All ages; doors open at 7:30pm.
Friday, September 18
🍿 Family Movie Day: Hoppers, Mill Valley Public Library, 3–4:30pm. Free family screening with popcorn in the Creekside Room at 375 Throckmorton Ave. All ages; no registration required.
🎨 Exhibition Opening: Lesser Known Monsters, Dorado 806 Projects (Annex Space), 5–8pm. Opening reception for a group exhibition inspired by Kim Fu’s short stories, exploring archetypes, the subconscious, and hidden monsters. Features works by Beth Waldman, Katie Dorame, Michael McGrath, Sylvia Fernandez, and more at 38 Miller Ave. Exhibition runs through Oct 17. Free entry.
🎸 John Pearce & Musical Feast, The Depot Cafe and Bookstore, 5:30pm. Alt-country, folk, and classic rock on the downtown plaza at 87 Throckmorton Ave. Free entry; all ages.
🎸 Kaki King, Sweetwater Music Hall, 8pm. Acclaimed composer and guitar virtuoso brings her innovative fingerstyle and percussive technique to 19 Corte Madera Ave. All ages; doors open at 7pm.
Saturday, September 19
📚 Friends of the Library Book Sale, Mill Valley Public Library, 10am–4:30pm. Huge selection of gently used fiction, non-fiction, bestsellers, and children's titles in the Smart Garden at 375 Throckmorton Ave.
🎨 69th Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, Old Mill Park, 10am–5pm. 135 juried fine artists exhibit under the redwoods alongside community booths and interactive art at 64 Cascade Dr. All live entertainment included with admission ($25 general / $20 seniors).
🎭 The White Chip (Matinee & Evening), Marin Theatre, 2pm & 7:30pm. Two Saturday performances of Sean Daniels’s recovery comedy at 397 Miller Ave. Recommended for ages 13+; dry bar on premises; pay-what-you-can for anyone in recovery.
🍻 Tam Valley Oktoberfest, Tamalpais Community Center, 3–8pm. Tam Valley’s annual fall celebration featuring live music, food, beer, lawn games, arts and crafts, and bounce houses at 203 Marin Ave. Tickets: $20 advance / $25 door for adults; $15 seniors (65+); $10 kids (3–18); free for under 3 and seniors 85+. Advance family packs ($50) and group passes ($100 for 6) available online.
🪕 Keystone Canyon, The Depot Cafe and Bookstore, 5:30pm. Outdoor live Americana and roots music on the downtown plaza at 87 Throckmorton Ave. Free entry; all ages.
🎶 Nepantla Nights Presents: Carlos y Charlos, Sweetwater Music Hall, 8pm. Live evening performance at 19 Corte Madera Ave. Show starts at 8pm.
Sunday, September 20
🎨 69th Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, Old Mill Park, 10am–5pm. Second day of the juried arts festival under the redwoods at 64 Cascade Dr. All live entertainment included with admission ($25 general / $20 seniors).
🎸 Carlo, The Depot Cafe and Bookstore, 4–6pm. Live acoustic performance on the downtown plaza at 87 Throckmorton Ave. Free entry; all ages.
🔍 Businesses and venues mentioned in this section are covered on editorial merit only. No business has paid for coverage. Promotional content is always labeled.
