Soon-to-open Throckmorton Ave. restaurant’s owners received unanimous approval from the Planning Commission this week to have acclaimed artist paint a large-scale mural above their new dining deck.

Five years have passed since Mill Valley native Zio Ziegler returned home from college at Brown and Rhode Island School of Design with a whirlwind of energy, opening his Art Sempre pop-up art and clothing shop and showcasing his burgeoning artistic style with murals all over town, from the Throckmorton Theatre and Proof Lab to Tam Bikes and even turning a Sycamore Park family’s Porsche of into a mobile mural.

Fast forward a half-decade and Ziegler is an internationally acclaimed artist, with murals both far afield (London, Tokyo, Paris, Ukraine and Cozumel, Mexico, to name a few) and closer to home in San Francisco’s Mission, Tenderloin and Outer Sunset neighborhoods, on the Federal Realty Building in Oakland and on the campuses of tech giants like Facebook, Uber and Google.

Ziegler’s global emergence serves as the backdrop for his latest hometown project: a mural on the side of the building that houses the Sequoia Theatre, on the west-facing wall that overlooks the new dining deck of the soon-to-open Playa restaurant. The venture came about quickly – and will happen in a flash.

Soon after they purchased Playa in June from Karen Goldberg, Bill and Vanessa Higgins and Peter Schumacher, whose Real Restaurants company owns Mill Valley landmarks Buckeye Roadhouse and Bungalow 44, among others, reached out to Ziegler about creating a mural above the deck. Ziegler, the son of Banana Republic founders Mel and Patricia Ziegler, was game, and serendipitously had a small window of time before he heads overseas in early August for more previously-scheduled mural projects.

The group obtained permission from theatre owner Friends of the Sequoia Theater, with California Film Institute Executive Director Mark Fishkin, one of the group’s managing partners, calling the proposed mural a community “asset that enhances the beautiful common areas that have been incorporated into the new design of Playa's outdoor space.”

And on July 26, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to allow the project to proceed, with the caveat that the mural be “G-rated” and “compatible with Mill Valley’s small-town character.”

“It’s a beautiful opportunity,” Bill Higgins told the Commission. “We think the world of Zio.”

Ziegler famously works on instinct, telling Michael Krasny recent on KQED’s “Forum” that his art is often his way of “processing my emotions and experiences” and that his art “flows from my hand.” Ziegler told the Commission that while he didn’t have sketches of the piece he’ll create above Playa’s deck, he’ll likely draw inspiration from the words on the plaque at the Sitting Bull monument along Temelpa Trail on Mt. Tam.

“Those words need a physical embodiment – possibly the idea of the mountain holding you and serving as a nurturing force,” hinted Ziegler, who appeared at the Depot Bookstore & Cafe on Thursday in support of his new book, “Collaborate with Zio: The Artist's Sketchpad, Coauthored and Colored by YOU,” a coloring book that hopes to inspire kids and adults. “I really want to honor the pallette of the mountain.”

Ziegler is set to begin working on the mural next week, and Playa is set to open in the coming days.

“We’re very lucky to have him,” Planning Commission Chair Anne Bolen said of Ziegler.
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The 411: Playa is at 41 Throckmorton. It’s set to open in the coming days.

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UPDATE 8.3.16: The Depot is currently closed due to a permitting delay but plans to be back open in the coming days.

One of Mill Valley's landmark institutions, located inside the most famous building in town, changed hands in April, and its new owners have spent the past few months examining the business and planning its future.

A group of investors headed by Vasco owner Paul Lazzareschi and Piazza D’Angelo co-owner Domenico Petrone have taken over the Depot Bookstore & Cafe from the family of the late Mary Turnbull, who founded the famed bookstore and cafe with her husband William Turnbull in 1987. Turnbull, who also co-founded the legendary Tides Bookstore in Sausalito, died peacefully of natural causes on September 30, 2015.

“We are thrilled at the opportunity to take the reins of one of Mill Valley’s landmark institutions,” Petrone said. “We've been analyzing every aspect of the business over the past few months so that we can both preserve the elements that mean so much to this community and also usher in some great new ideas that people will love.”

The depot building, which also contains the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center, is owned by the City of Mill Valley. The existing lease on the property runs through December 31, 2016, and Puffin has exercised the last of its five-year extensions, which would take it to December 31, 2021. The Depot pays the City a base rent plus a percentage of total sales.
The depot building was built by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad in 1928. It served as the terminal for electric and oil trains that between Mill Valley to the Sausalito ferry docks. The railroad shut down in the 1940s and morphed into a bus depot, used first by Greyhound and later by Golden Gate Transit.

In the 1970s, the building was re-invented as Ganey’s Bookstore and Cafe, which it remained until the Turnbull family took over the lease in 1987.

Lazzareschi says they plan some outdoor improvements, such as lighting and heating that would allow nighttime food service on the patio. They also plan to explore some floor plan changes inside, and are open to making those changes in conjunction with the City's long-planned construction of a new bathroom in the building later this year (click here for the Depot's proposed changes via plans from Mill Valley architect Evan Cross).
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“This is going to be very exciting,” Lazzareschi said.

In describing the newest retail shop in downtown Mill Valley, it’s best to start with inspiration before inventory.

At Pollen + Wool, which opened for a sneak peak last week at 21 Throckmorton Ave. in downtown Mill Valley, creative energy abounds. The source of that creativity is owner Kristina de Pizzol, who draws inspiration from both the personal and the global: her Norwegian heritage, the powerful role that bees and pollen play in the history of our planet, the elemental fabric of wool itself.

Pollen + Wool’s tagline is “Gather. Made. Splendid. Live the Life You’ve Imagined,” with that last part coming from the words of Henry David Thoreau.

“This is meant to be a special place that centers on valuing what you think is important in life,” De Pizzol says. “It’s not an exclusive place. It’s a place where you’ll find things that are beautiful and unique. But it’s also a space where you can make things, hold events and is more of just a lifestyle.”

Now onto the what. Step inside the bright, gorgeous, 2,500-square foot space of Pollen + Wool and you’ll find a selection so eclectic that you’ll realize why we started with the inspiration rather than the inventory: A create-a-terrarium workspace. Andrew Goldsworthy-esque furniture and housewares. Gorgeous women’s clothing. A library. Reclaimed wood artwork. A teepee. Jewelry. An array of plants.

Pollen + Wool is De Pizzol’s latest creation. The Marin native spent the early part of her professional life in the San Francisco clothing design world, launching her own vintage-inspired clothing line called Delilah Crown, which was based on Green Street in North Beach for many years.

When she had children, De Pizzol decided that didn’t want to manage both her retail and wholesale businesses any longer, so she opened Gigi + Rose, named for her two young daughters, to focus on retail. The whimsical shop in Ghiradelli Square carries both women’s and children’s clothing and is “meant to be a happy place for you and your daughters,” she says. “It’s all about coming to the city and a mom and a daughter just having a nice day together.”

The success of the Gigi + Rose allowed De Pizzol in 2013 to open Jackson + Polk, a shop featuring men’s clothing, housewares, art, accessories, books and much more. Under the tagline, “We live by the City. We live by the sea. We love urban life. We love nature,” Jackson + Polk celebrates “what we love about San Francisco, with all of the makers and thinkers and wanting to have an intelligent, sometimes humorous conversation,” De Pizzol says. “I really just don’t want to ever underestimate the people who come into my stores. And I want to treat kids like they’re intelligent as well.”

De Pizzol says she chose Mill Valley for a variety of reasons. Her daughters go to school in Marin, and she’s always loved Mill Valley “because it has a heart – it has a physical center to its downtown. And I see this space as a creative gathering place where people can come and enjoy their time. And it’s a good fit for the town. People that choose to live in Mill Valley do so for a reason.”

The 411: Pollen + Wool is currently in “sneak peak” mode, and plans to host opening events in the coming weeks.

Allely Albert had a fairly typical Mill Valley upbringing, attending Kumara Preschool, Park Elementary, MV Middle and Tam High and starring on the state championship Mock Trial team before heading off to college.

But Albert also showed a flair for taking the path less traveled, playing baseball instead of softball at Tam and becoming the only girl to so in the Marin County Athletic League at that time. And after graduating from Willamette University, Albert’s journey completely diverged from the typical – it’s safe to say that having a river AND a toddler named after you in Muambong, Cameroon, on the heels of a 30-month Peace Corps stint there, qualifies as the path less traveled.

Now Albert’s circuitous path has brought her home. The 25-year-old is the new Community Services Officer for the Mill Valley Police Department, replacing Sheryl Patton, who served in that role for 15 years, and was introduced to the City Council last week by Police Chief Angel Bernal.

“We are extremely fortunate and happy to have Allely joining us and I can’t say enough about having this bright young person who we pray will stay with us for a very long time to come,” Bernal told the Council.

In her new role, Albert will play an integral role in MVPD’s outreach to the community and serve as a “jill of all trades” in supporting nearly all fects of the department, Bernal said. Albert’s experience in Muambong showed she has a penchant for successfully connecting with a community.

Albert spent two-and-a-half years volunteering for the Peace Corps in Muambong, a farming community of approximately 5,000 residents spread across more than a half dozen villages. The experience changed her life, as she spearheaded a wide range of programs that spanned epilepsy, a pen pal program between a Muambong school and Park School in Mill Valley, a malaria campaign, nutritional education and, after she extended her stay at the request of the community, helping to create a new water system.

“The people there were just some of the most amazing people I have ever met, so warm and kind and welcoming,” Albert says. “I was the first volunteer that they had had in a very long time.”

In the time that she was there, a family named their baby after Albert and the village elders named a nearby river after her. And when Albert’s family came to visit over the holidays in 2014-15, “they presented my family with a live goat,” Albert wrote in a blog post. “They wanted my family to bring it back to America with them, but after a few explanations about the rules and regulations of airplanes, it was ultimately decided the goat would stay with me. So I am now the proud and clueless owner of a ram.” Her family’s visit was the reason for four village parties in three days, including a number of musical performances of songs that were specifically created for Albert’s family.

Albert’s send-off party from Muambong in January of this year was “more attended than a Beyoncé concert,” a fellow Peace Corp volunteer told her.

Albert says she’s thrilled at her latest opportunity.
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“Being able to combine the community outreach component with my interest in criminal justice and law – and to do it in my hometown – is a really exciting opportunity,” Albert says.

The Milley Awards, Mill Valley’s annual celebration of its community’s vast amount of creative achievement and distinguished accomplishments in the arts, unveiled its 2016 class of winners this week. As usual, it’s a celebrated group from a wide array of fields, all providing yet another reminder of the vitality of the local arts and entertainment scene.
The Milley’s 22nd annual gala is set for October 23 at 6pm at the Community Center. The following standouts will be honored:

​An integral force in the Greenwich Village folk music revival of the 1960s alongside the likes of Bob Dylan, Muldaur made her home in Mill Valley soon after. Best known for the hit single “Midnight at the Oasis,” which reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974, her career includes 40 albums spanning folk, jazz, gospel, Big Band and now primarily blues genres, and six Grammy nominations. The longtime Mill Valley resident continues to tour and collaborate across the U.S.

​For the past 10 years, Minadakis has left an indelible artistic imprint on the Marin Theatre Company, driving the organization to new heights as it enters its 50th season. Under the Mill Valley resident’s leadership, MTC has expanded its production of original, cutting-edge American plays, by young and especially African-American playwrights, in part by creating two nationwide playwriting competitions in just his second year there. MTC and Mill Valley are now established in the first ranks of regional American theatre. Minadakis has also dramatically expanded MTC’s education programs, including both performances and classes that serve over 12,000 Marin students annually.

​Take one step into Two Neat and be immersed into the creative spirit, music, geography and state of mind of Mill Valley and Marin County.  Bijou, who lives in Sausalito, is the store’s founder and owner, and for almost 30 years, he’s used this gem of a shop to celebrate artists, musicians and just plain fun. Bijou, who lives in Sausalito, also created and maintains the millvalleymap.com website, and co-founded Watts Up!, Mill Valley’s storefront holiday lighting program.

​An environmental author, essayist, and former Pulitzer Prize-nominated war correspondent, this Mill Valley resident won the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award and an Overseas Press Club citation for his coverage of the Vietnam War, during which he became the first American journalist to enter and return from Vietcong territory in South Vietnam. Leslie has also won national awards for his work in newspapers, magazines, and books, and his tome, “Deep Water: The Epic Struggle Over Dams, Displaced People, and the Environment,” won the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award for its “beautiful, elegant prose.”

​A third-generation designer and maker of fine, collectible wood furniture, vessels and ornamental objects from his studio in Bolinas, this Mill Valley resident made and donated the Mill Valley City Hall entryway bench, and built the new reference desk and book drop for the town’s library. published “Education of a Woodsmith,” the autobiography and creative handbook of his father, renowned wood craftsman Art Espenet Carpenter.

The Milley Creative Achievement Awards Selection Committee changes annually. This year the judges were painter Leslie Allen, painter; former Mill Valley Mayor Andy Berman; “Legendary Locals of Mill Valley” author Joyce Kleiner; Murphy Productions partner Daniel Patrick; and Tom Sawyer, nightclub booker and former owner, Cobb’s Comedy Club.

The latest batch of Milley Award winner brings the total honorees over 22 years to 140 individuals and organizations. Past winners have included such diverse and distinguished arts contributors as Eve Pell, Michael Painter, Craig Frazier, Betty Goerke, Jim Lange, Jane Hirshfield, Bill Champlin, Dan Hicks, Lucy Mercer, Suki Hill, Kathleen Quinlan, Rob Nilsson, Cyra McFadden, Bob Weir, Pirkle Jones, George Duke, Barry Spitz, John Goddard, Lee Sankowich, David Harris, Gretchen Mentzer, Mimi Farina, Martin Cruz Smith and Rita Abrams. Organizations and businesses have been honored as well, including the Mill Valley Chamber Music Society, the Mountain Play Association, the Outdoor Art Club, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts and the Depot Bookstore & Café.

The Milley Award is a bronze statuette created by John Libberton of Sausalito. The annual gala event is produced by a volunteer board of directors, under the auspices of the Mill Valley Art Commission. Tickets for the 2016 Milley Awards include a reception, dinner, and the awards program. They will go on sale in early September. MORE INFO.

The Mill Valley-Sausalito Multiuse Path stretching from Mike’s Bikes in Sausalito north to East Blithedale Ave. in Mill Valley was built 35 years ago. Since its debut in 1981, it has become one of the most popular paths in the entire Bay Area, with more than a half-million people using it between March and November each year, according to the annual WalkBikeMarin Path Counts.

Despite its age and heavy use, the path hasn't been repaved since its inception, save for a few minor touch-ups. After several years of delays, that's going to change in 2017, as the County of Marin has federal grant money in hand and plans to lay a fresh coat of smooth asphalt and make accessibility improvements on almost a mile of the pathway by late 2017.

The Marin County Department of Public Works will oversee the design and construction of the project on a 4,900-foot-long stretch of the pathway between from East Blithedale Avenue on the north end and Almonte Boulevard to the south. That portion runs along the waterfront of Richardson’s Bay’s Pickleweed Inlet, adjacent to the Mill Valley Community Center, Mill Valley Middle School, the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin, Bothin Marsh and Tamalpais High School.

The County of Marin was awarded $320,000 of federal Priority Conservation Area funding, with a $320,000 local match provided by County Parks’ Measure A fund, a quarter-cent retail and use tax passed by local voters in 2012. DPW aims to design and acquire environmental clearance in 2016 for the work, which will include repaving and installation of new benches with accessible sitting areas. It hopes to put the project out to bid in summer 2017 and begin construction in fall 2017.

During construction, bikers and pedestrians will have to use detours:

The County of Marin (DPW, Marin County Parks, and Marin County Sheriff’s Office), the City of Mill Valley and the Marin County Bicycle Coalition are collaborating to improve access and safety along the route. Fresh striping and stencils were added recently. In addition to the physical improvements from DPW, there are three other parts of the overall plan:

• a Share the Path campaign, which promotes safety, trail communication and friendliness;
• regulatory changes including an enlarged “slow zone” of 10 mph adjacent to Bayfront Park, and;
• increased enforcement of safety rules and regulations.

County officials say they plan to resurface the rest of the 3.1-mile pathway and replace the bridges when funding becomes available. In May 2015, a first-of-its-kind roundabout intersection was installed on the pathway near Mill Valley Middle School to enhance safety. In 2014, the City of Mill Valley added a short connector pathway at Sycamore Avenue to help people reach the main pathway.
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Bike riders and pedestrians will use detour routes during pathway construction. Learn more about DPW’s construction schedule online.

Through its Strawberry-based Harbor Point Charitable Foundation, the Kaliski family has long sought creative, fun ways to give back, whether it's dress-to-impress Oscars parties or the popular Esurance Tennis Classic.

Three years ago, the Kaliskis came up with another winner – the Golf Fore Giving event to raise money to support St. Vincent de Paul Society’s free dining room, which serves up hot meals 365 days a year and provides vital services to Marin families, children, senior citizens, people with disabilities and the homeless. The 4th annual edition of that event returns on Monday, August 8 at Peacock Gap Golf Club in San Rafael, featuring Hall of Famer Vida Blue.

“We were thrilled to be able to award $30,000 to St. Vincent de Paul after last year’s Golf Fore Giving event,” said Foundation Board Chairman and event organizer Bob Kaliski. “That $30,000 enabled St. Vincent to provide 15,000 meals to needy families in our community and we are grateful to those who supported the event by either participating in golf during the day, attending the banquet in the evening, or both.”

The 411: Harbor Point Charitable Foundation (HPCF)’s Golf Fore Giving gives is on Monday, August 8 at the Peacock Gap Golf Club & Clubhouse, 333 Biscayne Dr., San Rafael, CA). Proceeds from the event help St. Vincent de Paul’s Free Dining Room. Golf registration is $175 per person or $700 per foursome (includes box lunch and the evening Banquet); fundraising Banquet is $75 per person and features a silent auction, raffle prizes, and an Italian themed dinner with wine. MORE INFO.

In the span of his short morning run near downtown Mill Valley last Sunday, City Councilman Jim Wickham happened upon multiple groups of people – including a pack of about 50 near Old Mill Park – with their eyes on their phones as they searched for Pokemon, the virtual creatures that are at the center of the international phenomenon that is Pokemon Go.

With more than 21 million users in just the two weeks since it launched, and a projected $3 billion in revenue, the location-based augmented reality mobile game has taken the world by storm. But while Pokemon Go is surely a global phenomenon, another immersive game experience right here in Marin is combining technology and the real-world into an immersive, theatrical experience – with Marin itself playing a starring role.

Meet the Headlands Gamble, “an attempt to bring together the interactivity of a videogame with the real-world immersiveness of a theatrical experience like Sleep No More – all packaged as a travel experience,” says Gabe Smedresman, the co-creator of the Headlands Gamble. “And what makes us unique from the likes of Pokemon Go and others is that we’re not just trying to pull you into the real world – we are taking all of the spectacular beauty that Marin has to offer and we’re showcasing it.”

The Headlands Gamble is the first foray of First Person Travel, the immersive travel company founded by Smedresman and Satya Bhabha, a Los Angeles-based writer and actor who has appeared in films like Scott Pilgram vs. The World and Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children and TV shows like New Girl and Key & Peele.

Bhabha wrote the Agatha Christie-style mystery that takes participants on a two-day journey throughout Marin, though we’ll keep the specific sites to ourselves so as not to spoil the fun. Smedresman, the creator of the game Pretweeting whose wife Catherine Herdlick is the San Francisco director of Come Out and Play, an annual festival of street games, has worked in the field “of digital and mixed reality experiences that mix the technological and the real” for several years.

In running the business side of First Person Travel, Smedresman says that while they are far from the first people to dive into this space, they are among the first to try to make it a sustainable businesses by adding the travel component. Unlike the hour-or-two experiences like escape rooms and Sleep No More, the Headlands Gamble is a wholly-curated weekend for two.

“We serve as a travel agency in that we’ll plan everything about your trip – but we also give you a mystery to solve over the course of your weekend,” he says.

The mystery unfolds in a variety of ways, from car trips to key sites in Marin to the Headlands Gamble’s iPad-based dashboard where clues and characters are introduced, as well as from actors who pop up along the way. The logistics of making it all happen are complicated, Smedresman says, and involve an off-site stage manager and a field operations person who travels ahead of the participants to set up the scene and the actors, along with the iPad dashboard that keeps the experience moving along. And in an oft-serendipitous wrinkle, participants regularly encounter people at their destinations and must determine if they are part of the experience or not.

“That feeling of not knowing what’s part of it and what’s not is exactly what we’re going for,” Smedresman. “That’s the place we’re trying to get you to, where the technological, the theatrical and the real all meet.”

Smedresman says he’s been excited to dive into this venture and believes the amazing success of mixed-reality games like Pokemon Go will only help.

“Pokemon is the perfect property to use for an augmented reality game – a match made in heaven,” he says. “My hope is that it augurs for an increased awareness of these applications that blur the line the reality between reality and fiction.”
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The 411: The Headlands Gamble is two-day immersive experience that blends game design, theater and interactive storytelling, all wrapped into travel package throughout Marin. While the travel package includes a convertible and a night’s stay at a cozy seaside hotel, a DIY version lets local users participate at a lower cost.

When Scott Rubin opened his Mathnasium Mill Valley tutoring center in 2012, he drew on his career as a financial analyst on Wall Street and his desire to pass on his love of math to kids in his newly adopted hometown.

Just four years later, Rubin has returned from the 12th Annual Mathnasium Convention in Dallas, Texas, with plaques and trophies in hand to mark his Mathnasium garnering the second-highest revenue among 700 Mathnasium franchises in the United States.

“When I left NYC to start a new career, I could not have imagined how fulfilling owning a Mathnasium would be,” Rubin says. “It has given me the opportunity to be a positive influence on the lives of so many children. They, in turn, have made a profound impact on my own life. My wife and I are grateful that Mathnasium has provided us the experience of getting to know so many young lives. My favorite part of the day, is being greeted by kids as they come in with big smiles on their faces and full of stories and jokes to share with me. I feel so fortunate to love my work and look forward to each day at Mathnasium.”

Rubin, who spent several years on Wall Street, says that his Mathnasium has grown consistently since he opened it four years ago, and he credits the communities in Mill Valley, Tiburon, Corte Madera and the surrounding areas his its success.

“They’ve been so welcoming and supportive of the business, and continue to be,” he says. “It’s been great.”

Rubin says that he teaches math to kids in a way that make sense to them, designing a learning plan that is unique to each child based on an initial assessment.

“Children learn to speak as if by magic and with little or no apparent effort on anyone’s part, largely because they are immersed in a sea of oral language from the very first day,” Rubin says. “Math can be learned in very much the same way.”
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The 411: Mathnasium Mill Valley is open 7 days a week. Hours vary. More info. 

Wondering where the replica Gravity Car on the Depot Plaza has gone? Curious if the Clock Tower at Throckmorton and Miller avenues will work again? Think the chess tables and benches could use a little TLC?

The Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center is deeply interested in these landmark community assets and much more, and has decided to do something about it. In an effort to foster a vibrant and small town community that benefits everyone in Mill Valley, the Chamber's Board of Directors has established the Enjoy Mill Valley Fund to raise money for local civic projects.

Working with the City of Mill Valley, County of Marin and local nonprofits, the Chamber will seek to identify deserving, "shovel ready" local beautification and infrastructure projects that just need a little funding boost to complete. The fund was set up with the cooperation of the Marin Community Foundation. All donations to the Enjoy Mill Valley Fund are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

"I'm excited that the Chamber has taken this step to launch the Enjoy Mill Valley Fund to help support local beautification projects," says Mill Valley Mayor John McCauley. "Our City is incredibly busy with infrastructure improvement projects all over town, and we appreciate this strategic, thoughtful effort to focus on beautification in town. We look forward to working with the Chamber with strong cooperation to continue to enhance the vibrancy and character of our town."

This year, the Enjoy Mill Valley Fund will be supporting the following local projects to:

• Restore the replica Mount Tamalpais Gravity Car, a monument to Mill Valley's rich railroad history, in the Depot Plaza, in partnership with Friends of Mill Valley Park and Recreation and the City of Mill Valley.
• Repair the Downtown Clock Tower, in partnership with local nonprofits and the City of Mill Valley.
• Restore the Depot Plaza chess tables and benches, in partnership with the City of Mill Valley.

The Commerce has committed to support local civic projects on an ongoing basis, and a committee of the Chamber will recommend initiatives that allow residents, businesses and visitors alike to "Enjoy Mill Valley."

GO HERE if you're interested in donating to the Enjoy Mill Valley Fund. Please support this new venture to maintain and enhance the vitality of our community!

In front of a packed house at City Hall, the City Council voted unanimously to approve the Mill Valley Lumber Yard Project Monday night, moving forward Matt and Jan Mathews' plans to redevelop one of Mill Valley's most historic and iconic properties into a multi-use space that seeks to be a community hub.

"We're thrilled to have garnered the Council's unanimous approval of our project, and we're excited to focus on making the Mill Valley Lumber Yard a space that our neighbors and the larger community will be proud of," Matt and Jan Mathews said. "Thanks to everyone who has helped shape the project into what it is today, particularly our neighbors."

The approval comes just over one month after the Planning Commission's unanimous recommendation to the Council to approve the project, with a number of conditions of approval attached that are largely related to parking and infrastructure improvements. The approval comes two years after the project first went to the Commission in a Study Session, and the widespread sentiment Monday night was that the project was better for the deep level of engagement from the community and the City.

“Had we gotten a rubber stamp and we got through earlier, we wouldn’t have been able to meet all of you, so we’re grateful for that,” Matt Mathews said at the hearing.

The Mill Valley Lumber Yard is a 42,500-square-foot site at 129 Miller Avenue with 17,616 square feet of existing building space, which includes the existing Guideboat, Ambatalia and Bloomingayles retail shops. The site is located between the inbound and outbound lanes of Miller Avenue. Matt and Jan Mathews bought the property in 2012 from the Cerri family, which had owned and maintained it as a lumber yard and True Value hardware store for the previous 14 years. The property was built by lumber magnate Robert Dollar in 1892 as Dollar Lumber Company.

The Mathews, who have hosted five neighborhood meetings about the project and presented at informal "study sessions" before the Commission in 2013 and 2014, previously renovated some of the buildings and plan to upgrade others. Those buildings are primarily at the southeast half of the property and include a proposed small cafe/restaurant, as well as some retail, offices and an artist-in-residence space, in addition to what's there now. Several attendees of the hearing lauded the project's community-oriented goals of supporting local small businesses.

“With high rents and a low number of vacancies, retail leasing in Marin is really challenging,” said Brian Foster, a commercial real estate broker with Cushman Wakefield. “It’s harder and harder for small businesses to succeed in the marketplace, as it’s easier for larger stores with multiple locations to spread their costs out and be viable. It’s really refreshing to see people who are investing in their community and supporting local businesses.”

Because of the size and scope of the project, the City Council had to approve its environmental review – in this case, an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND), as well as a re-zoning from RM, Residential Multi-Family, to NC, Neighborhood Commercial with PD, Planned Development Overlay and HO, Historic Zoning Overlays. The property is designated as part of the downtown commercial area within the MV2040 General Plan, the City’s constitution of sorts that was approved by the Council in late 2013.

At Planning Commission hearings on March 29 and June 14, the Mathews addressed many of the concerns from neighbors and City officials, but parking and noise remain the primary hurdles for the project. The City applied a number of conditions of approval to the project, including that the Mathews must pay for a feasibility study on a residential parking permit program for the neighborhood and create delineated parking on and around the Presidio Avenue median before additional tenants can occupy the project. That parking would be limited to between two and four hours.

“It’s a really good project, and while I’m very sensitive to the neighborhood concerns, I believe that we have strategies to address those issues,” Councilwoman Stephanie Moulton-Peters said. “Mill Valley has always been very thoughtful about how we do things and this is no exception.”

If you've thought about volunteering for the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival in the past, this year's 60th Anniversary of the landmark local arts event is as good a reason as any. Organizers are putting out a call for volunteers for the event, set for Sept. 17 and 18 in Old Mill Park.

"Just as we need air to breathe, the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival needs volunteers to make this milestone event a huge success," says Erma Murphy, the festival artist liaison. "To be part of all this fun, please visit our online registration site at MVFAF Volunteers ROCK. Review the positions available, select the date, time and area that interests you. This event is all about community and continuity and we hope very much you share our pride in this festival."

Go here for more info on the festival's history, festival weekend details, music, parking and more. Questions? Call Phil at 415 505 6564 or email volunteers@mvfaf.org.

Three years ago, Mill Valley resident Simon Linsteadt and Jan Purat were studying music at the University of California at Santa Cruz and the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley when they met Alex Bice and decided to start play some music together under the West Marin-inspired moniker of Steep Ravine. 

They gelled quickly, releasing Trampin' On, their debut album of diverse, acoustic music with roots in bluegrass and folk, just a few months later. Bluegrass Today magazine said the trio had "a tight grasp on the second side of bluegrass. Trampin' On is easygoing and peaceful, yet still features fine musicianship, enjoyable melodies and a unique blend of acoustic genres."

The group toured extensively behind the album, and did the same with their second, The Pedestrian, which sees them spreading their wings without losing their deep ties to roots music. But as they headed into the latter part of 2015, the trio decided to break up and pursue other musical projects at the end of the year. But then fun won out, and the band decided to take a brief hiatus over the winter and dive back in, along with percussionist Jeff Wilson, for a summer tour and more recording sessions. 

"We have a bunch of new material in the works and we’re really happy to have come to this conclusion," the band wrote on its Facebook page. "As always we are so grateful for the endless support we’ve received!" They're in the midst of that summer tour now, with shows all over California, Oregon, Washington and Montana through late August, including a visit to the Sweetwater Music Hall on July 23.

Just as they did for Trampin' On, Steep Ravine recorded The Pedestrian at San Francisco indie rock veteran John Vanderslice's renowned Tiny Telephone Studios. Linsteadt recorded most of the guitar, mandolin, and banjo tracks alone in a cabin in West Marin, where he also captured the haunting hoot of the Great Horned Owl under a late night sky. The Pedestrian sees both Purat and Bice putting their own stamps on the music, with Purat diving into the soaring solos on violin and Bice adding a deeper groove on bass and percussion.

In writing the lyrics to the 10-track album, Linsteadt says he explored a personal but very universal inner dialogue—those conversations we all have within ourselves that nobody else hears, be they thoughts of nostalgia, longing or doubt. One of the standout tracks, “Grenadine” slips in and out of reality and dream as it explores the split between fast-paced city life versus the more peaceful life in the countryside. 

The 411: Steep Ravine performs at the Sweetwater Music Hall on Saturday, July 23 at 8pm. Tix. $12-17. Tickets ($12-17) and more info. The Pedestrian is available on iTunes and CDBaby. Stream the album on Soundcloud below.