City Hall Steps into Kerfuffle Over Myrtle Fire Road Grading

The city of Mill Valley is stepping in to resolve a nearly decade-old dispute between a resident of Myrtle Ave. and his surrounding Middle Ridge neighbors over his grading and reshaping of the unpaved section of the road as it heads northwest. In doing so, city officials hope to end years of bad blood over the issue.

In an email to more than a dozen neighbors earlier this month, City Manager Jim McCann said the city had investigated allegations that Myrtle Ave. resident Howard Cohen was engaged in illegal work on the road and had hoped to come up with a resolution.

“We have directed Mr. Cohen to cease his activities; he has agreed to do so,” McCann wrote. “We have advised Mr. Cohen that a grading permit is necessary for the work and are in the process of defining the materials and supporting documents which will be necessary to accompany the permit application.”

The grading work on the privately owned dirt section of Myrtle Avenue reportedly dates back to 1998. It centers on Cohen’s interest in widening the road for fire truck access, though neighbors say he has ulterior motives. The latest batch of work includes a trench (photos at right) in advance of Cohen's plans to install some parking and pave the road, according to city officials. That work was well beyond the scope that was previously allowed by past previous city administrations, Public Works Director Jill Barnes said.

Before the latest permitting process begins, Cohen must obtain permission from the owners of the property that fronts the road on the section he intends to do the work, Barnes said. Cohen himself owns much of that land, though other neighbors do as well.

Cohen did not return requests for comment. But many of his neighbors stopped short of expressing optimism that the city’s action would resolve what they has been a source of great frustration for too long.

“I’ve been bemused to watch the city continue to deal with this errant child,” said Cohen’s neighbor Howard Fields. “They’re like parents that have not been able to get their kid under control. He’s like a bad kid who just keeps getting away with it. It is ridiculous how long this has gone on.”

“The city has burned out several residents who have done everything they can to get the city to act on this,” added Matt Connelly, who lives on Tamalpais Ave. above and has said Cohen's work creates “dust out there that is just unbelievable.”

Tamalpais Ave. resident Tom Dickers said neighbors were “determined and outraged” to make sure the city followed through on the matter.

The standoff actually dates back to April 1998, when City Hall issued Cohen an encroachment permit to do work on the road. In 2004, the city rescinded that permit, which “was issued erroneously” by city officials because such permits “are only issued for city owned and maintained roads” and that stretch of Myrtle Ave. is a private road, according to an email sent to Cohen in August 2004.

In 2004, 27 Middle Ridge neighbors signed a petition asking the city to get Cohen to stop doing work on the road. Some of them also contracted Herzog Geotechnical to conduct an analysis of the area, fearful that Cohen’s work was putting the land below the road at risk of landslides because of the dirt being graded off Myrtle and dumped below.

“But the city has not wanted to be confrontational about this, and therefore it’s just gone on and on,” said Matt Connelly, who lives on Tamalpais.

Since 2004, Cohen’s work on the road and the subsequent outcry it sparked from neighbors has ebbed and flowed.

“Why is it that an amateur with a backhoe loader has been allowed to strip the path and slope of vegetation to produce serious and very obvious erosion damage, while elsewhere on Mount Tam such close attention is paid to the erosion damage that a few mountain bikes may produce?” Summit Ave. resident Brian Urey asked city officials in a 2005 letter.

City officials said that Cohen has been in compliance in recent years with an ordinance that limits removal of soil on privately maintained land to 50 cubic yards per year. Neighbors claim prior city administrations didn’t monitor the work enough to know whether or not he exceeded that limit and that city officials have capitulated to Cohen.

Mill Valley City Councilwoman Stephanie Moulton-Peters, who has received a slew of emails related to the matter in recent months, said she had faith the current city administration would sort it out.

“As the city continues to work on all of our trails and steps, lanes and paths, we are taking a closer look at what is happening to them,” said City Councilwoman Stephanie Moulton-Peters. “This trail has some issues around and it and we’ll work constructively with everyone involved to get it resolved.”