Op-Ed: A Traffic Plan Should Be Enforced Before a Flurry of Building Permits Were Issued

Letter to the Editor by Mill Valley Resient John W. Jaeger

I have been a resident and homeowner on upper Lovell Avenue (above Cornelia) for over thirty plus years.  During the past decades there hasn’t been a day when pick-up trucks have not been present on the street for various building related jobs.  Property owners, even those deemed speculators, have the right to undertake construction projects including buying million dollar homes, tearing them down, and developing new and larger replacements.

Now the situation has gotten out-of-hand.  The City has issued building permits and allowed construction of a half-dozen large residents- all at the same time- on a street that is essentially one-vehicle wide in many spots.  

This results in a daily and relentless invasion of cement truck, dump trucks, earth-moving equipment and pickup trucks.  Residents are prevented from using their street, and even forced to be homebound for hours on end, because of City approved street closure. 

This also includes forcing residents to continually test their driving skills as they dodge construction vehicles that deliver and remove material to and from building sites. We must cope with the noise and “truck jams” for months on end, to insure that building permit revenue , “progress,” and potential profits can be realized.   

The major issue that’s overlooked by the City Hall folks (the police points to Public Works) is just plain common-sense. You don’t load up a narrow, hillside City street with construction traffic without some semblance of control. 

It sounds like officialdom saying, “O.K. contractors and developers you can all go ahead build right now, and we’ll let the affected neighbors cope with the problems the best way they can.  Let them just tough it out.”

This is definitely not the way to deliver public services in Mill Valley.  A traffic “plan” should have been initiated and enforced before a flurry of building permits were issued.  Plain and simple, somebody is not doing their job, and they must be held accountable.  The solution boils down to scheduling and regulating traffic flow.

Is City leadership ready to step-in and solve the problem?  Right now, it seems that the answer is-No. 

Promises are not needed.  A workable solution is.