MILL VALLEY MARKET COMMENTS
MARCH 2, 2006
The comments about the Mill Valley Market have been posted on 3 different topic sites. The purpose of this New Topic site is to try and collect all of the Mill Valley Market comments, past and future, onto one site.
This will make it easier for all of us to follow the Mill Valley Market story.
If you haven’t already, try to set aside some time to visit the Mill Valley Market, then, after your visit, post your comments under this Topic site.
Incidentally, it is helpful to include your name with your comment.
Here are your comments:
1. LOVE the Mill Valley Market.
If Bob, Doug and Dave are interested in Marinwood, let’s welcome them and their fabulous market! Just the sort of community minded high quality market Marinwood would benefit from!
Posted by Lucia Miller
2.Our whole family would love to have the Mill Valley Market. We have always felt that Marinwood needs a place to buy everyday goods but also a place to buy quality goods and specialty items. Please please get this market!!!!!!!!!!!
3. Mill Valley Market sounds like a great fit for our neighborhood, if they will have us.
Thank you for all the hard work with potential markets.
4. It would be great to have a family owned grocery store like the Mill Valley Market in Marinwood. It would just blend with our small community and provide an anchor for the village center. Can’t wait to taste their organic and gourmets foods. Excellent choice!
5. I love the Mill Valley Market and have shopped there for years. They have a good meat/produce dept, natural foods, great deli and great wine store. My only worry is that it caters to a tonier crowd than we have here in Marinwood. Having said that, I think it would be great to have a more upscale market than Bell Market was. I just don’t want a fancy expensive market that is our corner market. I like that it’s family owned, they are strong community supporters etc. I’d just ask that they don’t price themselves out of our price range. CC Hunter
6. I had the chance to visit the Mill Valley Market today but was unable to check in with the owners as they were off (it’s Sunday). I was very impressed with the variety and quality of merchandise they are able to display in such a small space and found the prices for many of the items I buy regularly to be competitive. I might have to go elsewhere for things like milk and T.P. but I would definitely be able to avoid many trips to Safeway and Scotty’s if a market like this were to come to Marinwood. I hope things work out, and soon!
7. I have been a resident of Casa Marinwood for 10 years and a Marin county resident for 44 years.I have shopped at the Mill Valley Market in past years and am a personal friend of Jim Canepa whom I believe to be the father of Doug and Dave. I revisited their market today Feb.20 and found it to have the same high quality meats, fish, produce and organic food selection as in the past . I would certainly love to see their market in our midst and would patronize it with great joy and pride. My wife concurs with all of the above. We are Wendell H. Butler M.D.and Susan H. Stanford at 7 Majorca Ct. Marinwood.
8. Clearly it’s going to take a long time for a new grocery store to set up shop. (Go, Mill Valley!!!) I think it would be great if, in the meantime, some portion of the old Bell’s Market space were made available at a reasonable cost to ANYONE willing to provide some basic “convenience” items. It may sound like whining, but it really is sometimes a pretty major inconvenience to have to drive to Northgate or Scotty’s for a loaf of bread. Is such a thing possible? Who actually owns the old Bell’s space now?
9. I would love to see such a high quality market in my own backyard! What a pleasure it would be to shop there if it is anything like the wonderful store in Mill Valley. I miss the convenience of having a market near by and find going else where a real nuisance, expense and such a waste of time.
I also work full time so meeting with the Canepa’s is not feasible. Is there a way I could express my support other than here so that they would know I encourage them in every way possible to come to the neighborhood?
10. Good selection, good food, perfect fit for Marinwood. They would get my business. Corey
11. I’d love to see a market of that caliper in our neighborhood.
12. Can’t imagine anything better than having the Mill Valley Market folks open a store in Marinwood! I used to live in Mill Valley and I know what a great place the Mill Valley Market is. I’m sure people in Marinwood would support a Marinwood version of the market. I for one would do a good part of my shopping there. I think it would draw shoppers from the larger area as well. Lots of people around here find shopping at Safeway depressing. A high caliber market located so conveniently right off a not-too-busy freeway exit would be welcome to many outside the immediate area. Add some outdoor tables for relaxing with coffee, pastry, and the newspaper and you’d be in business!
13. I think that the Mill Valley Market would be a perfect fit for our community. It is the cutest store with lots of variety, good quality, and the food is always fresh. I know that I speak for many of my friends and neighbors when I say that we would welcome them with very open arms and support them with our business and sense of community.
I cant wait to find out if they are interested in opening another location here in Marinwood!
Shelley Steele
Marinwood Resident
14. I work in Mill Valley and know Mill Valley Market well. I would love to have a store like that in Marinwood! Most of my shopping would be done there rather than driving to Safeway or other stores. I love the idea to be able to walk to my close by store (or bike), do my shopping, sit outside with my coffee and sendvich and enjoy our community.
Katerina
15. Though I have lived in Marinwood for over 25 years now, for many years I have shopped at the Mill Valley Market about once a month. Everything positive that has been said about the market has been my experience too. The successful concepts the Mill Valley Market has incorporated, top quality everything, very friendly, helpful staff, the combination of a good wine shop, delicious deli, huge selection of all the staples, and the most beautiful produce department and all in a small country store atmosphere, convince me that it would be an asset that would be well patronized by Marinwood residents and in fact everyone who hears that MV Market is here! As if all those assets were not enough, it also seems like a perfect fit for the village idea that our community planners are working on.
Helen Brown
Marinwood resident
PS And the MV Market always has community activity fliers in their windows and frequently permits community causes to set up their tables in front.
16. We visited the Mill Valley Market today and really like the store. The meat, fish, produce, cheese, and deli departments are amazing. It reminded us of the North Beach specialty stores where we used to shop - all in one location. We talked with Doug and David and told them that we hope they will open a store in Marinwood.
Jan and Dick Cotton
17. Went to the market today and thought it would be great to have that here.
Go for it, it would be awesome.
     Table of Contents
1. Blog Comments
2. Progress Report
3. Frustration
4. Marinwood Association Dues
1. BLOG COMMENTS
The comments you have been posting on the Blog site have been great.
Remember, when you post a comment you become a voice representing the community.
The Mill Valley Market owners are reading your comments.
Other retailers who are interested in locating in our community are reading your comments.
Investors are reading your comments.
2.PROGRESS REPORT
We are at a very important stage in the planning process.
One year of: learning about the limits and opportunities of the planning process,  gathering information, meetings with community groups, monthly meetings with the Supervisor, monthly meetings with the community,
meetings with the owners and the county planners,
efforts to recruit a full service market, etc, is beginning to pay off.
We are focused on two areas: (1) recruitment of a full service grocery and (2) testing some retail and housing numbers to determine if the numbers are compatible with a village style design.
MARKET RECRUITMENT: The recruitment of a market for our community is key.
From the beginning, the history of the site has been an obstacle.
It has taken time to convince market owners that locating a market in
Marinwood is a good business move.
On Feb. 23rd we took Doug and Dave Canepa, owners of the Mill Valley Market, on a tour of the community. We included the areas surrounding our community as a potential customer population.We concluded the tour at the Marinwood Community Center where several
residents had shown up to meet the owners and to ask questions. In addition,  Catherine Munson, owner of Lucas Valley Properties, gave a presentation about the make up of the residential areas covering all of Lucas Valley. Also, Patrick Seidler, a Marinwood resident and leader of the effort to build a North/South Marin County bike path,
talked about the potential to create a cyclist resting area at the Village Center.
The Mill Valley Market is at the Gateway to Mt. Tamalpais.
They do a huge business at their Deli on the weekends.
We are promoting our location as the Gateway to West Marin.
The Canepa’s were impressed with what our community has to offer.
They have commissioned a business feasibility study to help determine the economic viability of a full service market at the Marinwood location.
The property owners and the market owners will be sharing the cost of the study.
The study should take approximately 2 months to complete.
VILLAGE DESIGN: Â This phase of the project has kicked into high gear and has become very exciting.
The goal is to create a village style design which truly enhances the community.
Early on in the process the Community Reps formed a Design Vision Committee to begin to work on ideas for the design of  the Village Center. John Hammond is the chair of this committee.
The Planning Group which includes the Community Reps, the County Planners and the Property owners has reached the point where we are ready to test out some tentative numbers:  32K sf of retail space
and 100 residential units.
On Feb 27th we met with members of the Design Vision Committee to prepare them for a design meeting
which will take place on March 1st and will include an Architect selected by the planning facilitator.
Our community Design Vision Committe includes 2  architects, Joe Runco and Bill Hansell, a professional planner, Lisa Newman and a professional designer, Kathie Gaines.
All of these individuals are Marinwood residents and are volunteering their time to helpcreate a village style design for the new center.
At the Feb. 27th meeting we reviewed 2 village style designs prepared by our community architects.
The excitement was palpable. Remember, we get to recapture approximately an acre of Marinwood Ave. to incorporate into the design. At this point it does look hopeful that we will be able to accommodate the
retail needs of the community and the housing needs of the owner and the county and still achieve a very special village style design, creating a place which all of us will enjoy visiting.
These design options will be presented to the planning process architect at the March 1st meeting.
We will keep you posted.
REMINDER: The process for determining the future use of the Marinwood Plaza site is a Community based process. This process is unique in county land use planning history. Our community is not responding to
a plan presented to us by a property owner and a developer; rather, the community, working with the land owner and the county planners, is creating a plan which best meets the needs of the Marinwood Community.
The 7 Community Reps who have been working on this plan are all long time Marinwood residents who have volunteered their time to help create the Marinwood Village. Two of the Community Reps were recently re-elected to the Marinwood Community Services District Board:
Dave Mitchell, the 2006 Board President and Bruce Anderson, 2005 Board President.
This is not an us against them planning process.
This is an opportunity for the Marinwood Community to determine
what they want the community to look like.
3. FRUSTRATION
Understandably, some of you have posted comments on the Blog site expressing your frustration that our community is now without a market. It is frustrating for all of us to have to travel to “far away” markets.  We have done everything we can to try and set up an interim market. We even convinced Bell Market to donate the refrigeration system. The property owners did everything they could possibly do
to help us find someone to operate an interim market. What we found is that there are some very formidable obstacles to setting up an interim market.
To learn more, go to John Hammond’s Feb. 21st Blog post under the topic,
Thoughts about a Market.
However, don’t let that stop you. If you believe you have a way to set up a interim market then come to the monthly community meeting on the 4th Wednesday of each month and discuss your proposal.Be prepared, though, you know the drill. When you present an idea, suddenly you find that you are the chair of a committee.
In the meantime, we will continue to focus on (a) recruiting a permanent market and (b) creating a village style design to accommodate the retail and housing numbers needed to meet the needs of the owners, the county and the community.
We are very close to achieving these two goals.
Finally, if the community approves the results then we should be able to move very quickly into
the detailed design and building phase.
4.MARINWOOD ASSOCIATION DUES
The Marinwood Association has contributed $3,000 to help pay for the cost of the Marinwood Village planning process. The cost includes the expenses for a meeting facilitator and professional designers.
The $3,000 contribution came from the Association’s annual dues payments.
The annual dues amount is $10.
Following is the information you need for paying your 2006 dues payment:
1. Make check payable to Marinwood Association
2. Amount: $10
3. Send to:Â Â Marinwood Association c/o Geoff Mack
2742 Heatherstone Dr.
San Rafael, Ca 94903
If you have any questions regarding the Marinwood Association dues, please email Community Rep and Association Treasurer, Geoff Mack at  geoffmack@gmail.com
If you want to communicate with the Community Reps
send an email to marinwoodplaza@comcast.net