286 Planning Meetings Later, Longtime Mill Valley Director Calls It A Career

MILL VALLEY, CA — Mill Valley's longtime planning director retired this month after four decades in public service, earning unusually strong praise from city leaders for navigating some of the city's most complicated and contentious development issues.

Patrick Kelly, Mill Valley's planning and building director, was recognized by the City Council for a career that included overseeing major housing and commercial projects, historic preservation efforts and significant changes to the city's planning rules.

A city resolution credited Kelly with keeping the Mill Valley 2040 General Plan current and securing state certification of the city's 2023-2031 housing and safety elements. He also helped advance updates to commercial, parking and design regulations.

His tenure included approvals for mixed-use projects at 550 Miller Ave., 575 East Blithedale Ave. and 20 Sunnyside Ave., along with the reuse of the former Bank of America building downtown and the city-sponsored Bayfront Terrace affordable housing project.

City Manager Todd Cusimano offered particularly strong praise for Kelly.

“You go down in the Hall of Fame of public service, my friend,” Cusimano said. “You are the best I have ever seen.”

Councilmember Urban Carmel pointed to the often-contentious nature of development and planning in Mill Valley, noting that Kelly participated in 286 Planning Commission meetings.

“To go through one Planning Commission meeting in the city of Mill Valley, I think is more for most people than they need in a lifetime, and to do 286 of these is quite remarkable,” Carmel said.

Carmel also credited Kelly with tackling difficult policy debates rather than avoiding them.

“You were willing to take on the things that needed to happen and not shy away from them, and a different planning director would have done everything to avoid those discussions,” Carmel said.

Councilmember Katherine Jones said Kelly helped her understand state housing law, the California Environmental Quality Act and the city's climate work after she joined the council.

“You basically taught me everything that I know about planning today in a deliberate way,” Jones said.

Kelly described his time in Mill Valley as a fitting conclusion to his four decades of public service.

“Serving the City of Mill Valley has been one of the greatest privileges of my career and one of the greatest honors of my life,” Kelly said, adding that he felt he had “saved the best for last.”