Tiburon council reviews revised draft parks plan

Tiburon is zeroing in on a parks and recreation master plan.

The Town Council received the preliminary draft of the document at its Aug. 22 meeting. The newest draft includes feedback from public forums and focuses on what the town should prioritize over the next several years.

“I am so excited,” Vice Mayor Holli Thier said. “What I see is the vision for the future.”

The plan identifies what the community considers priority projects, where those projects could work given the landscape and the potential costs and funding options. The guiding principles include improving the overall park experience; upgrading the spaces by adding amenities; increasing recreational programs for residents; ensuring safety and accessibility; and looking for environmental and sustainable opportunities.

“It really is a skeleton right now, there’s nothing finished about it,” said Peter Winch of WRT Design, a consulting firm hired by the town. “There’s a lot of blank pages right now because that content is still being developed, but wanted the community and decision makers to be able to weigh in before it gets too developed.”

Winch said residents have identified playgrounds, a kayak launch, multiuse trails, swimming pools, pickleball and tennis courts, a community center, an off-leash dog park, picnic areas and open conservation spaces as priorities.

Thier strongly supported the idea of a public pool, and suggested an appropriate place would be where the old sanitation ponds are, a property the town recently bought. She also said teen areas need to be prioritized.

Relating to programming, the community wants to prioritize community events, cultural- and senior-focused programs, exercise classes for various ages and teen activities.

Councilmember Jon Welner said he was pleased with the draft and that it incorporated all previous feedback and is more focused in its recommendations.

“I feel much better about this report,” Welner said. “I feel really good about it. There’s still more to do but the zoning approach is very helpful.”

The process began in April 2023. So far, the feedback has been to focus on low-hanging fruit first — such as upgrades to playgrounds and bolstering the maintenance of parks and open spaces.

Council members previously advised the consultants to be cautious about being too pro-development, and asked them to zone areas for specific activities and to focus on environmentally-friendly improvements.

Welner said there is still a risk of overbuilding, and asked the consultants to refine their suggestions for joint spaces — such as Blackie’s Pasture — based on what the highest priorities are.

“This is our pride land, we should only put things here that are truly cared about,” Welner said.

At the meeting, Winch presented a zoning structure based on where projects could work based on access to the site, the slope, vegetation, noise considerations and the potential for flooding.

The draft plan includes chapters on demographics and recreational trends and how they relate to the town, a summary of community feedback, projects and improvements recommendations, and cost and funding estimates.

Beth Mix of Tiburon spoke at the meeting and said the plan needs to focus more on family-friendly recreation improvements, such as pools and playgrounds. She wrote a petition with ideas that has more 240 signatures she said are mostly Tiburon and Belvedere residents.

Mix said a nature-based inclusive playground at Blackie’s Pasture, for example, should be a priority. A community pool, shaded picnic area, and a teen hangout are also among the ideas listed by the petitioners. Cypress Hollow Park and its play areas, specifically, need to be upgraded, she said.

“I go there quite a lot,” Mix said. “There are huge gaps. You have one child jumping off one side and another child jumping off on the other. We would love for it to be upgraded specifically for 0 to 4 year olds.”

Chelsea Young of Tiburon also said the plan should focus on family-friendly improvements for teens and young adults. She spoke specifically about Bel Aire Park and how it needs native plants, garbage plans and irrigation. She added that she rarely see children using the park.

“So basically I agree with WRT’s recommendations to not change the character of the park but to make it more usable,” Young said. “There’s a teen mental health crisis. I’ll also add a biodiversity crisis, a loneliness epidemic, according to our surgeon general, and a climate crisis, and theoretically, our little park could address all of those things if we put in a small investment.”

Councilmember Isaac Nikfar suggested incorporating the town’s green team into the maintenance section of the plan. He also suggested noting any possible effects on neighborhood projects.

“I think you’ve made incredible strides towards getting those into a state where I think we can use this to think about the next hopefully 20-plus years,” Nikfar said.