Tiburon council directs staff to hire landscape designer for Richardson Bay sanitary‑pond site after months of neighborhood outreach

After a multi‑year parks master‑plan process and a series of neighborhood meetings, the Town Council on May 21 voted to prioritize the former Richardson Bay Sanitary District (RBSD) pond site in Lineal Park for development planning and authorized staff to solicit and hire a landscape designer to produce detailed site plans and cost estimates.

The Parks, Open Space and Trails Commission (POST) subcommittee chaired by Mike Moon and Liz Judge presented a detailed, community‑informed concept for Lineal Park. The preferred concept includes preserving shoreline meadow and open spaces, improving Greenwood Beach shoreline access and interpretive elements, upgrading Blackie’s Pasture dog and picnic facilities, modestly expanding the adjacent gravel parking lot, adding a nature‑based playscape and shaded picnic area near the restrooms, and using a portion of the former RBSD ponds for a multipurpose lawn, two sand volleyball courts, a basketball court nested into a berm with a back wall for practice and a shaded outdoor lounge.

POST said it performed repeated outreach — meetings with adjacent homeowner associations, neighborhood gatherings, a town wide public meeting and a Del Mar Middle School survey that drew about 132 responses (roughly 40% of the middle school). According to the POST summary, middle‑school respondents indicated they would use new amenities and that an additional programmed site could cut some after‑school car trips.

Neighbors who live immediately adjacent to the sanitation pond site raised concerns at the council meeting about parking spillover, potential noise from a hard‑surface basketball court and safety on the multi‑use path. Some neighbors opposed enclosing a dog area with a fence and urged preserving as much open space as possible. POST members said they had adjusted the concept based on neighborhood feedback — for example placing the basketball court closer to the sanitary complex and leveraging tree and berm screening. POST members and student survey results highlighted community demand for sand volleyball and a back wall for informal play.

After discussion, the council voted to prioritize the RBSD pond site and to authorize the town manager to solicit proposals and hire a landscape designer to work with POST and staff on detailed design, cost estimates and a construction and maintenance budget. The vote was unanimous. Town staff told the council the proposed design contract and construction costs would be returned to the council for budget approval; the motion authorizes procurement and design only. Staff also said the project is anticipated to be included in the next fiscal‑year capital improvement program for formal funding review.

Council members asked POST to work with neighborhood representatives and staff to narrow scope, deliver cost estimates and explore modest mitigation measures such as setbacks, visual screening and sound‑mitigation approaches for any hard‑court facilities. POST and staff will return to council with recommended scopes, budgets and environmental/traffic implications before construction would be authorized.