Tiburon planning panel approves amended permit to allow amplified music at Landmarks Art and Garden Center with conditions

The Tiburon Planning Commission on March 26 approved an amendment to a 1997 conditional use permit (CUP) allowing amplified music outdoors at the Landmarks Art and Garden Center, 841 Tiburon Boulevard, with a package of conditions intended to limit neighborhood impacts.

The four commissioners present — Woodward, Tsai, Williams and Chair DeFeaver — voted unanimously to approve the amendment after a lengthy public hearing in which neighbors described repeated disturbance from wedding receptions and Landmark Society representatives described the economic necessity of event revenue for operating multiple historic properties.

The commission approved the amendment with conditions that include limiting any amplified sound to no more than 60 A-weighted decibels (dBA) measured at the property line, requiring amplified music to stop by 8:30 p.m., requiring guests to vacate the site by 9:00 p.m. and vendors to be off-site by 10:00 p.m., restricting rental deliveries and pickups to Fridays and Mondays, and requiring an on-site sound-monitoring plan to be submitted to the Community Development Department for approval. The commission also set a three‑month update and a further review period later in the year to assess how the changes perform before considering longer‑term adjustments.

Why it matters: The Landmarks Art and Garden Center operates as a nonprofit venue that, according to its board, funds maintenance of several historic properties on the Tiburon Peninsula. Neighbors said outdoor amplified music from frequent weekend events has eroded their right to quiet enjoyment, while the Landmark Society and couples with contracted weddings warned that an outright ban on amplification would cause financial harm and canceled events. The commission’s…