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Larkspur Community Foundation seeks to add Arch Street mini-park to city's unfunded CIP list
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Summary
The volunteer Larkspur Community Foundation presented renderings and a preliminary budget (approx. $250,000) to convert a 3,000-sq-ft city parcel at the base of the Arch Street steps into a 1,000-sq-ft mini-park; council directed staff to include the concept on the unfunded projects list and to partner on next steps if funding is available.
A volunteer group, the Larkspur Community Foundation (LCF), presented a concept Jan. 7 to convert a city-owned parcel at the base of the Arch Street stairs into a small accessible plaza designed to encourage community gathering and to preserve an existing mature tree.
LCF president Laura Anderson described outreach to the Park and Recreation Commission and noted the group has earmarked $30,000 as seed money and received two donors who contributed $35,000. Designer Jenny Tippett described a 1,000-square-foot raised plaza with a central planting area, accessible ramp, benches and potential modest bus-shelter improvements; preliminary contractor estimates put total construction near $250,000 but could rise depending on required retaining walls and an engineering study. The parcel contains a well; staff and the foundation discussed abandoning the well (estimated ~ $5,000) versus attempting to bring it into service (roughly $35,000). LCF proposes to raise funds through donors, bench adoptions, and events.
Council members raised tradeoffs: the parcel could in the future have development value, but members also noted that a public space could enhance property values and downtown vibrancy. The council asked staff to treat the proposal as an "unfunded project" in the Capital Improvement Program so staff time and engineering review can proceed if funding opportunity develops; staff suggested partnering on an engineering study if the foundation supplies funds for that work.
Council consensus was to include the mini-park on the unfunded projects list and to coordinate follow-up engineering and outreach steps with the foundation and staff.
