Tiburon advances designs for wetlands-to-park project and three neighborhood parks

The Tiburon Town Council and the Parks & Open Space Commission voted on March 4 to move several park concepts from preliminary design to final design and environmental clearance.

The largest proposal — the former Richardson Bay sanitation-pond site — envisions a waterfront park with a basketball court, one or two sand-volleyball courts, terrace seating, a picnic/shade pavilion, a ball wall and reconfigured bike circulation. Consultant RHAA presented community feedback and two bike-route alternatives to keep high-speed bicycle traffic off single pedestrian walkways: regrade and widen an upper path or pave an existing lower waterfront path. RHAA’s outreach found strong support for active amenities; the consultant offered a high-level construction estimate of roughly $1.43 million for the complete scheme, while noting alternates to improve bike circulation could add several hundred thousand dollars depending on alignment.

Michael Moon, POST’s Richardson-subcommittee lead, said the plan seeks to balance active play areas and habitat preservation: "This is really an enhancement and not a transformation," he told the council, noting the design adds seating, flexible lawn space, volleyball courts and a ball wall while keeping large open areas and habitat buffers.

Public comment was robust and largely pro-amenity. Young residents and parents cited petitions and fundraisers in support of a basketball court; a student speaker reported acoustic tests showing that sound from a bouncing basketball was not audible above Tiburon Boulevard traffic at nearby houses. "We measured the sound on Virginia Drive and the machines were unable to pick up the sounds of the three basketballs bouncing over the noisy TBR Boulevard traffic," a child speaker said during public comment, urging council to proceed.

Council members repeatedly pressed consultants on bike circulation and noted options for modular (phased) construction to manage cost escalation. After discussion, council authorized RHAA to prepare final plans and environmental clearance for the Richardson Bay site and accepted POST’s recommendation to proceed with the concept. The motion passed in roll call vote.

Neighborhood parks: The council also approved moving forward with final design work on three smaller parks. POST and consultants presented revised concepts for Belvon mini park (native plant restoration, a modest lawn and nature play area), Cypress Hollow (updated playgrounds, an accessible perimeter trail to connect upper and lower play areas, terraced seating and improved tree protection) and Belair (a simple, low-impact plan to formalize the lawn, add shaded seating and a pedestrian loop). Consultants and staff emphasized these neighborhood projects can be phased; the council repeatedly asked staff to refine cost estimates and to pursue grants and fundraising where feasible.

What's next: Staff will return with refined cost estimates and final 30/50/100% design sets for council and POST review. For Richardson Bay, the council authorized a not-to-exceed professional-services agreement with RHAA (staff earlier cited an amount not to exceed approximately $388,783 for final design and environmental clearance). For neighborhood parks, staff will continue community outreach on detailed playground equipment, planting palettes, and bike-pedestrian circulation as design advances.