Uphill neighbors tell Tiburon board timber wall risks flooding and failure at 85 Gelder Drive

Two uphill neighbors told the Tiburon Design Review Board on Aug. 6 they oppose the fence-and-retaining-wall design at 85 Gelder Drive and urged the board to deny the application as submitted.

"The wall is in the wrong structure built in the wrong way," said Marilyn Candel, who identified herself as living at 95 Gelder Drive. She urged the board to require an engineered reinforced-concrete wall with a stamped geotechnical report and drainage that serves both properties. She said the submitted plans lack details such as weep holes, granular backfill or subdrain behind the wall and called the proposed timber wall a "failure waiting for the first big winter storm."

Neighbor Richard Kandel also opposed the application, saying the combined fence-and-wall would be nearly 9 feet tall from his deck and that the variance findings could not lawfully be made because any hardship was self-created. "A difficulty that arises from unpermitted construction is not the kind of hardship the law recognizes," Kandel said, referencing variance standards and urging denial.

Planning staff replied that building and public-works review at the permit stage will examine grading, drainage and structural engineering and will require the applicant to provide any necessary stamped engineering or to revise materials if the review finds the current plan inadequate. The board approved the application, but neighbors and staff indicated that detailed engineering and drainage requirements will be determined in the permit review.