Draft Tiburon parks plan calls for more amenities

More sports destinations and places to unwind could be coming to Tiburon’s parks and recreational spaces.

WRT Design, a consulting firm with offices in San Francisco that was hired by the town, presented a draft parks and recreation master plan to the Town Council on Wednesday.

The plan includes preliminary recommendations for increased recreational sport spaces, a more formalized trail system and more amenities.

Work on the plan to upgrade town parks and recreational locations began in April 2023. In November, WRT Design presented the findings of a town survey.

The consulting firm held community workshops throughout February to gather comments on its recommendations for improvements. Based on feedback, the firm recommended more restrooms, shaded gathering spaces, trailhead signs and seating in parks.

At Richardson Bay Lineal Park, the main priority for residents is a play area at Blackie’s Pasture, according to Peter Winch of WRT Design.

Other priorities include tennis, bocce and pickleball courts; an amphitheater; and a picnic pavilion. Residents also have expressed interest in a community pool. Winch said a suggested location for it is Teather Park.

Resident Nicole Voss said a pool is a priority for her family and others. She also supported more playgrounds for children distributed throughout the town.

“Tiburon is so beautiful and it’s surrounded by water and it’s really important that we teach our children how to swim,” Voss said. “It would be really great to have that safe space and swimming lessons to teach our children.”

Mayor Alice Fredericks said it is unlikely the town will be able to supply all the amenities suggested. She said information on which nearby cities and towns offer pools with day passes should be made available.

Winch said more programs for teens and seniors were repeatedly requested. Amenities such as tennis, an indoor gym and playgrounds also are recommended.

Adding signs and a wayfinding program for Tiburon’s parks, trails and paths is needed, Winch said. He also said the town should design a comprehensive online map of all the parks, open spaces and trails that includes which amenities are available.

Suggestions to make environmentally-friendly improvements to parks and open spaces included adding rain gardens, a community garden and stormwater infiltration and sea-level rise adaptation measures in the design of Richardson Bay Park.

“We want to really raise up the reality that parks and open space are potentially important natural infrastructure for the community as we absorb and respond to a changing climate, and heat and stormwater are things that parks have a role in making the community thrive,” Winch said.

Councilmember Jon Welner said a drawback of these types of plans is that they can be unintentionally pro-development. He said the ideas for the South Knoll — a layout that includes a multiuse field, a small skate park and a beach volleyball court — made him “recoil” a bit. He said preserving Tiburon’s peaceful, open space should be a priority.

“Before you know it, you’ve created kind of a quilt of activity across the town,” Welner said. “I think that balance is really important in this plan and it’s hard to remember when trying to check off as many things as possible on people’s lists.”

For the town’s smaller neighborhood parks — Bel Aire Park, Belveron Park and Cypress Hollow Park — the consultant recommended improving the landscaping and adding seating, gravel paths and signs to communicate rules and designate locations for dogs and play areas. For Bel Aire Park specifically, better site drainage and more trash maintenance are needed.

While residents were largely pleased with the suggestions, the idea of more pickleball courts was divisive.

Eric Pifer of Tiburon said that on top of being loud and disruptive, the noise from pickleball has reduced the property value of his house by thousands. He suggested indoor courts to avoid polarizing the community.

“I am not personally opposed to pickleball, my mother plays pickleball,” Pifer said. “I have no objection to it, but what I do have an objection to is the staccato sound that it makes that echoes through my patio and through my living room and through my kitchen.”

Resident Peter Mueller wrote to the council in support of more courts, saying that they take up little space and the suggested location — next to McKegney Green — is perfect because traffic from Tiburon Boulevard would drown out any noise.

“Pickleball is a great way to stay active and fit, and it creates community,” Mueller wrote. “Who wouldn’t want any of those things where they live?”

Councilmember Jack Ryan said the pickleball issue should be evaluated closely because, while moving it indoors would mitigate the sound concern, people might not use the courts if they are inside. Ryan and Welner both suggested zoning similar activities to different areas.

Ryan said the master plan should be half a “philosophical” framework for what the community wants, and half an analysis of ideas, potential complications, benefits and costs.

“What I hope, at the end, and I really appreciate all that work that you’ve done, as we move toward a final product, you recognize that you’re not giving us a picture of what we’re definitely going to do over the next 15 years but as we decide how to prioritize things, how we architect our thoughts on where they go and what we do next,” he said.

The design firm plans to present the draft plan to the Parks, Open Space and Trails Commission in May. A final plan will be presented to the Town Council in June.