Spring 2013 Thank Goodness It Never Happened

Under the Gables
Volume XVIII, Number 3
Spring 2013
Courtesy of Point Reyes National Seashore Museum
Thank Goodness
It Never Happened
An Exhibit looking at Various
things that might have happened
which would have changed the face
of west Marin
Jack Mason Museum of West Marin History
Inverness Way at Park Avenue, Inverness
Phone 415-669-1099
www.jackmasonmuseum.org
New Exhibit at the Museum
The new exhibit is called “Thank Goodness It Never Happened.”
It looks at both the overall West Marin Master Plan, created in the 1960s
for development of a portion of West Marin, and at some of the specific
development proposals that were put forward. It includes some early
proposals which, if implemented would have changed the face of West
Marin and precluded the National Seashore as we know it. It also touches
on some of the early proposals by the National Park Service to develop
the Seashore for active recreation.
The exhibit is open during the same hours as the Inverness Library,
Monday 3-6 and 7-9, Tuesday and Wednesday 10-1 and 2-6, Friday 3-6
and Saturday 10-1. It also will be open during the 4th of July celebrations
in Inverness from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and during the Inverness Fair from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Upcoming exhibit
In October the Museum will display a section of last year’s Marin
County Fair feature exhibit of M. B. Boissevain’s photographs of farmers
and ranchers taken in the 1920s and 1930s. The fine enlargements, mostly
from negatives in the Museum collection, were recently displayed at the
Marin County Civic Center. This is a joint exhibit with the Point Reyes
National Seashore, which will have more on display at the Red Barn
classroom. These exhibits run through the end of December. A quality
book of Boissevain’s photographs is also available for $25.
Exhibit ideas
We are always open to ideas and themes for our exhibits. Please
contact Dewey Livingston 415-669-7706 or Meg Linden 415-663-1488 to
make suggestions.
THE JACK MASON MUSEUM
ALWAYS NEEDS VOLUNTEERS FOR ARCHIVAL,
ORGANIZATIONAL, OUTREACH, AND
COMPUTER-RELATED TASKS.
PLEASE CALL DEWEY AT 669-7706,
OR THE MUSEUM AT 669-1099.
“POINT REYES PENINSULA”
Copies signed by the authors, Carola DeRooy and
Dewey Livingston are available at Museum Open
Houses and from the Archives for only $20.00. The
proceeds benefit the Museum.
ON THE COVER:
A house under construction on Limantour Spit; it was later
removed. (Courtesy of Point Reyes National Seashore Museum)
2
JACK MASON
MUSEUM COMMITTEE
Tom Branan, Chair
Andrew Buckingham
Carola DeRooy
Mary Kroninger
Meg Linden
Dewey Livingston
Michael Mery
Ann Read
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Sue Baty
Henry Buckingham
Mary Cardwell
Dian Carpenter
David Donlon
David Elliott
Gayanne Enquist
Robert Kroninger
Dorito Marringa
Vivian Mazur
Linda Mendoza
Jenefer Merrill
Maidee Moore
Connie Morse
HONORARY MEMBER
Barbara Mason McClellan
THE JACK MASON MUSEUM
OF WEST MARIN HISTORY
IS AN AFFILIATE OF THE
INVERNESS FOUNDATION
Editor:
Meg Linden
Design and layout:
Dewey Livingston
Thank Goodness
It Never Happened
The west marin master plan
By Meg Linden
and Louise Landreth
The Tenor of the Times
After the end of World
War II, Marin County began
to experience decades of phenomenal suburban growth.
A 1959 Army Corps of Engineers report predicted Marin
County would grow from
151,000 in 1960 to a staggering
780,000 in 2020. As successful
subdivisions and commercial enterprises expanded in
East Marin, many developers
and politicians were eager
to build similar projects and
improvements in more rural
West Marin. This story and
the current exhibit focus primarily on the critical decade
from 1960-1970 as the pressures to develop continued to This cartoon helped mobilize efforts to
complete acquisition of land for the park
increase.
to all parts of Marin County
(along with much of the rest
of the state). In Marin possible
projects included rebuilding
Highway One as a “parkway”
(4 lanes with two separate
roadbeds in places) from the
Highway 101 interchange in
Mill Valley up to the MarinSonoma county line. Another
proposal would extend then
Route 17 (now Highway 580)
from Point San Quentin to
Point Reyes Station, via Nicasio. Highway 37 from Vallejo
would be built out from the
east to meet the 17 extension
at the Nicasio Reservoir. Of
course, the underlying idea
was that all these new roads
would encourage homebuilding and suburban growth on a
massive scale.
The West Marin Master Plan
Faced with these proposals and pressures, the Marin
County Board of Supervisors
decided to undertake a West
Marin Master Plan. The Plan study area comprised
the entire east shore of Tomales Bay from beyond
Dillon Beach and going all the way down to south
of Five Brooks. It also included the lands on the
west shore that were not being considered for
the park, Inverness and Inverness Park and some
room for these villages to grow. Bolinas, Stinson
Beach, Nicasio and the San Geronimo Valley were
not in the study zone.
before it all vanished into subdivisions.
(San Francisco Examiner, Courtesy of Point
Reyes National Seashore Museum)
The Impact of the Planned
National Seashore
By 1959, the U.S. National
Park Service had begun planning the creation of
the Point Reyes National Seashore. This process
ironically increased the pressures for development
both within the lands slated for inclusion in the
seashore and those adjacent to its boundaries.
Highway Expansion Proposals
As well, the State of California had plans
to build numerous freeways to open up access
3
The preliminary version of this plan, published in 1964, suggested an ultimate population
of 66,330 spread over entire planning area. This
estimate was based on an average density of .88
houses per acre. The rules called for larger and
larger lots as the slope of ground increased. This
would not happen all at once. The projection was
that there would be 15,180 houses by 1990 with a
population of 42,730.
At hearings and supervisors’ meetings over
the next few years most of the discussion focused
on the need to increase the density to make development and subdivision more profitable. It was
also thought important that West Marin’s density
requirements be comparable to those in the rest
of the county. The differences between town and
rural developments were downplayed, especially
the need for on-site disposal of waste in most of
the area.
to meet the needs of the expected incoming population: 20 elementary schools, 5 middle schools and
3 high schools. Establishing a junior college near
the town of Marshall was also proposed, as well
as many small neighborhood parks.
Mouth of Tomales Bay
The plan recommended that some public
agency develop a wildlife refuge of 1,005 acres in
the mudflats, marshlands and creek area where
Lagunitas Creek (aka Paper Mill Creek) flows into
Tomales Bay. If the public funding and political
will were not forthcoming, the plan then advised
that there be a much smaller wildlife reserve of 221
acres. The remainder was allocated as 410 acres
for water recreation, 39 for multiple residential
(i.e. apartments), 330 acres for lagoon residential
(reviving the idea of creating islands surrounded
by lagoons at the head of the bay presented in the
1964 preliminary plan) and the final five acres used
for commercial development. 500 acres were set
aside for stream protection on other creeks flowing
into Tomales Bay.
Final Master Plan Recommendations
When the supervisors finally passed the plan
on July 10 1967 it included a range of population
densities from .88 houses per acre up to 1.15, if
accompanied by “good design.” However, this
decision was immediately challenged and eventually modified on March 4, 1969 to allow 1.15
units per acre (average) throughout the Plan area.
Under these conditions the ultimate population
in the area could be as high as 125,000. Some of
the land was reserved for public amenities such
as shopping centers, parks, roads, and schools,
therefore unavailable for housing. Also many of
the houses would be second homes and would not
be occupied year round.
In addition the plan set 60 acres aside for a
large shopping center to the west of Point Reyes
Station. 375 acres were allocated for “touristoriented commercial-recreation activity” in the
area between Olema and Point Reyes Station out
to Bear Valley Road, essentially most of the Olema
Marsh, the confluence of Lagunitas and Olema
Creeks. A 100 acre golf course somewhere in the
area was also in the plan.
Small neighborhood parks were included
throughout the plan area and several beach and
boating parks were recommended. For example,
Hog Island would become a boating park.
The final plan recommended building schools
Walker Creek Reservoir
One other proposal at the north end of the
planning area was to dam Walker Creek (near the
town of Tomales) to create a water supply. The
plan suggested public acquisition of much of the
shoreline and extensive development of facilities
for a “large and varied amount of water-oriented
recreational activity.” The plan also mentions
preservation of the natural environment along the
shores of the resulting lake.
New Countywide Plan Approved
The good news is that times and thinking
eventually changed. By 1971, the West Marin
General Plan was reviewed and emphatically repealed. Also the Board of Supervisors requested
the State Division of Highways abandon any
plans for the freeway to go into West Marin. A
new Marin Countywide Plan was presented to
the public in September 1972, and approved by
the supervisors in 1973. It established a “Coastal
Recreational Corridor” that would protect much of
the lands previously threatened by development
and ensuring that growth, if it came, would come
slowly and carefully.
4
Point Reyes Station was slated for
14,000 people in the original 1964
preliminary West Marin Master Plan
and another 7,770 in the Lagunitas
Creek and Black Mountain area. As
approved in 1967 and 1969 there
could have been 41,000 people in the
combined area. (Courtesy of Point
Reyes National Seashore Museum)
The Pierce Point Ranch was acquired by a development group and they planned to put 2,000 houses on its 2,500 acres.
The Park Service was able to acquire the land from this group without paying the $5 million asking price. (Courtesy of
Point Reyes National Seashore Museum)
5
The map showing sub-areas of the West Marin Master Plan is from the preliminary version (1964) as are the acreage
and 1964 population figures in the chart on the next page.
6
The West Marin Master Plan preliminary version issued in 1964 included a map showing population
by sub-areas. The total recommended population was 66,335. The density was increased several times
and when the Board of Supervisors gave final approval of the plan in 1969 the population was 125,000.
The final plan did not distribute the population by sub-area. However for the purposes of this exhibit
we distributed the population in the same proportion as it was in the preliminary plan.
Sub-Area
Acreage
pop. 1964
pop. 1969
North of Dillon Beach
1,914
1,290
2,430
Tomales & Dillon Beach
9,540
19,560
36,867
Cypress Grove including Marshall
3,972
8,280
15,600
Millerton area
3,975
5,370
10,118
Lagunitas Creek & Black Mountain
9,490
7,770
14,642
Point Reyes Station
2,450
14,000
26,380
Inverness (including Inverness
Park)
3,647
1,920
3,618
Olema area
4,060
5,535
10,430
Five Brooks
4,363
2,610
4,915
43,412
66,335
125,000
TOTAL IN AREA
This map shows the extent of the Drake’s Bay subdivisions that were planned. There could have been 322
houses as well as a shopping center, school, golf course, fishing lakes and other amenities. Eleven houses
were actually built. (Courtesy of Point Reyes National Seashore Museum)
7
Thank Goodness It Never Happened:
A Few Examples
By Meg Linden and Louise Landreth
dam the mouth of Tomales Bay and
create a fresh water reservoir there
instead of building Nicasio Dam and
reservoir. In 1959 a group started developing plans for a Harbor District
for Tomales Bay, including 10,000
Paradise Ranch Estates
more feet of jetties and more extenIn December 1952 the Supervisive dredging as well as a 200-foot
sors approved a plan by David S.
wide entrance channel to the bay, 20
Adams for a 429 acre subdivision
feet deep. This proposal, although
with 227 lots between Inverness and Several subdivisions were
much discussed, did not come to
Inverness Park. It was to be called proposed along this road near
pass. Others talked about a water
Paradise Ranch Estates. This subdi- Five Brooks. Alemea Palisades
and
Bolema
Palisades
were
park near the mouth of the Bay.
vision was involved in legal wranactually approved by the Board
Marconi
gling from its inception through
of Supervisors. When Wildlife
There were many proposals
the middle of the 1960s. The county Acres, a much larger subdivision,
never did accept the roads built in was proposed, discussion over the for the Marconi Wireless Station,
including one by J.W. Perry, Jr. of
the subdivision and many of them width of the access road delayed
remain unpaved to this day. The development until the Lake Ranch Marconi Properties in 1963, who
proposed plans for a fly-in, driveprivate water system was inadequate was purchased by the National
Seashore. (Courtesy of Point
in hotel, restaurant and recreational
and was taken over by North Marin
Reyes National Seashore Museum)
area as well as a marina for all sorts
Water District in the late 1970s. Evenof boats, a nine hole golf course
tually about 150 houses were built
with about half of them occupied full time and the above the present building with a club house on
the hill where it would command a sweeping view
rest only part-time.
of the bay. The old power house would become a
Chicken Ranch Marina
In 1966 Larry Marks applied for a use permit bath house with comfortable accommodations for
for a 60 berth marina with berths for boats up to 20 those who would use the Olympic size swimming
feet long and a boom hoist for launching, a break- pool. This plan fell through.
In 1964 Synanon bought the property. They
water and picnic areas. He also proposed parking
for 120 cars and dry boat storage. There would be planned a large population, possibly up to 5,000
five small cabins to the south of the marina and a people on this property and additional property
beach picnic area to the north. A migratory bird they bought in the area.
The San Francisco Foundation purchased the
watching station would be built at the end of the
pier. This is not the place to go into the extensive land from Synanon in 1980 and turned it over to
legal maneuverings, suits and countersuits and the California State Parks Foundation. It opened
hard feelings that this plan generated. The out- as a State Park and Conference Center in 1990.
As late as 1992 a $34 million development
come is important however. The Supreme Court of
California ruled in December 1971 that the public was proposed for Marconi Cove on the bay side
had an interest in the tidelands of the state and of the highway. By claiming it was a Makahmo
that private individuals could not develop them Pomo Indian reservation they could develop withto the exclusion of the public. Most of the property out regard to the Marin County regulations. The
plan called for a hotel with 40 rooms, marina for
became a county park.
60 boats, a convenience store, restaurant and gas
Tomales Bay Proposals
On Tomales Bay’s east shore there were many station on 6 acres with a golf course on 355 acres
proposed developments. In 1956 it was proposed to across the road. Neither the Board of Supervisors
There were many specific development proposals – more than can be
covered in this story and exhibit. A
few examples are:
8
Meanwhile back at the National Seashore
nor the local Coastal Miwok were happy with the
idea and the plan died.
Buying up the ranches proved much more expensive than first anticipated. Funding additional
purchases became an intensely political battle.
Cypress Grove
Clifford Conly the owner of Cypress Grove,
in an oral history dated 1976 said:
About ten years ago (1965-66) all of this land
suddenly became enormously valuable to subdividers
and a series of groups were formed to buy this land
and subdivide it. At that time the West Marin Plan
called for extensive subdivision along the east shore
of Tomales Bay. So I watched all of this with horror
because the syndicate that bought around me planned
to put a supermarket, a school, hundreds of houses, they
were going to develop the little marsh and make it into
another Belvedere lagoon.
Land Investors Research, a consortium of
investors, came up with plans for 1,800 houses on
one tract and 900 on another. However, Audubon
Canyon Ranch (ACR) arranged to buy strategic
bits of the bay coast in several places which made
subdivisions less appealing. They also came to
an agreement that Conly would donate Cypress
Grove to ACR when he decided to leave it.
Limantour Estero
Even before the first ranches were acquired a
multi-part subdivision was approved at Limantour
Estero. The story of Drake’s Bay subdivisions and
Drake’s Beach Estates subdivisions is very complex
and deserves its own story. In brief, full development of this area would have meant 322 houses on
144 acres as well as a shopping center, school, golf
course, fishing lakes created by putting a dam across
part of Limantour Estero and across several of the
creeks feeding the Estero. This was the only subdivision where houses were actually constructed. When
the National Seashore took over the land there were
eighteen houses of which most were torn down. The
three remaining on the hills overlooking Limantour
Spit are used for ranger housing.
Lake Ranch
As each year passed the pressure on the ranch(Continued on page 11)
Early National Seashore plans for Bear Valley Headquarters included extensive camping grounds as well as picnic
areas. Note the road (a four lane highway) comes directly to the park entrance and there is a cloverleaf to exit at Bear
Valley before going on over the hills to Limantour. (Courtesy of Point Reyes National Seashore Museum)
9
CORNERS
Number 2 in a new series of articles by Meg Linden
about local corners that have been used for business purposes
W e now go to Inverness
where a certain corner eventually ties in with the first
Corners article. When Inverness was first subdivided
a large section was reserved
for a grand hotel. This section started at the corner of
the County Road (now Sir
Francis Drake Boulevard
and Inverness Way North).
When it became clear that
the hotel would not be built,
Julia Shafter Hamilton sold
Marwedel house at its original location at the County Road (now SF Drake).
this section to Kate Johnson.
Alexander H. Baily, who already owned a lot York. The purchase price is listed as $10.00 gold
where he built the first house in Inverness - a cabin coin of the U.S.A. although the actual price may
which later became the Archives of our museum, have been higher. Ms. Tibbitts sold it to Brock
bought the section in 1893 at the probate sale of Schreiber – the date on the deed says December
Mrs. Johnson’s property. This became known as 13, 1917 but other places refer to her having sold
Baily’s Addition. He started subdividing the land it in 1915, the same year she bought it.
and sold lots. One of these lots was on the corner of
On February 4, 1916 Brock drew up a conInverness Way North and the county road. He sold tract to pay G. Giubbini $235 to move the house
it on November 25, 1895 to Charles F. Marwedel back from the corner to its present position. He
of San Francisco. The deed says that the purchase then built another building on the corner, which
became a store and a gas station. However, his
price was $10.00 gold coin.
Mr. Marwedel was his brother-in-law. Baily’s heart was not really in retail trade. By 1932 he
sister Hannah Baily had been married to Mar- had leased the store to P.A. Bidinger who also ran
wedel from 1862 to 1870 when she died. They had an “eating place” on the side. Brock returned full
three children, Charles W., Caroline (aka Carrie), time to his boathouse, running his launch around
and Emilie who died in infancy shortly before Mrs. Tomales Bay and renting out boats to those who
Marwedel died. Marwedel built an elegant Victori- needed them.
In 1942 the building became the Civil Defense
an house on the property. He retained his residence
in San Francisco so we assume that house he built Office for Inverness and on September 11, 1942
in Inverness was used primarily in the summer. small branch of the Marin County Free Library
In August 1904 he transferred the property to his opened in the office. Gas was not available to drive
son Charles W. Marwedel and daughter Mrs. C.H. to Point Reyes Station for library books. When the
Luehning. This transaction was referred to when war was over the library continued there until 1948
Charles W. and his wife Frederica of San Mateo when it had to move to an even smaller space on
County and Carrie H. Luehning and her husband the main road. Helen Dodge (see Corners no. 1)
Ernst of Butte County sold the property on August rented the building, still owned by Brock Schreiber,
30, 1915 to Lillian C. Tibbitts of Rochester, New to open a tea room in March. Finally after delays
10
Bidinger’s store and gas station in 1937 with the Marwedel house, which had been moved from the site, in background.
because of strikes and other problems the tea room
opened. The July 1, 1948 issue of Baywood Press
has an article stating that the editor has actually
been served at the tea room and it is already a
popular place for locals – the product mentioned
as most popular however is coffee. Helen slept in
a tiny room in the back. Helen closed her place in
1956. The Inverness Lodge then ran a coffee shop
there. It was closed briefly when Dick and Alys
Graveson bought the business in 1963 and opened
A Few Examples
(Continued from page 9)
ers to sell their land for subdivision increased. For
example, on Lake Ranch there were proposals for
three separate subdivisions: Alemea was small,
with 8 lots on 9 acres; Bolema Palisades called
for 57 lots on 136 acres; and Wildlife Acres would
have 92 lots on 428 acres. The owners of Lake
Ranch became frustrated with the negotiations
for the government to purchase it and decided to
subdivide the entire ranch into 40 acre lots which
when sold could have been further subdivided.
This was one of the factors that galvanized public
action to complete the park.
Pierce Point Ranch
Land Investors Research had purchased the
Pierce Point Ranch and proposed to place 2,000
houses on its 2,500 acres.
National Seashore Facilities Plans
When the National Park Service first started
planning for the National Seashore their emphasis
for business March 27 at 11 o’clock according to
the Baywood Press.
Brock Schreiber had a 90th birthday party on
the patio of the coffee shop and soon after died
on November 21, 1964. Charles Mel bought the
shop from Brock’s estate in 1967 (Graveson’s coffee shop continued to operate through the transition), as well as Brock’s house (Marwedel house).
(Perhaps another time we can pursue the rest of
this history.)
was on recreation, including the facilities to support it, for example fishing piers, boating docks,
swimming areas with bath houses and facilities
for lifeguards, golf, horseback riding and stables.
Also to support use of the area, food concessions
were planned at many points including restaurants at Limantour, Drake’s Beach and Chimney
Rock, and a snack bar at Tomales Cove (near
Laird’s Landing). Initially there were to be roads
to provide access to many backcountry locations
and scenic views. The headquarters at Bear Valley
would have storage for travel trailers as well as
extensive campgrounds. There were plans to dam
a portion of Limantour Estero (just as the commercial developers had proposed) in order to create a
freshwater lake for swimming, fishing and boating. By the time the money was available to start
building infrastructure in the national seashore the
primary mission was redefined as “protection and
preservation of the peninsula’s natural world for
aesthetic, scientific, and recreational purposes.”
11
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Thank Goodness
It Never Happened
Open During Library hours and
on July 4th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
and During the Inverness Fair
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.