Community Guide 2017
community input by Friends of the Valley and the Planning Group, a maximum of 134 homes was approved to be built in four phases. In 1995, lack of sales provided an opportunity for purchase of the remaining three phases of unbuilt land. The County of Marin Open Space District purchased almost 1,500 acres, leaving a maximum potential development of 37 homes and some remainder parcels. In the 1980s, a 411-acre agricultural parcel was sold to Insight Meditation West (IMW). The Planning Group worked out an agreement with their board whereby the Plan- ning Group would support a small Buddhist center in lieu of the 20 homes the 20-acre zoning allowed in keeping with the Community Plan. This was approved by the Board of Supervisors. IMW dedicated land to the Open Space District, which was added to Roy’s Redwoods, and arranged an agricul- tural easement with MALT (Marin Agricultural Land Trust). The remainder was used by IMW and renamed Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Spirit Rock later got an expanded Master Plan approved and is currently constructing major facilities. In 1995, after considerable controversy within the commu- nity, a final amended Master Plan was approved for 33 houses on the 450-acre French Ranch property, located in the heart of the Valley. Negotiations resulted in smaller, clustered houses on smaller building envelopes. Three hundred and eighty acres were dedicated to the County Open Space District along with community trails, private agricultural space, three affordable housing units, and a waste treatment facility shared with the Lagunitas School District. Over the years Barnabe Fire Lookout tower has “grown” with additional facilities to serve Marin community residents. In 2007 Verizon installed a 60-foot tower on the ridge for bet- ter cell phone reception and emergency use. It is disguised as a giant evergreen tree. The millennium found the Valley with three parcels out- side the village boundaries that have potential development. This includes a 200-acre parcel on the northern ridge above Forest Knolls, the 590-acre Flanders Ranch, located at the east end of the Valley on both sides of SF Drake Boulevard (cur- rently an operating cattle ranch by heirs of the family); and the 47 acre parcel owned by the Tamalpais School District, formerly a part of the Flanders Ranch and condemned for use as a high school under the proposed ’61 Master Plan. Roads Nineteenth century West Marin was the political and economic equal of East Marin, reflected in the fact that Nicasio was originally proposed to be Marin’s County Seat, although San Rafael was ultimately chosen. White’s Hill was the barrier to be breached to connect the two halves of the county. The earliest trail on record was the 1840s cart trail of Indian and Spanish origin over White’s Hill. The County replaced the trail with the Olema-to-San Rafael stage road in 1865. The new grade over White’s Hill was described as being “very easy and of sufficient width to
allow teams to pass without any trouble whatever,” but many years later motorists would find the road so steep they had to back their Model T Fords uphill in reverse gear! In 1929 the county road, later renamed Sir Francis Drake Blvd., was completed through the Valley following the Olema-to-San Rafael stage road route. After World War II, a building boom occurred in Marin County. In the ’50s part of this road was rebuilt with generous shoulders and rerouted from the bottom of White’s Hill through the Flanders property bypassing downtown Woodacre and San Geronimo. The original Sir Francis Drake Blvd. route that went through Woodacre and San Geronimo was renamed San Geronimo Valley Drive. In the early 1970s another freeway was proposed to be developed, this time along the northern ridge of the Valley, as an extension of what is now Interstate 580, to provide improved tourist access to the newly-created Point Reyes National Seashore, but that proposal also died. The storm of January 1982 played havoc with logging roads and fire roads located on steep hillsides that had been created without benefit of construction standards. Lique- faction caused countless slides and enormous amounts of sediment poured down the tributaries into San Geronimo Creek. Flooding was a serious problem everywhere. The Fire Department did a post-flood fire road assessment and decided to cutback on the number of fire roads they cleared seasonally through large private properties on the uplands. In the late 1980s the County expanded the road shoulder from Lagunitas School in San Geronimo to the Inkwells west of Lagunitas to improve safety. This led to a partnership between MMWD and the County that result- ed in the creation of a pedestrian bridge over a large water pipe that connected Sir Francis Drake Blvd. with the trail over the railroad right of way that goes through Taylor Park on the north side of Lagunitas Creek. The Dhority fam- ily provided an easement over a portion of their property and the bridge was named after them. The bridge/trail is a popular pedestrian, equestrian and biker route. In 2008, the County funded the Sir Francis Drake Blvd. rehabilitation project. In 2014 they repaved Sir Francis Drake Blvd. from the Inkwells near Lagunitas to Tocaloma five miles west. The design improved what had been a dan- gerous route for autos and bicyclists for decades, and less- ened the impact of erosion and sediment on streams that are home to endangered and threatened salmonids. Railroads The North Pacific Coast Railroad laid narrow-gauge tracks over White’s Hill and through the Valley in 1873 and 1874, the right-of-way through the Valley having been donated by Adolph Mailliard. Chinese laborers armed with only pick- axes, shovels, and wheelbarrows did the work. Two tunnels were bored through White’s Hill, each called “Roy’s Tunnel.” The first was 370 feet long, but was eventually abandoned
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