Point Reyes Light - August 2, 2001
Valley’s paper streets a planning muddle
By Marian Schinske
There’s a phantom grid of "paper streets" spanning parts of West Marin that only a few folks know or care about – unless they happen to be living near one. One paper street in the San Geronimo Valley – a non-existent road designed to connect Central and Railroad avenues in Woodacre – has recently drawn the concern of some nearby residents.
Although invisible, paper streets are real. They were originally surveyed and drawn on development maps, but for various reasons were never built. During the early 1990s, the San Geronimo Valley Planning Group acquired a number of paper streets threading through old subdivision maps, including Grant Street in Woodacre.
Grant Street is a narrow, grassy space measuring 50 by 200 feet, and is partially occupied by a vegetable garden. Historically, the street was not used as a thoroughfare for automobiles. Instead, Valley residents used the land as a pedestrian path and an informal play area for kids.
Who owns the street?
Four property owners own the land under Grant Street, but the right to its private use is governed by the San Geronimo Valley Planning Group and Woodacre property owners.
The Grant Street property owners have expressed interest in the paper street’s appearance, and now one of the owners may want to landscape his portion.
The landowner, French Ranch developer Bruce Burman, has considered asking the Planning Group to turn over part of the paper street – approximately 2500 square feet – so that he can replace the weeds and grasses with plants and flowers.
"It would make a nice garden area," Burman told The Light. However, he noted, it was "no big deal" if his landscaping plans were not approved.
Enabling Burman – or anyone – to beautify his portion of a paper street would involve a lot of community input, said Ken Naffziger, Planning Group chairman.
"The first thing to be determined is if this paper street had any public benefit. If so, it’s the Planning Group’s responsibility to make sure that the benefit is maintained," Naffziger said.
Everybody get together
When this subject surfaced at a Planning Group meeting in July, Planning Group members encouraged the four Grant Street property owners to "get together" and agree upon a proposed plan for the street, Naffziger said.
If the proposal is moved forward, it would go before the Planning Group, and later would be presented at a town meeting of Woodacre property owners, Naffziger said. He noted that if the project were to be approved, it is likely little change would occur other than Grant Street would become a prettier place.
The community would benefit in ways beyond aesthetics if Burman were to effectively purchase his part of the paper street, Naffziger suggested.
He would initiate ownership of the land by filing a quiet title action. If successful, he would own a smidgen more of land, pay a bit more in property taxes, and in effect benefit Lagunitas and Tamalpais school districts, the Marin County Fire Department, and other service-related groups included on tax statements, Naffziger said.
Could change Valley
All this is conjecture, of course, Naffziger added. However, he speculated that if the community approved of the concept of private ownership of paper streets, the San Geronimo Valley could see some significant changes.
John Childers, assistant assessor for valuation for the county’s Assessor’s Office, said that his colleagues would treat newly acquired paper streets in the same way they would appraise newly acquired land.
"This is an unusual question," Childers said, "but we would appraise [a paper street] for a change in ownership at market value, if that had been established. If the market value hadn’t been established, we would go out ourselves and determine its value."
And, he said, if the new owner made improvements, such as adding construction, "we would add value to that."
The new owner would then be taxed accordingly, he said.
When asked if he could estimate the value of all the paper streets in the San Geronimo Valley, Childers said, "There’s no way for me to hazard a guess. I’d have to take a closer look."