Point Reyes Light - December 11, 2003
Coast Commission OKs Nick's Cove
By Ivan Gale
Coastal Commissioners on Wednesday gave the final go-ahead to restaurateur Pat Kuleto to restore Nick’s Cove Restaurant in Marshall.
At a hearing in San Francisco the 12-member panel agreed unanimously to pass the coastal permit request. The commission also added 13 conditions to the county-approved permit which passed in May.
Only a technicality
Kuleto, on behalf of two business partners, said the new conditions require him to conduct a thorough technical review of the property before any work starts.
"I feel ecstatic," Kuleto told The Light Wednesday after the hearing. "There was a lot of fantastic logic that actually prevailed.... The commissioners really got it. They loved the project. I feel phenomenally heartened that it’s finally happened."
Plans call for refurbishing the restaurant along with restoring or building 11 cottages, a fishing pier, four boat slips, and 62 parking spaces.
The restaurant’s water supply will come from the Poncia ranch across Highway 1. A septic system with a three-acre leachfield will be built on the Zimmerman ranch.
The commission’s decision put an end to a permit process that took almost five years. Kuleto and business associates Mark Franz and Richard Miyashiro created a partnership called "Three Sons" to restore Nick’s Cove.
"From here, it’s mainly technical issues and we still need to raise a tremendous amount of money," said Kuleto.
Anyone willing to invest, Kuleto joked, "should contact my office."
Coastal residents thanked
Kuleto said West Marin residents were also to be thanked for signing petitions and testifying at hearings in favor of restoring the restaurant.
"Literally hundreds came out in our support and we want to see everybody for a beer and barbecued oysters," he said.
Construction is being scheduled for summer 2004, the restaurant should be open by spring 2005 Kuleto said.
When the bayside eatery is reopened, Kuleto and his associates will be only the third group to run the restaurant in more than 70 years.
Original owners
Nick and Frances Kojich first settled at the spot in 1931. They shipped by barge a homestead from Pierce Ranch on Point Reyes. The couple opened a seafood restaurant and added a bar two years later after the end of Prohibition.
With the advent of new roads and the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937, Nick’s Cove became popular with daytrippers from San Francisco, as well as residents of the Sacramento Valley escaping the summer heat.
In 1950 the restaurant and bar burned down, but with the help of nephew Andrew Matkovich, it was rebuilt.
The restaurant remained in the family until 1973, when Andrew Matkovich’s wife sold Nick’s Cove to Alfred and Ruth Gibson.
Following Al Gibson’s death, Ruth continued running the restaurant until she sold it to Kuleto and his associates for nearly $2 million in 1999.