Point Reyes Light - October 19, 2000
Bolinas cemetery deal approved
By Gregory Foley
Marin planning commissioners on Monday unanimously approved a proposal by Bolinas residents Alex and June Kleider to build a new driveway to their Olema-Bolinas Road homesite, thus setting in motion a complex legal agreement that will end the couple’s use of an access route through the town cemetery.
Approved with 14 conditions, the decision allows the Kleiders to immediately begin work on the new driveway, which will follow the path of a steep, unimproved road uphill from Olema-Bolinas Road to their 5-acre property.
Technically, the commissioners’ action amended the 1997 permit for the Kleider’s home construction to allow the new access route through previously-designated private open space on the eastern portion of the parcel. The new 12-foot wide concrete driveway with two-foot shoulders will require a 110-foot long wooden retaining wall and the construction of various drainage improvements.
Kent Khitikian, attorney for the Kleiders, told commissioners that with approval of the project the preparatory work would likely begin within the next week. "The Kleiders want to go forward. They want to build the driveway, and the workers are ready to go," he said.
Must plant trees
County planning staffer Johanna Patri assured commissioners that the new driveway will require minimal grading and excavation and the removal of few trees – maybe two oaks and three eucalyptus.
As a condition of approval, the Kleiders must try to preserve the rest of the property’s trees, and must plant twice the number of oak trees removed during construction.
Essentially, the commission’s decision validates an out-of-court settlement reached last month between the Kleiders, the ad-hoc group Friends of the Bolinas Cemetery, and the Bolinas Cemetery Corporation – all of whom were involved in litigation over a disputed easement through the cemetery over which the Kleiders had installed a driveway.
As the cornerstone of the agreement, the Kleiders will be allowed 150 days to construct the new driveway, and will then sign a quit-claim deed within 37 days relinquishing any interest in the cemetery driveway easement.
Josiah "Tink" Thompson and Ralph Camiccia, members of the Friends of the Bolinas Cemetery, both expressed thanks to county planners and the Kleiders for being willing to negotiate.
Commissioner Hank Barner, in approving the result, commended all parties. "This is a humanistic way to go about solving things," he said.