Point Reyes Light - September 16, 1999
Deal struck in Bolinas Cemertery flap; homeowners consider a different road
Rather than laying a private driveway through the town's historic graveyard, Bolinas homeowners Alex and June Kleider have agreed to consider building an entrance from Olema-Bolinas Road to their property behind the Bolinas Cemetery.
The agreement came out of a closed-door meeting last week at Civic Center attended by county planners, the Kleiders, several attorneys, and members of Friends of Bolinas Cemetery, the ad hoc group of local residents and cemetery plot owners that has opposed the Kleiders' graveyard driveway.
While the Kleiders' explore the technical feasibility of converting a narrow, steep farm path into a proper driveway, the Bolinas Cemetery Corporation has agreed to suspend a civil lawsuit against the couple, said the cemetery corporation's attorney, Lawrence Baskin.
For their part, Friends of Bolinas Cemetery have offered to put on hold their appeal to the Marin County Planning
Commission, which had been asked to withhold the Kleiders' building permits, said others at the meeting. Friends of Bolinas Cemetery had also joined the cemetery corporation in suing the Kleiders.
Reading a statement issued by Friends of Bolinas Cemetery and Cemetery Corporation Board, attorney Baskin this week said: "The parties agree to put the litigation, the planning commission appeal, and adversarial actions on hold while they work in good faith to resolve the cemetery road controversy...
"All parties, including the Kleiders, are to be commended for their willingness to meet and work cooperatively toward a settlement."
Describing the Civic Center meeting as an "honest, spirited, and straightforward discussion," the director of the Marin Community Development Agency, Alex Hinds, said it appears the graveyard controversy is a step closer to resolution.
Once the Kleiders get an engineering study of the alternative driveway and a cost estimate, planning staff will help them prepare a plan to bring before the Planning Commission for public hearing, said county planner Brian Crawford.
"We're hopeful the process will result in a driveway that is supported by the Kleiders and the Bolinas community," he told The Light.
Bolinas resident Ralph Camiccia, a member of Friends of Bolinas Cemetery, credited the Kleiders for their willingness to look at alternatives to the graveyard driveway. The controversy surrounding the couple's plans have always been about preserving the integrity of the 150-year-old cemetery, he said, and not about the couple's neighboring home.
"The community does appreciate their trying to address this issue and trying to resolve the controversy," he said.
Conceding that it appeared fruitless to work towards a mutually agreeable solution while fighting the matter in court and before the Planning Commission, Baskin said the cemetery truce has given everyone new hope that some settlement can be made.
"Everybody was optimistic it could be worked out when they left the meeting," he said.