Point Reyes Light - September 20, 2001

Stinson likely to get a second Village Green

Gregory Foley

A prime piece of vacant real estate in downtown Stinson Beach is slated to be purchased by townspeople for conversion to a public park.

The weed-covered, 4,000-square-foot lot at Highway 1 and Calle del Mar was the site of the town’s only gas station until 1988 when it closed.

Acting on behalf of a group of townspeople, the Stinson Beach Village Association last month entered into a contract with the heirs of the late owner Proctor Jones to purchase the land.

The commercially zoned parcel, which is enclosed with a chainlink fence, is known to many residents as the "gas station lot." Over the years, it has drawn the ire of many townspeople because of its unsightly appearance.

Resident Mimi Lowrey, who with fellow resident Chuck Hobson led a volunteer initiative to raise money to make the purchase, said that fundraising and negotiations for the project started more than two years ago.

‘An overgrown weed patch’

"For the center of our town to be an overgrown weed patch was just unacceptable," she said. "There has been tremendous support for this lot to become a park, and we’re well on our way to achieving the purchase price."

Lowrey said that the group expects to pay roughly $385,000 to pay for the land, environmental studies, and landscape conversion of the parcel. The park – to be called Village Green II after its predecessor, Village Green I across Calle del Mar – is tentatively planned to be a "contemplative" park for adults. It will be landscaped with bushes, walkways, and benches, she said.

Once the full purchase price is raised and an environmental assessment of the lot’s surface and subsurface soil is conducted to ensure that it is not contaminated, the Village Association will exercise its purchase option and then directly transfer title of the land to the county, explained Roger Hurt, co-coordinator of the Village Association.

County to maintain park

After taking ownership, the county Department of Parks, Open Space and Cultural Services will dedicate the site as a public park and will ultimately be charged with maintaining the grounds and facilities. Townspeople used the same formula to develop the existing Village Green, which aimed to provide a gathering and recreational site for youths and teenagers.

Frances Brigmann, director of Parks and Open Space, said she believes the odds are good that the deal can be completed.

"When I stand there and I look at that property, it’s so obvious to me that it should be a public park," she told The Light. "It will tie the whole area together with the Village Green, the town library, and the Shakespeare theater."

The defunct gas station

The property has been the center of much debate in Stinson Beach since the Chevron gas station that once occupied the site closed. Toxic hydrocarbons were found to have escaped the station’s corroded gas tanks, and in 1989, a developer who had purchased the site from Proctor Jones, tore down the 1950s-vintage service station and began development of a two-pump gas station with a mini-mart.

However, that plan was opposed by townspeople largely because of its design and large scale. After the developer filed a lawsuit against Jones, the lot was returned to him in the 1990s.

Jones – a diplomat, photographer, lawyer, and writer who lived in Seadrift for several decades – died in 1999 and left the property to his family. The Jones’ Family Dipsea Trust in 1992 sold the downtown property that is the existing Village Green to the town Village Association.

Building a new gas station would be difficult

Lowrey, who is helping spearhead the Village Green plan, explained that although some residents may question why the property was not redeveloped with a safe, modern gas station, the size of the parcel and composition of the land would have made it extremely difficult for any developer to safely install an adequate septic system and parking area.

"A commercial venture would be difficult with such little space," she said.

Scott Tye, owner of Off the Beach surf and kayak rentals in the business and postoffice complex next to the site, said that he supports the park project but wants to ensure that it includes parking and a public fountain where visitors can drink and wash their hands.

"You can’t just throw another park into town without parking," he said. "We already have people parking in the postoffice lot to go to Village Green I."

Tye added that because Stinson Beach has no public bathrooms outside of the federal beach park, he will try to work with project planners to ensure a toilet is constructed at the new park.

Polluted-soil questions

Like county Parks Director Brigmann, Lowrey said that she also believes the deal will be completed, noting that the pending soil-toxins study stands as the only significant obstacle.

She said that a previous study contracted for by the Proctor Jones heirs turned up no significant toxic remnants of the former gas station. The corroded subsurface gas tanks have long-since been removed, but an old septic tank that may still be underground could require cleanup, she said.

County supervisors last Wednesday signed an $11,000 contract for Subsurface Consultants to conduct a toxic-contamination assessment of the property.

The signing had been delayed a month because of a dispute with the consultants over who would be liable – the county or Subsurface Consultants – if the firm failed to discover some contaminated soil, said Liza Crosse, aide to Supervisor Steve Kinsey. County lawyers eventually negotiated a revised agreement with the consultant, she added.

Donating to project

Lowrey said that she expects to have the results of the environmental study by the end of October. If the site is determined to be free of toxics, planning will begin immediately, she said.

Those who wish to donate to the Village Green II project can write a tax-deductible check to the Marin Community Foundation, noting the money is for the Stinson Beach Park Fund. Checks should be mailed to: Village Green II Committee, attention Mimi Lowrey, Box 95, Stinson Beach, 94970.

Checks will be held and not deposited until the option to purchase the land is exercised and the park is dedicated by the county.

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