Bolinas residents at once pledged support and raised questions about a plan to save Terrace Avenue at Surfer’s Overlook, a road local officials stressed to a crowd of over 60 on Saturday morning would be unpassable within three to five years unless the community raises $500,000 for a short-term fix to an existing seawall—and that just to buy time. Eventually, at least $6 million is needed for a major armoring project to protect the entire cliff side. (The plans and permits alone would cost between $1 and $2 million, a figure that drew sighs from the crowd.) Wind erosion, along with waves eating away at the toe of the bluff, is destabilizing the road at the overlook. Officials like Anita Tyrrell-Brown, the chief of the Bolinas Volunteer Fire Department, hammered home her safety concerns: if the road becomes unpassable, there will only be one road to and from the Big Mesa, which could increase response times during an emergency and pose problems if Mesa Road were to become blocked, which has happened in the past when trees have fallen across it. Since the big project could take years to get through the California Coastal Commission, the short-term fix could keep the road passable; if the road begins to fail, a bigger fix would be virtually impossible. But because Terrace is just one of two access routes, the county has no legal obligation to fund the project, so the community must raise the funds or watch the overlook crumble. (Supervisor Steve Kinsey said he might be able to sway his colleagues to pitch in 10 percent of the cost of the smaller fix.) Ralph Camiccia, a former fire chief, said local officials paid for geotechnical evaluations of the bluff and had lengthy discussions with the coastal commission, but that they could not bear the financial burden of either fix. “We’re at this plateau right now… where the passion really has to come from the community,” he said. Some attendees, swayed by safety concerns, lent their vocal support and pledged to give money to the cause, although there’s not currently a committee assembled to accept donations. (One attendee, Ken Masterson, said he is committed to serving on a committee. “Local government has carried this as far as it can go,” he said.) But questions arose about whether the long-term project would be above or below the mean high tide line, a question the county is working to answer in the next six months. If the project falls within that line, it “could be a deal-breaker” in terms of obtaining all the permits, Mr. Kinsey said. Frances McDormand, a Bolinas resident, asked whether the county could fast-track the determination of the line, considering the implications. “I am prepared to see if I can get the survey worked bumped up,” Mr. Kinsey said.