Creek Park renovation delayed for year
San Anselmo’s plan to renovate Creek Park this summer has been postponed for a year because of delays to a Marin County flood control project that the park makeover is linked to.
The town’s plan for the downtown park includes building a plaza and a pedestrian bridge. Part of the work will be paid for by the town, and San Anselmo officials said they expect to raise the money through private donations. Additional work, including a restoration of San Anselmo Creek where it runs through the park, will be funded through a county project aimed at reducing flooding throughout the Ross Valley. But that project has hit a snag, according to a county official.
The county’s project, funded in part by an annual tax levied on properties in the Ross Valley, calls for replacing the Winship Bridge in Ross at about the same time as the work gets underway in San Anselmo. But the bridge work has been delayed by a year because an environmental review of the project hasn’t been cleared by the federal government, according to Liz Lewis, a county planning manager. That has also delayed plans for the work in San Anselmo, she said.
“We plan to go to construction next summer and we anticipate beginning roughly in late June or July, and then that work would continue through the fall of 2022,” Lewis told the San Anselmo Town Council.
A portion of the county’s work in San Anselmo began last year, when construction crews tore down a building that straddled San Anselmo Creek and restricted water flow at the corner of Creek Park. San Anselmo officials requested that the demolition get underway earlier than scheduled to minimize disruption to downtown businesses, many of which were closed at the time because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The building’s foundation was left behind and the town has turned it into a temporary plaza with outdoor seating. The foundation was slated to be removed by the county this summer as part of the creek restoration work, but it will now be demolished in the summer of 2022, according to the town.
San Anselmo Town Manager David Donery said the town will continue to use the plaza for outdoor seating in the meantime.
“This timing actually works in our favor,” Donery said. “COVID will likely impact the town well into fall and we won’t have a construction project closing outdoor seating areas at a time when we need it most.”
Mayor Brian Colbert called it a “silver lining.” He said the delay also gives the town more time to plan the park renovation.
The town is still working with a design firm on draft concepts for the project, officials said. Beginning in the spring, the town will seek input from residents on the designs at 30%, 60% and 90% completion before the plans are finalized in the summer.
Marin County is expected to pay for renovations to any portions of the park that are damaged as a result of the flood control project. But San Anselmo would need to pay for any additions to the park, including the proposed plaza and pedestrian bridge, according to a town report.