Empowering people through Urban Design
Tiburon Waterfront Park
Point Tiburon is a 38-acre master plan development located on San Francisco Bay in the heart of the Tiburon Belvedere community of Marin County. Formally the site of Southern Pacific railroad yard, Tiburon linear park was a result of the citizen's committee for Downtown plan review and the Town of Tiburon. Danadjieva Hansen Architects was the lead architect in the citizen's committee.
Tiburon's Waterfront park is a result of the initiative of the Citizen's Committee for Downtown Plan Review. Danadjieva Hansen Architects were instrumental in leading the citizen's committee for formulating criteria for the development of 38 acres in Tiburon fronting San Francisco Bay.
Recognizing that elected government leaders need community support, we worked closely with Citizen's Committees to incorporate design strategies into public policy.
Organizing the citizen's committee's effort for review of the proposed General Plan, DHA prepared and distributed maps to the community that illustrated the denial of public access to the waterfront. We helped collect more than 2000 signatures of Tiburon voters that persuaded the city government to implement the Committee's proposed changes.
The following extract is from our letter to the Tiburon Planning Commission that urged establishment of open space land use along the waterfront:
'In recognition that Open Park water use is THE ONLY ACTIVITY WHICH SERVES THE NEEDS OF THE WHOLE COMMUNITY, and that does not require the patronage of a minority interest group to justify and support it, the City of Tiburon is hereby urged to endorse this land use and to examine the options available to: ESTABLISH THE ENTIRE WATERFRONT between Windjammer and Caprice restaurants to a depth of say 500 feet AS AN OPEN PARK WATERFRONT FOREVER.'
The result of this involvement is the present waterfront park, which is used extensively by the public for the enjoyment of all.
'Dear Fani and Gary, Congratulations and heartfelt thanks for the great work you have done. This has undoubtedly been the most decisive action thus far in our effort to modify the plans for downtown Tiburon.. It now seems clear that the development of downtown Tiburon will be an issue in our city council election. So, you can see how important the work has been.'
Brewster H. Morris, Co-Chairman Committee for Downtown Plan