Ross selects plan for flood project at park
The Ross Town Council has selected an alternative plan for a flood control project at Frederick Allen Park, sparing dozens of creekside trees.
The council voted unanimously Thursday in favor of “alternative 1,” which would preserve 80 trees slated for removal in the park. It would also nix the fish ladder and add four large fish resting pools into the concrete channel between the tennis courts and the post office.
“Nary a stone or leaf will be turned or touched in the park,” said Richard Simonitch, the public works director. “It’ll look just like it does today with the concrete channel there behind the shrubs.”
“The only construction that we will see in Ross is the natural creek channel modifications between the Lagunitas Bridge and the current fish ladder a little bit downstream from the post office,” he said.
The original proposal, which is part of the Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District’s Corte Madera Creek Flood Risk Management project, was outlined in February in a draft environmental impact report. The district has a $10 million budget for the project, and the Ross portion should cost between $2 million to $3 million, Simonitch said.
This portion of the work, however, would not be paid for by the town, said Councilman Beach Kuhl.
“It doesn’t cost Ross any money other than perhaps we have some staff costs that we have to absorb,” Kuhl said. “But basically, it’s a project that is going to be paid for by the county flood control and by a grant from the state water board.”
Despite the unanimous vote, Kuhl said he would have approved the original project if it was not for the overwhelming support that residents aired for alternative 1.
“If it were my choice, I would do the park renovation,” he said. “I think we’d get a better park while still getting significant flood relief. I think that leaves me in the position of reluctantly supporting the desires of the residents of this town and going along with just doing the fish removal and not doing the plan that would result in significant improvements in the park.”
The original proposal would have removed the concrete channel from a section of the park along the creek between Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and Poplar Avenue. It called for installing taller floodwalls and an improved stormwater pump station in the Granton Park neighborhood. The plan would have created larger fish resting pools and removed the concrete channel from Stadium Way to improve the natural fish and wildlife habitat.
Despite the flood protections, many public commenters objected to the original plan because it aimed to remove 80 mature trees, reconfigure the multi-use path and add concrete barriers.
“The cost to Ross on this project is not zero. The cost to Ross is staggering,” said Hugh Cabin, a resident. “It’s the value of Frederick Allen Park.”
John Child said he lives in the former yellow conductor’s house on Poplar Avenue and has the most to gain with flood protections, but he still supported alternative 1 because of the unknown construction impacts.
“The six months of them redoing it seems aggressive,” Child said. “But then, a 20-year aftermath of dealing with noise pollution and the tree growth to get where we need to be. It just seems like a very ambitious and difficult task for folks that live on that portion of town.”
Construction would start in 2022 if the Marin County Board of Supervisors approves the final environmental impact report this summer, according to a town staff report.