Heritage Preservation Board · meeting of Thursday, Aug. 28
Board sends Royal Green Acai patio enclosure to Planning Commission, 4-0
At 546 A Magnolia Avenue, the home of Royal Green Acai, owner Roberto Saldanha is asking to enclose the existing outdoor patios at both the front and rear of the building using fire-resistant vinyl/polyurethane fabric and new roofing material. The property sits in the Downtown Historic District in the SD (Storefront Downtown) zoning district, and because it's inside a National Register district, the alterations needed a historic review before they could move on. The applicant's plans add no new footprint, and staff noted the structure itself is non-contributing.
“I have to say, I'm fully in favor of it. I think it's a big improvement for a small business. It's not permanent and fabric structures are wonderful. I don't see any problem with it if the lighting is mitigated.”— a Heritage Preservation Board member, before the 4-0 vote
Staff asked the board to take testimony and forward a recommendation of approval to the Planning Commission, saying concerns about exterior lighting would be handled through the commission's standard conditions requiring shielded, downward-facing fixtures. One board member wondered aloud whether the patios trace back to pandemic-era outdoor dining — "I wonder if that's related to the COVID era parklets and some of the extensions that businesses were doing" — and another raised the question of precedent, asking whether approving an awning here would let other downtown business owners point to it in their own applications.
Former board member Marilyn Rivera, speaking in public comment, urged the board to weigh whether the enclosure impairs the public view of the railroad right of way, the train station and the warming hut, all contributing structures to the National Register. The applicant's representative, an architect friend of the owner, framed the work as an upgrade: "So we are replacing something that's not as nice as it used to be... in my opinion is replacing something to make it look better."
The board approved the staff recommendation 4-0, with member Carol Goldberg absent. The project now goes to the Planning Commission on September 9.
Heritage Preservation Board · meeting of Thursday, Aug. 28
A 9-by-11 room is waiting at the new library. The archive that goes in it isn't ready.
The new Larkspur library will include a dedicated 9-by-11-foot archive room — a permanent home for the city's historic collection of photographs, negatives, objects and its Past Perfect database. The building is expected to open around spring 2026. That deadline drove a long discussion Thursday night, opened by former board member Marilyn Rivera, about whether the collection is anywhere near ready to move.
“Anne Morrison said, 'Well Marilyn, you're in charge of the room.' And I looked at her and said, 'Oh, okay.' I'm not on the heritage board, I don't have any official relationship with the city except as a citizen and resident.”— Marilyn Rivera, former Heritage Preservation Board member, in public comment
"You probably are aware that the new library is going to have a permanent home for the Larkspur archives," Rivera told the board. "This was a request that I made to council and they agreed that it would be included in the new library." She reported that only about 300 photographs — roughly 20% of the collection — have been digitized, and described how she ended up as the collection's de facto steward: "Anne Morrison said, 'Well Marilyn, you're in charge of the room.' And I looked at her and said, 'Oh, okay.' I'm not on the heritage board, I don't have any official relationship with the city except as a citizen and resident."
No vote was taken. Instead, board members split up the legwork: Rich will contact the Marin History Museum board; Sonia and Marilyn will reach out to consultant Heather Forum; someone will ask Lori Thompson at the county library about archive storage standards; another member will look into library science and museum studies programs at Sonoma State and SF State for student volunteers; and staff member Alex will hunt for the city's old high-resolution scanner and dig for Forum's original report. As one member put it: "This feels a little overwhelming just by this... but in a team we help each other. We break it into smaller pieces, spoonfuls."
The archives item returns as a continuing discussion at the September meeting.