Larkspur's oldest house wins an 1,814 sq ft addition — and a neighbor loses part of her argument, but saves a tree

The house at 9 Murray Lane dates to 1866/1882 and was described from the dais as the oldest place in Larkspur. On Tuesday the Planning Commission approved design review for an 1,814 sq ft first-story addition — 1,199 sq ft of living space plus a 615 sq ft two-car garage — along with a 49 sq ft addition to a storage building. An 899 sq ft ADU was in the packet for context only. Staff recommended approval with Class 1 and 31 CEQA exemptions.

“That's my property. So they need to get approval. We needed to have a discussion about that.”— neighbor Lara Costello, during public comment on 9 Murray Lane

The fight was over oaks. Staff backed removing two heritage oaks sitting in the footprint of the addition, citing the fire-truck turnaround and the garage. The commission voted 3-0 (Wagstaff, Hall, Swisser) to approve the project and the tree removals, but carved out tree number 12, which revised plans retain. Neighbor Lara Costello had told the commission the coast live oak is the only tree giving her privacy, called drainage "a huge issue" that shouldn't be taken lightly, and said the work touched land she owns.

Architect Tom Psky said the design had already been reworked once: "This is our second round of this project... it needs work, definitely needs work, and the historic preservation board was very helpful. We followed all the recommendations." Civil engineer Glenn Darth said drainage was designed to Marin County stormwater retention standards with two bio-retention basins. Commissioner Swisser said he was uneasy about drainage claims raised over 601 College but trusted the applicant's calculations; Commissioner Hall was glad the addition stayed one story.

The same night, the commission approved 3-0 a rebuild of the fire-damaged rear of 8 Lomna Vista Avenue, a 1937 Spanish Revival: a 30 sq ft infill behind the garage, a new rear staircase from the roof terrace to grade, and a hipped roof replacing the flat one over the breakfast nook. "I really just want to put this house back," applicant Al Douglas said. Both approvals carry a 10-day appeal period. Only three of five commissioners were present.

The library has a moving date — and a letter to Council saying it's the cheapest-run branch in Marin

After years of construction talk, there's a calendar. Director Hill told the board a contractor punch list runs Feb. 11, furniture arrives at Rose Lane around Feb. 18, the move happens Monday, March 17, and the new library opens Saturday, March 28. Locker service ended Feb. 14. Books already checked out won't come due until the first week of April, and patrons can drop them at any Marin library in the meantime — a slip explaining all of it goes into circulating books.

“To date, the library does more with less. Larkspur boasts healthy circulation numbers given the smaller size of its collection and its shorter hours... Nearly 50% of Larkspur residents hold library cards as compared to 33% nationwide.”— board member Susan, reading the draft letter to Council

The board then voted unanimously to send the City Council a funding letter built almost entirely out of usage numbers. The headline figure: Larkspur spends $68.83 per capita on its library against a $143.88 Marinet average — "by far the lowest in Marin County," a board member read, "less than half the average." Edits before the vote: distinguish "budget" from "spending," drop collection-size comparisons, and add language on the usage bump expected at Rose Lane, which is closer to schools with better parking. "This is actually a really good advocacy kind of document," one member said.

Opening day is turning into something bigger than a ribbon cutting — the Book Brigade met with the city manager to plan its part, and the Commons Foundation is organizing citywide festivities with tables from groups like police and fire. One snag: a "No Kings" march is set for the same day. The board asked only for a minute and a half at the microphone. "We are truly just a representative of the patrons," the chair said.

Housekeeping still to settle before the doors open: a tutoring and room-use policy (tutors have been shoving furniture around), a firmer line on dogs versus service animals — Hill said someone recently tied a dog to a chair inside — and an administration plan for community room rentals, which the city will help manage.

The resiliency hub that can't heat itself, and a $200,000 diesel question

Public Works Director Julian Skinner opened the hood on the new library's power system: a 40kW rooftop solar array and a 60kWh battery, expandable with two more 60kWh units, charging off sun or grid and trimming peak-hour demand. In an outage it can hold up lights, outlets, IT and security. It cannot run the HVAC — motor startup loads are too high — so a winter outage at the city's designated resiliency hub could mean clerestory windows and fans. The building was structurally upgraded to seismic level 4 so it can stay occupied after an earthquake.

How to actually use the battery is unsettled. One member wanted it programmed to discharge during peak rate hours on normal days, with an override to hold a full charge ahead of announced PSPS shutoffs — a practice that also frees grid capacity for the surrounding blocks. Staff would rather watch a full year of real building energy use first. JJ Andre asked whether residents would even know to walk to the library during an outage, and warned that advertising it as backup power might discourage households from building their own.

Then the money. The forum weighed buying a diesel backup generator instead of renting one, at roughly $200,000, possibly cost-shared or set up as mutual aid with Corte Madera. Skinner said he's personally open to buying and noted the most critical load isn't the library — it's the pump stations keeping about 200 homes out of floodwater. Asked about grants and cleaner options like Bloom Energy fuel cells, he said diesel is still the only practical answer at pump-station scale, but staff will keep watching hydrogen and mobile solar-battery units.

The forum also revised its top climate priorities, and the sharpest disagreement was about teeth. JJ Andre argued the list should demand an enforceable all-electric requirement for new multifamily buildings, saying the Council's unanimous vote had been undercut by developers' ability to waive local ordinances under state density bonus law. Council Liaison Sarah Margules said Larkspur's 2025 code adoption goes as far as state law allows. The same complaint came from Cool the Earth's Anukica Alsborn, who said most large new multifamily projects are waiving local EV-charging and e-bike parking rules, leaving her group to beg developers for future-proof conduit. Recommendations are due to be finalized at the April 9 meeting and carried to Council around the forum's one-year anniversary.