A heritage oak at 20 Oak Grove Road comes down — with a survey attached and a neighbor still insisting the tree is his

The week's one real contest was over a single tree. Owner Robert Grant asked the commission to remove a 24-inch diameter (75-inch circumference) heritage oak at 20 Oak Grove Road — the agenda listed it as 20 Oak Road — in the R-1 district, to make way for a PG&E gas lateral replacement. The existing copper line dates to 1949, ruptured in 2023, and part of it now sits exposed near his deck. Grant described the anxiety of working outside above a 77-year-old gas line baking in the sun.

“We wake up, the trees are gone and he says sorry they're on our property and it's just so frustrating.”— Glenn Cox, 33 Oak Road, opposing the removal

The wrinkle was ownership. Neighbor Glenn Cox of 33 Oak Road told commissioners that a couple of surveys put the oak on his property, and that Grant has already removed property-line trees without asking. Grant said he was limited in what he could say, citing a no-contact order from an attorney. The Planning Director's position was blunt: a boundary dispute is a civil matter, like a fence, and the commission's job is not to resolve where the line falls.

Staff still built the dispute into the permit, recommending approval on the unusual condition that the applicant produce a record of survey confirming the tree's location — something tree permits don't normally require. The commission approved the removal 3-0, with one commissioner having left before the vote, subject to that survey and to planting a replacement tree in a more suitable spot per the arborist's recommendation. One commissioner called it a shame, saying the two sides seemed to be talking past each other. The director added the practical coda: if the tree becomes a hazard, it comes down regardless.

Beer and wine cleared for the 600 Magnolia gas station — no singles, by the applicant's own offer

Applicant Aaron Khamosh won design review under Municipal Code §18.64.020 and a conditional use permit for off-sale beer and wine at 600 Magnolia Avenue, in the convenience store the ANA station built out of its former service bays. The site sits in the TD (Transitional Downtown) district, and staff recommended approval with standard conditions.

“What normally what I do is in a lot of communities I avoid selling singles... so it's six-pack, it's not easy to basically sneak it in and it's going to be right in front of the cashier.”— Aaron Khamosh, applicant

The hesitation came from one commissioner who noted that his kids and their friends buy things at that gas station and said he was wary of alcohol on the shelves. Khamosh volunteered that he already declines to sell singles in other communities — six-packs are harder to slip out, and the cooler would sit in front of the cashier — and agreed on the spot to make it a condition. Staff pushed back gently on over-conditioning, warning that the classification of "beer and wine" gets complicated for vendors, down to oversized single bottles.

The commission approved Project PLN 26-014 by a 4-0 vote with the no-single-beer-sales condition attached. Khamosh also mentioned in passing that the station's roof is being replaced with solar — by his telling, possibly the first solar roof on a gas station.

City government mostly shuts down for summer — and the calendar's real event is now August 11

Three meetings vanished this week. The Library Board's Monday session was cancelled outright. The City Council cancelled both its July 15 and August 5 regular meetings, pushing the next scheduled session to Wednesday, August 19 at 6:30 PM. And the Planning Commission's July 21 meeting is off as well, meaning the July 14 hearing was the last civic business Larkspur will transact for roughly a month.

The tradeoff for the quiet is a crowded August. Staff told commissioners the August 11 Planning Commission meeting will move to the Kreps Room at the high school because they expect an overflow crowd for the Mount Tam Racket Club design review. A commissioner asked whether personally using the club without being a member would require recusal; the director said the test is a financial interest, not facility use, and noted it's hard for anyone locally not to have used it, since it's the only one.

The other thread worth carrying into the break: the City Council opened applications on Monday for a newly formed City Hall Study Citizens' Committee. The notice does not spell out the committee's charge, size, or a filing deadline — worth a look for anyone with opinions about the building the city governs from, since whatever the committee recommends lands back before the Council.