Marin contributes $1.35M for park in Canal area

By Richard Halstead | rhalstead@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal

UPDATED: September 18, 2025 at 9:35 PM PDT

Marin County supervisors have approved a $1.35 million allocation toward creating a park that could become an entry point for a bridge in San Rafael.

The funding from Measure A tax revenue will help San Rafael purchase a 1.65-acre boatyard property in the Canal neighborhood for conversion into the park. The supervisors authorized the funding at their meeting on Tuesday.

San Rafael Councilmember Maika Llorens Gulati, addressing the supervisors, said the plan is about “much more than a park.”

“The greatest benefit is that it makes possible the long-awaited bridge connection,” said Gulati, the first Latino resident elected to the City Council.

The city has been discussing a possible bridge for pedestrians and cyclists connecting the Canal neighborhood to downtown since 2006.

The parcel at 620 Canal St. is on the south side of San Rafael Creek, the site of the low-income, predominately Latino Canal neighborhood. San Rafael High School, Trader Joe’s and United Markets are on the other side of the creek.

“The Canal is one of the most underserved and underresourced communities in our county,” said Craig Richardson, a county planner.

Gulati said the bridge “is going to transform mobility in San Rafael.”

“It’s going to give Canal residents, especially high school students and families, a safer way to get around,” she said.

The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, has negotiated an agreement to purchase the property for $3.35 million. The nonprofit has agreed to turn the property over to San Rafael in return for $1.85 million. The San Rafael City Council has already allocated $500,000 toward the purchase.

Richardson said the trust, San Rafael and Canal Alliance, a nonprofit serving the neighborhood, would work jointly to raise the remaining $2 million needed to complete the transaction.

Erica Williams, a project manager for the Trust for Public Land, said, “Through this acquisition, we will have the opportunity to transform what is now a concrete boatyard into a vibrant park that connects Canal youth and residents to the outdoors and to schools, jobs and transit hubs, but the window of opportunity here is very small.”

“A funding gap remains,” Williams said, “and we are looking to secure over $1 million in the next 30 days and philanthropic support to seal the deal.”

Chris Chamberlain, the director of the county parks department, said the county received authorization to spend Measure A money on projects such as this when voters reauthorized the quarter-cent sales tax that funds the program for another nine years in 2022.

“We now are able to offer grant awards to help support projects that are going to improve or increase park access for the community,” Chamberlain said. “This is the first grant of its type.”

The parcel is paved with asphalt to the creek’s edge and surrounded by industrial buildings.

“I don’t see it having soccer fields or being that type of park,” Chamberlain said. “More like a little community plaza and gathering space.”

San Rafael has secured a $1.6 million grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to study the feasibility of installing a bridge at the site and create a preliminary design for the structure.

Supervisor Mary Sackett asked if the study would consider whether a bridge could be built without displacing businesses in the area. Greg Minor, a city development official who attended the Board of Supervisors meeting, said he was unsure.

The owner of Helmut’s Marine Service, a boat repair shop that operates at 619 Canal St., could not be reached for comment.

Richardson said that once the purchase is completed San Rafael will work with the community to “develop a vision for what the actual park could be in the future.”

Chamberlain said he plans to seek permission from county supervisors to allow county parks staff to conduct routine maintenance, including trash collection and graffiti removal, at the new park. County parks staff doesn’t routinely maintain municipal parks, but it does so at Rocky Graham Park in Marin City.

Chamberlain said both the Canal neighborhood and Marin City are “underrepresented, underresourced communities historically.”