Tiburon approves advance on $1 million open space pledge

Tiburon will advance $200,000 on its $1 million pledge to help complete the purchase and preservation of the 110-acre Martha property, money the organizers of the effort say is needed immediately to pay the second of three nonrefundable deposits under the terms of the deal.

The Town Council at its Jan. 18 meeting voted unanimously to approve the request from grassroots group Tiburon Open Space, which for decades has sought to protect the private property on the southern Tiburon Ridge from development and was instrumental in the pending deal to save it.

Last June, landowner the Martha Co. agreed to sell the property for $42.1 million to the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, which in turn will sell it to Marin County for $26.1 million.

The county’s share will primarily come from the proceeds of Measure M, a $335 annual parcel tax levied on residents of Belvedere and Tiburon south of Trestle Glen Boulevard. The Trust for Public Land plans to fundraise to close the gap, and Tiburon in November pledged a $1 million contribution toward that effort.

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