Tiburon General Plan Update
community design, planning, urban designAdopted on May 22, 2023, Tiburon, CA's General Plan is the culmination of two years of engagement with the community. It provides long-term strategies for land use, housing, open space, transportation, and the environment.
Tiburon is in an extraordinary location on a peninsula in San Francisco Bay, in Marin County, and includes miles of bay shore, hundreds of acres of protected open space, a classic small main street, and a ferry connection to the town. The General Plan is a comprehensive document that will guide Tiburon's growth and development for the next twenty years. It covers land use, housing, open space and conservation, transportation, and environmental hazards.
In parallel to this effort, WRT and our partners crafted the Objective Design & Development Standards. The ODDS were presented to the Planning Commission on May 24, 2023 and recommended for adoption by Town Council. The Commission shared appreciation for the responsiveness and thoroughness of the document.
The update process provided ample opportunities for community members to participate and share their opinions, which have ultimately guided the final document. In the spring of 2021, WRT led a community workshop focused on Tiburon’s vulnerability to sea level rise, providing a framework for making decisions that would allow the Town to adapt while also providing benefits for shoreline access and downtown vitality.
Focusing on downtown, we presented opportunities to redesign streets, add community gathering spaces and programs, and accommodate additional development in a way that would activate the community core. In February 2022, WRT modeled potential future housing sites and conducted additional community workshops for the Housing Element update. WRT translated this work into General Plan policies and crafted the new General Plan document.
The update process was led by WRT’s frequent collaborator, O'Rourke & Associates. The full consultant team also included Sustainable Community Planning, DeNovo Planning Group, TJKM Transportation Consultants, and Ricardo Huerta Niño.
To learn more, you can visit the project website. You can also see the final plan below.