[aurelius12]

I was really curious about that, as I live in southern Marin and have wanted to go up that road before. Are you sure it's a public road though?

I found this: http://sausalito.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&clip_...

On page 2, there's a line that says, "Wolfback Ridge Road is a private road maintained by the Wolfback Ridge Association, a neighborhood homeowner’s association (see Exhibit R for Association information)"

I can't find exhibit R, but the person who sent it appears to be a resident of Wolfback Ridge, leading me to wonder how legit the info is.

[miclip]

I have emails from the city saying otherwise, I'll try and dig them up. I believe it's publicly maintained as it was resurfaced along with the rest of the town a couple years back when we lived there.

I also doubt the Wolfback Ridge Association paid for the bridge over highway 101 that's exclusive to them. There are radio towers (SFO?) up there but you can access along the fire roads from Tennessee Valley.

Edit:

Found it, response from Director of Public Works:

Not as simple a question as you might think… Short answer is that a portion of Wolfback Ridge Road is publically-maintained. For purposes of hiking, you and anyone else can probably access from the State of California right-of-way (at US 101) to the trails at the top of the pass anytime and not have an issue. Vehicular access is restricted at certain times of the year by Sausalito PD – Fleet Week and the Fourth of July based on lack of parking, lack of adequate circulation and inadequate turn-around. If you want more legal details, let me know – I’m researching the area for a development application anyway…it may take awhile though.

They have a point regarding events but if you park where he suggests you'll run into issues.

[aurelius12]

Oh, I'd love to see those emails if you can dig them up, thank you! If I'm confident that it's a public street, I'm going to go hang out on that street.

[aurelius12]

Awesome, thanks!

[asmithmd1]

IANAL but it looks like the story is more complicated then a simple public or private. This tax plot seems to show the road past the gate to the sharp bend IS public, but after the sharp bend their is no road easement recorded, the property lines go right to the middle of the road making it like a private shared driveway:

http://www.marinmap.org/Planner/queryRM.aspx?PID=064-276-22

And there is the additional complication of no place to turn around at the end of the public road so for safety cars have been limited to not travel past the gate.

[miclip]

I believe the whole road is maintained by the city. If it's a private road the residents should pay for it.

At the top of the hill before the bend there is adequate space to turn around if that is where the gate should be.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wolfback+Ridge+Rd,+Sausali...

The road at the top is also a loop.

[aurelius12]

I emailed Jonathon Goldman, the Dir. of Public Works and got a response. He wrote:

Good afternoon. Here's a short answer from MarinMap (attached). The pieces of roadway that have no zoning, are inside the City Limits (the red dashed line) and have no parcel boundaries crossing them are generally public right of way. Roads that transit parcels with a solid color (and are therefore not as visible on the attached), or have parcel boundaries across them or near the centerline are private and not publically-maintained. Wolfback Ridge Road, for example, has a public right of way part between US 101 and APN 064-276-22 (owned by the Marin Municipal Water District), a part that lies outside the City Limits and parts on private properties. Happy to try to answer any more specific questions. At some point, a land surveyor would be necessary to sort that all out.

The graphic he references is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hcsaclyxglbn1ih/Wolfback%20Zoning....

Honestly, I still can't tell which parts really are public and which parts aren't.

[batbomb]

It's clear that it's city-owned at least to the intersection of the trail and the road that continues on towards the radio station (i.e. the westernmost sharp turn). At some point, the road "disappears" behind the yellow parcel, but that's much further down the road.

So, if you can see the road, especially if it's in the city limits (red dotted line), it's public land.

[miclip]

Same guy I spoke to. He said you could drive and access the trail head which is right where the fire trail for the Radio towers is, first sharp left turn.

People still have issues doing that though. My wife reminded me this evening that she was confronted walking down the hill. It's nuts.

[aurelius12]

Wow. Well, I'm definitely heading over there to push the issue at some point. Fuck those guys.

[macNchz]

Well the legal status of the road certainly seems to have a complicated history, tied up with a very large failed development project in the 60s called Marincello:

http://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/44...

http://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/12...

[brendandahl]

There's also "The location of the current gate to the Ridge is on state-owned property, and because of the width of the road and lack of adequate turnaround space" from

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:g9QMap...

[batbomb]

More interesting is Fritz Warren, although the person in question may be his son:

In later life, as a property owner and builder on Wolfback Ridge in Sausalito, he worked to conserve that area in his capacity as Sausalito councilman and mayor in the 1970's and 80's, as an early board member of the Sausalito Historical Society, and as a longtime Rotarian.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/marinij/obituary.aspx?pid=1...

I think a rich ex-councilman and former mayor would have quite a bit of sway if that was the case.