San Rafael begins planning for Terra Linda park upgrades

With an influx of new housing planned for northern San Rafael, city officials say it’s a good time to design the future of Terra Linda Park and Community Center.

“There is expected growth in the area and this is the only community park there,” said Catherine Quffa, the city’s library and recreation director. “This is about maximizing the site to meet its potential and community needs.”

The park is on a 2.9-acre site at 670 Del Ganado Road. It includes a community center, a playground, a basketball court, a lawn and paths, parking and an outdoor pool complex.

The city has launched an online survey to learn about how residents get to the park, what they do there, how they rate amenities and their condition, and what new features they would like to see.

A meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the community center to provide in-person feedback. The online survey will be open through July 7.

As far as projected growth, there are a number of homes expected to be built in the area over the next few years, with even more planned beyond that.

In 2022, the city approved the Neighborhood at Los Gamos, a development that will bring 192 apartments to Terra Linda. Additionally, the Northgate mall redevelopment could bring up to 1,865 homes to the area.

Over the past couple of years, city officials went through a massive citywide parks and recreation master plan process. One of the top recommendations of the plan approved in 2023 was to develop a planning document for the future of the Terra Linda recreation hub.

In February, the City Council approved an agreement with Gates and Associates to lead the project. The city has allocated $200,000 to develop the plan.

Quffa said the city needs to update recreation infrastructure, such as the playground that was installed in 1998, and the community center, which was converted from a school in the 1970s.

The city also needs to plan for increased recreation capacity to accommodate the housing growth.

So far, the city staff is not suggesting any specific improvements. Rather, officials want the community to help frame some recommendations.

“The goal of this project is to identify community priorities both for updating existing recreation amenities as well as potentially adding new ones,” Quffa said.

Recognizing the importance of the Terra Linda aquatics program, the plan will include the programmatic elements of the pool complex and its impact on the rest of the site, city officials say.

However, the plan will not be evaluating changes to the pool infrastructure.

Andrei Pasternak, president of the Terra Linda Orcas Swim Team, said he is looking forward to the development of the plan.

“My main goal is to make sure the Terra Linda neighborhood is informed and gets to share their thoughts to help steer the project,” Pasternak said.

“One thing I’d like to see is more community space for neighborhood children, maybe a maker space, or library adjacent services like reading and studying areas and computer lab,” Pasternak said. “I’m sure our community will have a ton of other great suggestions.”

More information about the project, including meeting details and the online survey, is online at shorturl.at/oKW7P.