We are thrilled to share our latest proposal to beautify Downtown Larkspur: Arch Street Landing, a small native garden and public retreat on a city-owned empty lot.

The parcel caught our eye, given the aging bus shelter that fronts this popular section of Magnolia. And if you’ve ever tried to meet a friend in front of Equator and found the shady plaza packed to capacity, you may have thought about crossing over to sit on the sidewalk in the sun. 

Over the past year, Laura Anderson and Alicia Alexander have headed up LCF’s exploration of how to improve this highly-visible bus stop space.

Our all-volunteer team spent dozens of hours meeting with city officials, hiring experts to survey the property and then working with Larkspur’s own Jennifer Tippett of Tippett Landscape Design, who graciously offered her professional landscape design services free-of-charge to consider possibilities for the lot.

Jen designed a simple retreat at the base of the Arch Street stairs for use by downtown’s walkers, shoppers, hikers and bikers. Taking into account the site’s constraints on parking, traffic and noise, the design works with the existing grades and highlights the lot’s mature buckeye tree and surrounds a small plaza with seating, native plants and accessible walkways.

If you happened to read the Jan. 9 Marin IJ article last week about this “mini-park” project, you might be imagining a huge playground going in on that tiny piece of land. And though it would be extremely cool to have a long slide running down that hill, The Landing will only incorporate the area fronting Magnolia—the perfect place to chat with friends or relax with a book.

The cost to build The Landing is estimated to be $250,000 and its entire development and upkeep would be paid for by donations to our nonprofit Larkspur Community Foundation. We have committed $30,000 and local residents have donated an additional $35,000 to launch the project. The remainder of the fundraising will take place in 2026, some of which will be provided by proceeds from our Rose Bowl Dance on September 19.

In recent months, LCF presented The Landing’s initial conceptual designs to the Parks & Recreation Commission and Larkspur residents and received extremely positive feedback. In fact, many citizens signed a letter of interest and submitted supportive letters to the city as part of our proposal. 

On Wednesday Jan. 7, LCF presented The Landing proposal at the city council meeting. (Watch the replay of our presentation here; the LCF portion begins at 1:28:00.) The council voted to move The Landing forward, with Mayor Andre calling the project “a thoughtful and beautiful plan.” The vote will allow for further study of the site and for public comment to be incorporated in the final site design.

We at LCF are grateful to our partners and the city for their cooperation and support and look forward to bringing The Landing to life!

To stay up-to-date on Arch Street Landing, click here to sign up for our monthly newsletter or follow LCF on social at the bottom of this page. To provide feedback or find out more about donating to the project, email us at info@larkspurcommunityfoundation.org  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published Jan. 12, 2026