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Comment by asmithmd1 | Hacker News Reader

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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