Bench Marks Open Space Donation

City officials have installed a bench to mark the latest open space donation in Cascade Canyon. The plaque-bearing bench recognizes the donation of two acres of land off Monte Vista Ave. by Hillsborough resident Rae Pourian and his daughter, Kristin Pourian-Pressman.

The donation occurred more than a year ago, but was delayed as city staff sought to subdivide the landowners' five-acre property at 435 Monte Vista Ave. The family sold the rest of the land, 3.6 acres, in October 2009.

The donated land is a boon for hikers, as it sits adjacent the Monte Vista Trail. The land was among several properties identified by the Mill Valley Site Priority Committee in 2002 as priority open space due to its close proximity to Northern Spotted Owls and other nesting birds, its significant evergreen and redwood forest area and its value as part of the local watershed. It also was adjacent to existing city open space. The committee targeted open space priorities as part of an update to the Open Space Element of the city's General Plan.

The donation comes on the heels of a number of other Cascade Canyon open space acquisitions in recent years, including a donation by Russell Lemle off Monte Vista Ave. in 2003. Mill Valley resident Robin Kohn Glazer, who facilitated the earlier transactions and is now an agent with McGuire Real Estate, coordinated the Pourian donation.