A Good Earth grocery store and community-park with trees are proposed to replace an empty storefront in the fall of 2015, at the corner of Shoreline Highway and Flamingo Road in Tamalpais Valley. Mark Squire and Al Baylacq, owners of the Good Earth store in Fairfax, have signed a lease for the 22,000-square-foot vacant building that they plan to remodel.
“The demolition and construction for this project is going to start in January and will be active for 4-6 months,” said Sheila McNulty, Good Earth’s Marketing Manager. “We are on schedule to open November fifth of this year. Good Earth in Tam Valley will have an organic kitchen with deli sandwiches; a taqueria; pizza and many other options. We’ll also have an organic cafe, juice bar, ice cream by the scoop, and an organic bakery.
“Mark and Al have been very compliant with the community and want what’s best for this town,” said Jon Elam, general manager of the Tamalpais Community Services District [TCSD] in Tam Valley. “This idea would fix a big eye-sore in the heart of Tam Valley as this [building] has been vacant for nearly six years. It would be an investment that this community has probably never seen, with the amount of workers and money it could bring in.”
Tam Valley residents had the opportunity to share their opinions at a Review Board Meeting on November 19 at the Community Center in Tam Valley. “I was skeptical when I first heard of the proposition, but the board meeting really cleared some things up, “I was able to ask all of my questions and get thorough answers.” Longtime Tam Valley resident Ken Praszker said. “What really stood out to me was that it’s not just going to be an average grocery store, but it’s going to be a place to spend time and a place to build community.”
“We have been carefully listening to the needs of the Tam Valley community and have responded with a design to improve safety in the parking area and space for community gathering with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating,” McNulty said.