A Tiburon resident’s desire to keep livestock on his property on Paradise Drive has divided residents in the Paradise Cay neighborhood.
Eric Crandall, who lives with his family on a 10-acre, bowl-shaped property in Tiburon, is seeking a conditional use permit to keep four mini cows on his land in the affluent, coastal enclave.
The two cows that are currently there –– 600- to 700-pound Belfair miniature cows named Holly and Mocha –– have sparked controversy over the legality of owning cows in a residential neighborhood on the peninsula, and the impact it may have on the surrounding community.
“The cows are part of our family. They’ve helped us improve the property. My girls love them. My wife and our family are excited to milk them and experience all that they have to offer,” Crandall said.
Dina Tasini, Tiburon’s director of community development, said the Planning Commission opted to continue a Sept. 14 hearing on the conditional use permit request for 45 to 60 days so Crandall and the town staff could work on a waste management plan, bay drainage and evacuation issues.
“This is uncharted territory with these mini cows,” Tasini said.
Mocha and Holly currently live on a fenced, 2-acre portion of the site, which is zoned for residential planned development. The property –– one of the largest parcels in the area at about 10 acres — is about 600 feet from the shoreline and bounded by Paradise Drive in Tiburon and Trinidad Drive in Paradise Cay, an unincorporated neighborhood.
Opponents argue the mini cows would affect property values in such a dense residential area not intended for agriculture. They further assert there is a mooing nuisance, and other issues to contend with, such as odors, waste management, and whether breeding would increase the stock beyond the proposed four cows.
Cynthia Massey-Kim, a resident of Trinidad Drive, suggested erosion and runoff was impacting Paradise Cay residents downward of the property. She suggested that the California State Water Resources Control Board review potential pollution impacts.
“Supporting Mr. Crandall’s cute cows and preference for fresh milk is not the same experience for those like myself who live in the Cay, who live, breathe and hear the cows daily,” she said.
“The community that lives closest to his property will have to deal with all of the impacts caused by the cows every day,” she said.
The cows are technically unpermitted. Tasini said when the property was annexed into the town, the town informed Crandall he must apply for a conditional use permit in order to keep the bovine.
He would not be subject to an enforcement action, she said, because he is working toward the remedies on the application. If he were denied, and his appeal rejected, he would be subject to an enforcement action if he did not remove the cows.
The increase is proposed because in order for the cows to produce milk, there must have a calf.
Tasini said she did not believe there were any conditional use permits regarding cow ownership in Tiburon.
Tasini said planning was underway to determine if there is water contamination, or if there is a baseline to establish for future testing. Testing is set for this month.
The next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 9, but it is likely the council will take up the issue again on Dec. 14, town staff said. If the Planning Commission rejects the proposal, Crandall can appeal to the Town Council. He said he plans to do so if his application is rejected.
The Crandalls purchased the property in April 2019 and remodeled a home on the site.
When Crandall purchased the property, “it was a mess and overgrown,” he said. “It was like something out of a horror movie.”
The cows helped with vegetation clearance –– a point supporters have raised related to fire safety. But conflicts with the neighbors were already brewing. Crandall said he picked up a newspaper the first week he had the cows and saw a report about the cows in the police log.
He believes the issue is borne from curmudgeonly neighbors who do not want him to use the beach on his property or develop the property he purchased.
“The majority of our neighbors really like us,” he said. “But there’s a faction of Paradise Cay who liked it better when it was empty.”
The Crandalls purchased the cows in August 2021 when they were 6 months old. At that time, the property was part of unincorporated Marin County. They soon learned that in order to have access to the sewer district that surrounds the property, they would need to be annexed into the town of Tiburon. The annexation was completed in November.
Crandall refers to the cows as pets. He said his daughters love them and visit them daily.
“To them it would be the same as someone telling us our dog had to go. I’m optimistic that the Planning Commission is going to grant the permit,” he said.
Larry Goldzband, executive director of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, said Crandall was the subject of an enforcement action after construction on the property came within 100 feet of the shoreline without a permit.
Goldzband said his agency sent Crandall two letters. Both were referred to his personal attorney, Goldzband said. The enforcement letters accrue fines, he said. He did not know the total of the fines.
The intention of the letters was to ensure that the construction limits the amount of bay fill, which may be necessary to ensure maximum feasible public access, Goldzband said.
Crandall said the allegations were likely the result of the ongoing disputes with his Paradise Cay neighbors. He said he build a moveable kayak rack on the property and stores his 14-foot aluminum motorboat on a trailer on site.
He is seeking to appeal the enforcement actions, he said.
Much also has been made of the question of precedence. Crandall said that George Ring, a former Marin County supervisor, bought 320 acres in the county in 1879. The last 10 acres of that property, owned by his great-grandson, was purchased by Crandall in 2019.
Crandall provided an article from the Sausalito News dated Oct. 2, 1897, that stated that George Ring represented Tiburon in the Marin County Dairyman’s Association. Also, on a right of way granted to the county of Marin for Paradise Drive he included a requirement for cattle crossings.
Mike Moyle, a local dairy historian, said there were once three major ranches along the Tiburon peninsula. He said a dairy known as the Big Reed Dairy may have extended into the 10-acre property owned by Crandall. There are indications there used to be dairies on the property under Reed or King, he said.
“I think everybody should be aware of the history of dairies in Marin County,” he said. “It goes back many years. Though I appreciate in the modern era there are other concerns, I just can’t imagine that four small cattle could cause much of a ruckus.”
Neighbor Sylvia Singh called the cows “sweet.” She said the occasional “big bellows” emitted by the cows were not a nuisance, but were actually “kind of neat.”
“They don’t cause any problems,” she said. “They’re friendly. They’re clean. Even if there is two more they won’t make any difference. They are delightful neighbors.”
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