Where should visitors park when 66 acres across Alpine Road from Roberts Market finally open? None of the parties involved is arguing against opening the Hawthorns, and the trail map is mostly settled. The driveway is the open question, along with whether a Corte Madera School student walking home on the Alpine Road Trail should have to cross it.
The property has been closed to the public since the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District took ownership in 2011. A route to opening it now exists. But it runs through about 20 feet of trail frontage and a parking lot that two public agencies describe in very different terms.
What opening would actually look like
Midpen's March 17, 2026 staff report proposes opening about 66 of the 79 acres for on-trail use. The plan includes roughly 1.5 miles of internal trails, with connections to the Town's Alpine Trail. The lot would start at about 25 spaces. Growing it to the 50-space maximum would take a separate Board decision later.
The 50-space ceiling comes from data. Midpen's Hawthorns FAQ, updated August 2026, cites a 2024 transportation study that projected demand of 25 to 68 spaces. The study drew on parking counts at Windy Hill and Thornewood in fall 2022 and summer 2023, plus counts at Roberts Market and the Town Center lot. Fifty is roughly the midpoint of that range. Anyone who has circled Windy Hill's lower lot on a Saturday morning will recognize the problem the study was trying to plan around. The FAQ names that lot specifically.
A few details for regular trail users:
- The lot would be permeable concrete, which Midpen chose over gravel so stormwater can be treated within the lot itself.
- There would be no horse-trailer parking, but most of the new trails are planned for equestrian use, with hitching posts for riders coming in from Town trails.
- Connections to the Sweet Springs and Valley Oak trails, which a community working group had suggested, are not part of the current plan.
Midpen has also said why it won't open trails without parking. It serves 770,000 constituents across San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and most of them drive to its preserves. Without a lot on the property, Midpen expects visitors would park on nearby streets or in the commercial lots along Alpine Road.
Two driveways, two ways to cross the trail
Midpen is carrying two parking concepts into environmental review, Options 9 and 10. Both change how the Alpine Road Trail meets the property.
| Option 9 | Option 10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle access | Reuses the existing Alpine Road driveway | Adds a driveway at Alpine and Portola roads, making it a four-way stop |
| Alpine Trail crossings | One driveway crossing, shifted about 20 feet into the property | Crosses both the new driveway and the existing residence driveway |
| Mature oaks kept along the frontage | About seven | About four |
Under both options, Midpen says it would move the crossing onto the property so trail users get priority and stay separate from cars waiting to pull out. It has not chosen a final layout. The FAQ also responds to concerns about the Alpine Scenic Corridor. Its 75-foot special setback applies to buildings, so the vault restroom sits outside it. The lot itself would face the gas station, hardware store, grocery and restaurant across Alpine Road, screened by berms and existing trees.
Why the school district is counting crossings
The Alpine Trail along this stretch has been a designated Safe Route to School for years. A Midpen working-group record from October 2023 notes the Town's concern about steep slopes running right beside fast traffic on Alpine Road. Corte Madera School sits just up the road. Superintendent Roberta Zarea told the Town that about 100 students use the route every day. She also noted that the Town and the Portola Valley School District split the cost of the afternoon crossing guard at Alpine and Portola roads.
The district's Board of Trustees laid out its position in an August 26, 2026 letter to the Town Council. The letter says the superintendent "conservatively estimates that either of these options would cause over 36,000 student crossings of the Hawthorns access road per year." The letter puts that number against a school calendar of 180 days, which works out to roughly 200 crossings on a typical school day. It treats Option 9 as a second problem. Moving the trail behind the parking lot, the letter says, would take children "out of sight from Alpine Road."
That puts the two agencies at odds over one design choice. Midpen moves the crossing onto the property to separate walkers from exiting cars. The district argues the same move takes walkers out of view of the road.
The parking lot both sides describe differently
PVSD's letter also offers an alternative. The district says it provides parking for at least 50 cars at Corte Madera School, less than a quarter mile from the Hawthorns. According to the letter, that lot is open to visitors all day on the 185 days a year without school, and after 4:30 p.m. on school days.
Midpen's FAQ tells a different story. It says Midpen asked Roberts Market, Alpine Hills Tennis and Swimming Club and Corte Madera School about sharing their lots, and that "None were interested or willing to consider the proposal." The district's letter asks the Council not to accept that FAQ as accurate.
The two accounts may reflect different conversations at different times. Either way, the offer is now on the public record at the same size as Midpen's 50-space ceiling, and that is the context for the joint committee described below.
The house runs on its own, slower clock
The buildings at the center of the property are on a separate track. Midpen's 2013 Historic Resource Study dates the cottage to 1885, the Hawthorn House to 1886 and the garage to 1916. The estate was developed by the family of Judge James Monroe Allen and bought by Frances Newhall Woods in 1916. Frederick N. Woods III granted a conservation easement to POST in 2005 and left the estate and an endowment to Midpen in 2008.
The Area Plan keeps this Historic Complex closed until a separate site-specific planning effort happens, and it does not choose future uses for the house, cottage or garage. Midpen's Board has deferred that project until the Area Plan is adopted and its first phase is built. For now, the work is stabilization. An August 12, 2026 staff report recommended a reroofing contract, with work scheduled for fall 2026. The FAQ says the reroofing covers the main house, the cottage and the garage. Any crew activity behind the frontage oaks this season is most likely that reroofing.
What happens next, and when
Midpen's own documents give somewhat different timelines. The March 2026 staff report projected environmental review from summer 2026 to summer 2027, with the Board considering plan approval in summer or fall 2027. The FAQ, updated in August, puts the current phase through 2028 and implementation in "2028 and beyond." Realistically, the trails open in 2028 at the earliest.
Here is the sequence, in order:
- Joint committee meeting, Monday, November 16, 2026, 5 p.m. The Town Council and PVSD formed a "2x2" committee to look at safety on the Alpine Road Trail along the Hawthorns frontage. It meets at the Historic Schoolhouse, 765 Portola Road. The Council appointed Vice Mayor Mary Hufty and Councilmember Judith Hasko on September 9. Per the Town Manager's report, the committee will follow the Brown Act, with agendas posted in advance and open meetings. The date and location are on the Town calendar.
- Scoping comment period. Midpen describes a 30-day window to comment on what the environmental review should study, with a public hearing.
- Draft environmental document review. This is a 45-day public review period with its own hearing. Both Options 9 and 10 will be analyzed.
- Board consideration. Midpen's Board decides on certification and plan approval, projected for 2027.
Midpen has not yet set dates for steps two and three. The November 16 meeting is the next open session focused on the stretch of trail between Roberts Market and Corte Madera School. At this point, the questions on the table are about the driveway and the crossing, while the trails themselves are largely settled.
If you'd like to talk through how the Hawthorns plan could affect a property near the Alpine corridor, Stephanie Von Thaden is glad to share what she's watching. Request a Confidential Home Valuation whenever the timing is right for you.
