Will the Proposed Phil Lesh Music Venue Be Too Much for Fairfax

At first blush, the , remodel it “to feel like an old barn,” call it “Terrapin Landing” and open it for a full slate of jam bands, improv music nights and other groovy fare seems like a no-brainer. Other than 710 Ashbury St. and maybe some parts of Vermont, there are very few geographic locations more amenable to the Grateful Dead, its offspring and its loyal fans than Fairfax. And the 71 year-old Lesh, now a Ross resident, lived in Fairfax for many years, so he’s basically a local.

Word on the street is that Lesh, who confirmed that he “is buying” a building in Marin for this project, has his eyes on 1966 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., presently the home of, which has plans to .

“Our goal is to create a vibrant community gathering place,” Lesh said recently on his further.net website, “beautiful, comfortable welcoming – for members of the community to commingle and enjoy good music.” Phil Lesh, jam bands, Fairfax; a perfect match. I can already hear blessed-out fans chanting “let Phil sing,” Deadhead insider code for requesting the Lesh-penned tune “Box Full of Rain.”

I’m not going to be the guy to say that Terrapin Landing shouldn’t happen. The last thing I want or need is a bunch of 60-something pop music fans having another reason to tell me to mellow out. All symbiotic cultural relationships aside, however, someone has to ask whether it is a good idea to add a sizable live music venue to a town the size of Fairfax, especially one with only one major route of automobile ingress and egress.

How is Sir Francis Drake Boulevard going to look a couple of hours before the first Friday night appearance of Further, Phil Lesh and Friends or whatever other national act Lesh is able to attract; and believe me, it won’t be difficult for Lesh, a music industry lifer with a good-guy reputation and several decades atop a tidal wave of cultural zeitgeist, to attract national acts to his new venue. How many cars can fit on the residential streets surrounding the venue?

It’ll be great for music fans and jam band acolytes. What sort of practical impact it will have on Fairfax and Fairfax residents depends on the nature of Phil Lesh’s vision.

Will it be a nightclub-sized venue? Will it seat 500? If Terrapin Landing indeed ends up at the Good Earth location, it could have the option to be either. The building at 1966 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., as presently configured, has 7,500 square feet of space. Either way, the finished product will require a use permit, approved by Fairfax, before the first 45-minute space drum jam can even begin.

Although the town is so far very excited, there are other questions that should be asked before granting the use permit for this project. Before signing off, Fairfax homeowners should be satisfied that the new venue won’t compromise their quality of life, whether through increased traffic on Sir Francis Drake, loss of parking on adjacent streets, issues of noise and litter or even crime. Bottom line: they’ve got to ask themselves if adding a significant performance space to their town will have a positive or negative effect on their property values.

There; I said it. May the ghost of Jerry Garcia (whose former home in Nicasio, by the way, is presently for sale, asking $3.995 million) harsh  my mellow  if I’m being out of line, but the people who purchased homes in Fairfax have to consider how changes will impact the value of their most prized investment.

All that being said, early signs point to Fairfax residents – whether renters or homeowners – enthusiastically welcoming Lesh and his new live music venue to town, even without knowing anything about the size and possible impacts of the project. Maybe sometimes, cultural synchronicity counts for more than return on investment.