A California Court of Appeals sitting in San Francisco ruled Monday that four hiking trails on the 110-acre Martha Company property in Tiburon have not been dedicated to the public by its owner.

The ruling is a blow to the citizen group referred to as TRUST — short for Tiburon/Belvedere Residents United to Support the Trails — that brought an action in 2017 to establish that the popular trails had been “impliedly dedicated” to the public because the owners were aware of the community’s use and failed to object.

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Joe Dworetzky is a second career journalist. He practiced law in Philadelphia for more than 35 years, representing private and governmental clients in commercial litigation and insolvency proceedings. Joe served as City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia under Mayor Ed Rendell and from 2009 to 2013 was one of five members of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission with responsibility for managing the city’s 250 public schools. He moved to San Francisco in 2011 and began writing fiction and pursuing a lifelong interest in editorial cartooning. Joe earned a Master’s in Journalism from Stanford University in 2020. He covers Legal Affairs and writes long form Investigative stories. His occasional cartooning can be seen in Bay Area Sketchbook. Joe encourages readers to email him story ideas and leads at joe.dworetzky@baycitynews.com.