Opponents to buying the Nurserymen’s Exchange property say that the city council hasn’t addressed the risk that it contains wetlands. In its front-page story Questions surface about park plan, the Half Moon Bay Review reports:

[City council member Marina Fraser] suggested that before the city move forward it conduct a biological analysis of potential on-site wetlands to ensure no problems down the road. Fraser referenced the Wavecrest Village project, which ground to a halt after state and federal agencies learned that a red-legged frog was discovered on the riparian habitat.

Marina told me that she didn’t have these doubts until she got her copy of the Phase II due diligence reports that the city council prepared in advance of their vote. I had to see this report.

I went down to city hall today and got my own copies of the reports.  Phase I is dated April 1, 2004, and Phase II came out August 27.  According to the “Wetland and Riparian Habitat Assessment Report” in Phase II, written by Albion Environmental:

...direct impacts to [the creek’s riparian area and irrigation pond] should be avoided, and the riparian area should be protected with a 50 foot buffer. The irrigation pond would not require a buffer. The shallow, man-made drainage ditches around agricultural fields lack a preponderance of hydrophytic vegetation and would not likely fall under the regulatory jurisdiction of either the CCA/LCP or the Corps.

According to the report, about 2 acres of the 22-acre property is covered with “riparian vegetation”.  The creek is the boundary of the property, so only one side of the 50-foot buffer would be on the property. And, let’s face it, a natural creekside is a wonderful thing to have in a park.

But there’s no substitute for a site visit. You should go out there yourself.  Except for the pond and creek area, the land is packed earth covered with tarpaulins and decomposed granite roads.  Except for the creekbank, there is no natural vegetation of the sort the covers the fabled Coastside Community Park, or the proposed site of Wavecrest Village.

When I asked Mike Ferreira whether this property could be developed as a park, he told me: “Take a look at what we’re doing on the Pilarcitos Creek Trail as an example of the kind of thing the Coastal Commission will permit in a riparian corridor.” So I did. Take a look at the picture on the right of what’s being done at the corner of the 92 and the 1. Now, think about the precedent this sets a little further upstream on the Nurserymen’s Exchange property.

So, I’m left wondering what additional “biological analysis of potential on-site wetlands” is needed.

NOTE: As always on Coastsider, you can click on these pictures to get a larger image.

I’ve made it a policy not to make Coastsider about what’s wrong with the Half Moon Bay Review. I’m content to make Coastsider the best site it can possibly be and let them do whatever it is they do.

I’m making an exception this week because the Review’s report on the September 21 Half Moon Bay City Council meeting was so bizarre that their coverage has become the story.  Jeanine Gore and Debra Godshall were at the meeting, and I only saw it on tape. But in reading Wednesday’s coverage, I got the impression that we were reporting on two different meetings.

This is a big story with lots of moving parts, so I’m going to break it into pieces. I’m in good company: the Review used three stories taking up 60% of their front page for it. I’ve already run my first story, the Review’s astonishing neglect of the Oak Avenue park story.

If this is too much negativity and cynicism for you—it is for me—I recommend you go back and read my original coverage of the Oak Avenue park or my new photo album of the Moss Beach Park reconstruction.

I dropped by to see the construction of Moss Beach Park [photo album], and I was amazed by what I saw. My first impression was that there was no place to park. Then I got a good look at an amazing scene.

There were close to 50 volunteers on the site, ranging from the unskilled to professional contractors. What was amazing to me was that everyone was working hard. No one was standing around looking for something to do. This thing is very well organized.

Take a look at these scenes and realize just how far the work has come in just 24 hours work on two of the coldest and dampest days we’ve seen in a long time.

I’ll be posting more pictures as work progresses.  In the meantime, get out there and see it for yourself. Or lend a hand.

I’ve run a three stories about the Half Moon Bay City Council’s purchase of land between Oak Avenue and Pilarcitos Creek to build a park that would complement the trail they’re now building and to add some open space to a neighborhood that really needs it. The Review has not simply ignored the story, they buried it.

Not only is this a feel-good story, but the purchase was passed unanimously by a city council that was severely divided by the Nurserymen’s Exchange purchase earlier in the evening. Everyone agreed that this was a great plan for a neighborhood that desperately needs a park.

The Review reported this by dropping it in “In other matters”, a tedious compendium of city council agenda items on the next-to-the-last page of Section A. Here’s what they wrote:

Adopted a resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into a purchase agreement and record title for the purchase of 056-141-950; 056-141-960; 056-141-970.

That’s it: no description of the parcels or their location, or any indication the city is building a new park. Not even a quote from Marina Fraser, who testified at the meeting that this was a priority ever since she was on the Parks and Recreation Commission and how it will provide a safe place for the kids of the neighborhood, many of whom are now playing in the street.

Perhaps Oak Avenue doesn’t matter to the Review.

The body of the man who was found on Pescadero State Beach on Friday has been identified. The coroner said the death of the 28-year-old Dublin resident was a suicide.

People who live in sprawling cities are more likely to report hypertension, arthritis, headaches and breathing difficulties, and other chronic health conditions, according to the Rand Corporation. A few weeks ago, Smart Growth America reported that sprawl makes you fat.

Sedentary, car-dominated lifestyles and air pollution appeared to be contributing factors, says co-author Roland Sturm, a Rand economist. The findings suggest that an adult who lives in a more sprawling urban area will have a health profile similar to someone four years older who lives in a more compact city [LA Times, registration required].

Sprawl is defined as poorly connected streets (such as cul-de-sacs), lower population density and widely separated areas for housing, schools, shopping and employment.

If you must live in sprawl, Sturm says activities such as walking a child to school or bicycling to a corner market can have cumulative positive health effects. This assumes that you live within walking distance of your child’s school.

In the coming months, I want to start putting this information in a Coastside context. I want to look at existing examples of sprawl on the coastside and explore what we can do to avoid it in the future.

Rev Wendy Taylor operates Puente de la Costa Sur (Bridge of the South Coast) to help build bridges between Latinos and Anglos in Pescadero. She helps farmworkers find literacy classes, medical and dental clinics, and transportation. She has distributed over 300 mountain bikes to workers and provided sleeping bags for the homeless. When ranches have closed down or families have been evicted, Taylor has helped them relocate.

Tonight, The San Francisco Foundation will award Taylor the John R. May Community Leadership Award at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. The award includes a check for $20,000 for Puente de la Costa Sur.

Build Day for the Moss Beach Park starts Wednesday, September 29 and continues through October 3. Everyone is invite to help build the new park. For more information see Coastsider’s earlier story, or see [url=http://www.mossbeachpark.com]http://www.mossbeachpark.com[/url]

I just found this remarkable plan for the new park on the Web site. It looks really exciting. Click on the image for a larger version, or go to the Web site.

UPDATE: Stephen Miller posted this comment, which I’m adding to the main story:

The park effort is in need of tools: hammers, saws, drills, wrenches, wheelbarrows, etc.  The complete list can be viewed at on the Web site If you are willing to loan your tools for the build, please bring them to the park.  Someone will check them in, tag each item, and you will get a receipt.  Alternatively, you can call Theresa MacNaughton, Tools Coordinator, at 563-9739.

Tools will be looked after, but if any are lost or damaged, the park has a budget to replace them.  See you at the build!

I stopped by the land that the Half Moon Bay City Council just bought to get some pictures of HMB’s newest parkland, on Oak Ave, just south of Pilarcitos Creek. This lot was purchased by unanimous vote.

There’s a lot of construction going on right now to build the southern footing of the bridge over Pilarcitos Creek. The third photo probably gives the best view of the lot.  Beyond the brush lies the creekbed.

Click on the pictures for a larger image.

A wildland fire broke out Thursday at the end of Loma Mar Ave. in Loma Mar, probably started by a downed power line. The fire was in difficult terrain.  The La Honda and Loma Mar Volunteer Fire Departments, as well as the CDF/San Mateo County Fire Department responded to the call at 2:53pm.

The fire burned nearly an acre and took nearly four hours for eight engines, one water tender, two hand crews, two helicopters, two air tankers and one air attack to bring under control.  Firefighters remained at the scene through Friday evening.

Chief Larry Whitney of the La Honda department reminds us that fall is the San Mateo County Coastside’s Fire Season. The wild fire threat will remain until the winter’s rains arrive in earnest. Over the last decade most all of the South Coast’s large acreage fires have occurred in the months of October and November. Keep defensible space around your home and report any sign of a fire immediately by dialing 911.

Click on the pictures for a larger image.