The Daily Journal has another must-read article on the bitter battle for the Harbor District board, including some choice quotes from two of the candidates about their opposition:

“I don’t think a couple [of members] are honest,” said board member Sally Campbell. “Tax payers are spending their hard-earned money now to compensate for it.”

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“Sometimes it seems like the meetings were plotted out before we even had the meetings,” said Beverly Fontana, a candidate for the seat and the former district secretary.

There’s a clear sense of enmity between the two factions on the board and those running in support of (or opposition to) either faction. While this is a county-wide board, its impact on the coastside is disproportionately huge and goes far beyond where the boats get parked.

The extended deadline expired today, and no additional candidates have filed for the CUSD school board. The candidates are Charles Gardner of Montara, Jonathan Lundell of Lobitos Creek, and John Moseley of El Granada. The Review reported today that Gardner has resigned his position on the Midcoast Community Council to run for the CUSD board.

There are four candidates for three seats on the La Honda Pescadero Unified School District, no contested seats on the Las Lomitas Elementary School District, no contested seats on the Pescadero Municipal Advisory Council, and seven candidates for three seats on the San Mateo County Harbor District.

Click on the “read more” link for the complete roster of candidates for midcoast positions.

Oscar Braun’s drive to incorporate the Southcoast is featured in the Examiner. A couple of days ago, he put out a typically idiosyncratic press release attacking the Coastal Open Space Alliance for its opposition to the plan. The issue is real: self-rule for the 6,500 residents of a vast area that is now run by the county.

The County and incorporation opponents say the tax base can’t provide the necessary infrastructure. Braun plans to pay for it by charging $9.9 million in “mitigation fees” to the state, county and federal parks (and open space agencies?) in the new community. That’s about $1,500 per resident of the new community.

Click “read more” to see the Los Pueblecitos press release

The San Mateo County Harbor District race is shaping up to be very contentious. The district oversees the marina at Pillar Point in Princeton, as well as Oyster Point in South San Francisco. It currently owes the state $18 million for capital improvements.

There are seven candidates for three seats, and the prize is the balance of power on the board, according to the San Mateo County Times.

Jim Tucker, the district’s secretary, has the best quote in the story, “It’s a false sense of being in debt,” he says of the $18 million. “By 2018, we will be debt-free.”

Biologists didn’t see any California red-legged frogs on a visit to the Wavecrest Village site on July 29, but they weren’t looking for frogs. Although the Review reported they found “nary a frog”, that’s not the end of the story. From the Review:

The four scientists searched the area for the threatened species. But after spending most of the afternoon poking through all areas that could serve as potential frog habitat, what they found was nary a red-legged frog.

US Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Mary Hammer, who was there, described it as a “casual site visit”.  A California red-legged frog survey would have involved an intensive review of the site, including daytime and nighttime observations. “It would have been surprising to find a frog there in the middle of the day,” said California Coastal Commission staff biologist John Dixon, who was at the visit. One biologist has already reported a frog sighting to the California Department of Fish and Game.

What they found, according to Hammer, was frog habitat.  And frog habitat is enough to get Fish and Wildlife involved in the development process.  “Frog habitat could also indicate the San Francisco garter snake,” according to Hammer. The SF garter snake is a federally-protected endangered species.

What’s unclear is what the next steps would be. The Fish and Wildlife Service is conferring internally, as well as with their colleagues in other agencies, about what to do next. Meanwhile, developer Wavecrest Village LLC has an issue that it must deal with before it can begin construction.

“It’s a concern and we’ll be waiting to see what the wildlife agencies think about it and how significant they think it is.” said Coastal Commission biologist Dixon.

The frog habitat may not prevent construction.  There are other ways to deal with what the folks at FWS call a “take” than simply preserving the site as it exists. A habitat conservation plan may be necessary. I talked Pat Fitzgerald of Wavecrest Village, LLC, and he says he’s waiting to hear from the Coastal Commission and US Fish & Wildlife.

Also unclear at this point is the impact of the existence of frog habitat on the permitting process with the county or with the California Coastal Commission.

Judge Carl Holm’s ordered the attorneys in the MROSD petition trial to return to court Aug. 20. Although today was the formal deadline for adding measures to the November ballot, Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum said his office could still add the MROSD annexation to the ballot if the judge orders it. But it’s getting really late. The county must print and mail sample ballots next month.

The judge said he needs more time to determine the validity of the protest petitions filed with the county. He described the county’s organization of the petitions as a “total disaster”, and ordered the elections office to re-organize the protests.

A couple of days ago, I ran Save Our Bay’s press release saying that the Coastal Commission was appealing San Mateo county’s approval of the Devil’s Slide Tunnel.  That press release implied that Oscar Braun’s lawsuit was the reason for the appeal.

According to the San Mateo Times, the Coastal Commission is appealing the tunnel to hold up final approval until Caltrans transfers the bypass right-of-way to state parks in accordance with Measure T and the LCP. This is being accomplished by Senate Bill 792, which is on its way to the governor. According to the executive director of the commission, “Once the legislation gets to the governor’s desk—and we’re told the governor will sign it—that takes care of it”. The Pacifica Tribune also has a very good account of the situation.

The San Mateo Times says that Braun’s appeal was described as “patently frivolous,” by the commission’s executive director.

The Cabrillo Unified School District has signed a new agreement with Wavecrest Village LLC. 

The purchase agreement, summary, and report from its closed session on July 29 have been posted on the District Web site. You can also view or purchase signed copies of the agreement at the District office. The terms of the agreement have shifted in favor of the developer:

• The amount of land the District receives drops from 25 specific acres to 23 acres that are less clearly defined. There is no estimate given in the summary for the value of two acres of developable land at Wavecrest.


• The District’s cash payment (in addition to its trade of real estate in El Granada) to Wavecrest Village LLC has increased from $1.0 million to $1.2 million.


• The District’s share of street improvements increases from 21.5% to 23.5% and drainage from 17.0% to 23.5%

The three documents were posted at 12:52 pm today on the District’s Web site. Although the links on the Board’s page are broken, here are working links to the three documents.

Report of its closed session

Amended purchase agreement

Summary of main points and changes to the agreement

I’ll post more on this as it develops, but I wanted to make sure everyone had access to the documents right away.

The California Coastal Commission has filed an appeal of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors coastal permit decision of July 6, 2004, which approved the development and mitigation permits for the Caltrans Devil’s Slide tunnel. According to Save our Bay, which appealed the tunnel to the commission, the commission’s appeal blocks the issuance of permits for construction of the tunnel.

So far, the only information on this comes from a Save Our Bay press release.
I’ve called the Coastal Commission for more information. Click on “read more” to see the Save Our Bay press release.

Plans for Mirada Surf West project will be discussed at a public workshop August 10, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Ted Adcock Center, 535 Kelley Avenue, Half Moon Bay.  The San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Division will host the workshop. The county recently acquired the Mirada Surf Parcel in El Granada with funding from The California Coastal Conservancy. The conservancey will also fund site improvements.

Plans include a paved pathway from the intersection of Coronado Road and Highway 1, and Magellan Avenue between Highway 1 and Mirada Road [map]. This path will help complete the portion of the California Coastal Trail which extends from Half Moon Bay through Princeton Harbor.

For more information contact Senior Park Planner Sam Herzberg at (650) 363-1823 or