Comments by Kevin J. Lansing

Why I’m running for Harbor Commissioner

Good luck Sabrina. It’s clear the Harbor Commission needs some new blood.

From this week’s HMB Review:

“Harbor Commissioner Sally Campbell, who has been on the board 18 years….said she would like to see commissioners who initially keep their mouths shut, learn what’s going on, and then, if they have good ideas, wait their turn to talk…”

Having the election is “going to hurt very badly,” Campbell said. “But I can’t say who can and cannot run for election — that’s part of a democracy.”

Ah yes,  nothing beats the extreme arrogance of an 18-year entrenched politician.

Celebrity bartenders support education foundation, Thurs

Just curious, but how does one earn the title “celebrity?”

Save The Fitzgerald Marine Reserve

From the HMB Review 8/20/2010
“County ditches asphalt trail for Fitzgerald”

http://www.hmbreview.com/articles/2010/08/20/news/doc4c6c12432f087636013886.txt

Save The Fitzgerald Marine Reserve

This is another ill-conceived project in a long line of similar projects either conceived or endorsed by County officials (Mirada Surf road and oversized bridge, ugly view-blocking Harbor Village Mall, Big Pave, etc.)

However, I just read a report that the asphalt road in the FMR project is being dropped. Maybe County Parks Official Dave “Pave” Holland realized that this incredibly oversized project is headed for a Coastal Commission appeal unless it is redesigned to be compatible with the surrounding natural environment.

Half Moon Bay police chief leaving to become US Marshal

If the HMB City Council had any fiscal sense whatsoever (which they don’t) then they would uae this opportunity to seriously consider contracting out for police services to the County Sheriff’s Department, just like the City of San Carlos recently decided to do.

Instead, our “esteemed” HMB City Council will likely hire another overpaid version of the Chief.

Video: Fireworks free-for-all at Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica

I wonder what the beach looked like the next day.

Interim Director Jim Eggemeyer appointed County Director of Planning and Building

Meet the new boss (Eggemeyer), same as the old boss (LIsa Grote).

Open letter to Planning Director Jim Eggemeyer: We’re losing patience with your secrecy on Big Wave

“...realtors AKA the Lex Luthors of Coastal Nogrowthers…”

I think Lex Luthor might be offended by that statement.

Open letter to Planning Director Jim Eggemeyer: We’re losing patience with your secrecy on Big Wave

“...I believe they are underway w/ filing an EIR. Granted not to your liking, but legally nonetheless…”

Legally? We’ll see. The history of CEQA is full of examples of inadequate, incomplete, and otherwise flawed EIR’s in which lead agencies (in this case the County) tried to short-cut, subvert, or avoid following the law, only to be held accountable later at much expense to all. And that appears to be exactly what is on track to happen here.

Open letter to Planning Director Jim Eggemeyer: We’re losing patience with your secrecy on Big Wave

Kevin Barron:
“...Have any laws/statutes/policies been broken yet? Just curious…”

Well, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires full disclosure and analysis of all environmental impacts of a proposed development project. Any significant impacts must be mitigated to less than significant, or else that is grounds for denial of the project.

Here we have a Trojan Horse project that imposes huge negative impacts on the environment, but where the County, through its typical planning department incompetence and ingrained collusion with developers, is both failing to disclose major environmental impacts and proposing little if anything to mitigate them. Is that a violation of CEQA? You tell us.

Open letter to Planning Director Jim Eggemeyer: We’re losing patience with your secrecy on Big Wave

“...This is a poor example of open government…”

Rather, it is an open example of poor government.

Caving in and kowtowing to developers is common in San Mateo County politics

“No more wells” does not equal “No building.” And given that there are already houses with failing wells, drilling a bunch more really doesn’t seem like a good idea. Nature is saying that the aquifer is being over-drawn. The Supervisors should listen before it’s too late. 

And finally, the MWSD service district does not cover the entire Midcoast. Notably, the builder meccas of El Granada and Miramar are served by CCWD.

Caving in and kowtowing to developers is common in San Mateo County politics

“...No building until the wet weather flow sewer problem is solved…”

In other words, a building moratorium. Zero building. Really? Where does that come from? It certainly is not in any the Coastal Commission’s recommended LCP changes as far as I can see. And as long as we’re talking about “tactics” of debate, how it helpful to just make stuff up?

Caving in and kowtowing to developers is common in San Mateo County politics

“...I would like to see a coast that is a model for balancing environmental interests with economic and societal interests…”

That’s what the Coastal Act (and the LCP) is all about—striking a balance between preservation of scarce coastal resources and allowing viable development so that the coastal economy actually works and is sustainable.

Trouble is, after the hard compromises were made and balances struck during the years of recent County Planning Commission hearings, the Board of Supervisors then decided they wanted to compromise the compromise—always moving the balance point in the direction of more development and less coastal protection, all for the benefit of their developer/realtor special interest friends.

Caving in and kowtowing to developers is common in San Mateo County politics

If (and when) the Board of Supervisors obey the wishes of their developer/realtor masters, they will reject the proposed LCP changes of the Coastal Commission and thereby waste years of effort and countless taxpayer dollars. If that happens, Rich Gordon should be held personally responsible for failing in his duty to serve the greater good.

Protect our Coastal Communities: LCP update goes to supervisors, Tues

The pro-realtor County Planning Staff (Mr. Steve Monowitz) sent out a highly misleading public notice for this hearing. The notice totally misrepresented what the California Coastal Commission’s (CCC’s) recommended changes would mean for the MidCoast.

For example, the County’s misleading notice claims that the CCC’s recommended changes would “Prohibit non-residential and non-Coastal Act priority uses until traffic levels improve.”

In reality, the CCC recommended changes would simply require the demonstration of adequate public infrastructure capacities prior to approval of new development. Doesn’t that make sense? 

Excess new development in the Midcoast absorbs the capacity of limited infrastructure elements (roads, schools, water, and sewer) that have been commonly-financed with other neighboring communities.  The 2006 closure of Devil’s Slide for four months clearly demonstrated that Coastside roadways cannot handle a large increase in traffic coming south from the Midcoast through Half Moon Bay.

But this is exactly the future that the County Board of Supervisors wishes to bring about with a proposed doubling of the number of houses (and cars) in the MidCoast over the next several decades.

The CCC’s recommended changes are in line with what the County’s own Planning Commission recommended. Later, the Supervisors threw out everything and started their own realtor-driven rewrite.

Now the Supervisors are threatening to take their ball and go home by refusing to accept the CCC’s recommended changes, thereby wasting years of effort and countless taxpayer dollars spent on the LCP update process. Dysfunctional local government at its best.

Committee For Green Foothills letter to Planning Commissioners regarding Big Wave Project EIR

The County Planning Department has hit a new low. I didn’t think that was possible.

What kind of County planning official thinks it’s ok to let a hand-picked Big Wave board member prepare the responses to the public comments on the Big Wave Draft EIR?

The purpose of the EIR is provide a full and complete analysis of the true environmental effects of the project and propose measures that will mitigate those effects.

A board member of the Big Wave project has an obvious conflict of interest in preparing responses to the many legitimate public comments that are critical of the project.

I really hope somebody takes the County to court over what is guaranteed to be an inadequate and fatally-flawed EIR.

CUSD lays out $2.5 million in school budget cuts

No, I’m not suggesting that.

CUSD lays out $2.5 million in school budget cuts

“...This is not like the phony-baloney threat we got from Half Moon Bay in their effort to pass AB1991…”

Oh, you mean that bill AB 1991 involving development of new subdivisions (i.e., Beachwood &  Glencree) which had nothing to do with the school board’s mission, but which the pro-development school board went out of their way to endorse anyway?

Download comments on Big Wave’s Draft EIR all at once, or by name

The Big Wave DEIR is pathetically inadequate. It needs to be revised substantially and then recirculated. Otherwise the County is subjecting itself to the threat of litigation pursuant to the rules set forth in the California Environmental Qulaity Act (CEQA).

Jeff Peck & Co. should be asking for their money back from the consultant that prepared the inadequate DEIR. But then again maybe the consultant was doing just what they were told to do.

Here’s my top 10 list of comment letters linked above that clearly show how the Big Wave DEIR is fatally flawed.

121 - Montara Water and Sanitary District
169 - California Department of Transporation
185 - Pillar Ridge H.O.A.
193 - Committee for Green Foothills
205 - Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger Law Firm
206 - San Mateo County L.C.P.
209 - Granada Sanitary District
213 - California Coastal Commission
230 - MidCoast Community Council
240 - Surfrider Association

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