Comments by Steven Hyman

Supervisors vote to allow no more housing on Burnham Strip

As Realtors, we represent the entire public and try to protect their property rights.  Over the years there have been many attacks through proposed zoning changes to reduce peoples’ property rights and the value of their assets.

SAMCAR and other real estate boards throughout the state look at all the proposed ordinances, both local and state, and try to make sure that the peoples’ rights are protected from over zealous legislation.

I know the Coast has become anti-growth, at least in terms of noise.  I personally think there’s a large silent majority that don’t agree with them but are too busy with family, jobs and all the pressures of life.

Having represented people, I am sometimes shocked at some of the punitive zoning I have seen placed on property owners.  And unlike the large developers, most ordinary people don’t have the deep pockets to fight City Hall or the County. They just throw up their hands in disgust and take it.  Once in a blue moon, you will see mass protest, like Casa del Mar, that forces change.

Also, the down side to all the restrictive zoning is that it forces up prices by limiting the supply or cost of housing.  With home prices here starting at around $700,000 and new homes at $1.3 million, we have a situation where our teachers and kids can’t afford to live here. 

The Coast should be grateful that SAMCAR is here to protect them.

Steven Hyman

Photo: Surfing at Kelp Cove

One of the problems on Nevada Street is that some owners don’t have or don’t want any protection for their property.

In this case, there’s actually a seperate piece of property in between the “moved” red house and the home with the rip rap.  What’s happenning is that this land is being eroded which in turn is undermining the home with the rip rap.

I know the owner of the red house has spent years trying to fix the problem with not much to show other than big legal and engineering bills.

Part of the problem here is also the public street (Ellendale) which will eventually fall onto the beach.  Then you’ll have asphalt, guard rails and who knows what other toxens poisioning the tidepools.

I don’t see how the public benefits by having a blocked beach with debris. Its not like it would enhance the beauty of the beach either.

Steven Hyman

Photo: Surfing at Kelp Cove

There’s only a few homes in the Marine Reserve that don’t have some sort of protection.  I take the position that the County is damaging the public by not protecting the remainder of the bluff which involves both individual homes and a County street.

If everybody had protection by rip rap or whatever, then who would be harmed?  To the contrary, the present situation puts the public and enviroment at risk.

Its inappropriate to call people stupid or selfish for protecting their property.  You could also make the same comment about the people who protest so loudly but don’t live anywhere near the beach.

Steven Hyman

Photo: Surfing at Kelp Cove

Cheri,

I’d be delighted to see that video and tell you what I think.

I’m very much in favor of using rip rap or other type of retaining walls to protect personal property and for erosion control.  One of the benefits of the rip rap is that it keeps falling debris or land from going on other property.  Here it prevents land from falling on the beach which would otherwise block access to the public.

I’m very familar with the homes on Nevada and the history of the rip rap with the County.  I think what the County is trying to do is wrong here. In the long run the lack of erosion control will damage the marine reserve when the beach gets blocked and polluted from all the debris above.

There’s no question that rip rap can create a problem or push the water in a different direction. Just look at the break wall by the harbor which then required rip rap by surfer’s beach to protect HWY 1.

The pubic benefits by having a safe productive harbor and a continous HWY 1.  The public also benefits from having beautiful beaches that are accessable and safe from landslides.

Steven Hyman

Photo: Surfing at Kelp Cove

The rip rap on the house in question was built with permits in the 1980’s by a long-time coastal resident.  The little red house has already been moved from its original location because the County wouldn’t let the owner protect his property by putting in rip rap like so many other people have in that area.

I’m sure all the protesters on the coast will be happy to see one day a historic home sitting on the beach poisioning the tide pools. 

The rip rap is to protect both the beach and the land.  Without it all of Nevada Street could be on the beach.

Steven Hyman

City will add agriculture to Boys and Girls Club lease

I have known David professionally for many years.  He is extremely thorough and dilligent.  Anything he gets involved in is completely researched.  In fact, I have teased him several times about how thick his files are on his projects.

I can also tell you that what was described about a conversation with a staff person is consistent with my own experience.  And this is true whether you are dealing with SM County or HMB.

You can talk to one person one day about a specific property and get one answer.  Another day you may talk to a different person and hear something completely different.  This is more than frustrating when we are trying to help our clients (either buyers or sellers) and you can’t get consistent straight answers to simple questions.

Our community is lucky to have someone like David who has volunterred his time for years to try and build the Boys & Girls Club.  If we critize people who are helping to make this a better place, we will deter them from doing community service.

Steven Hyman

CCF asks Coastal Commission 25 questions

Barry,

There could easily be double counting going on with new construction.  Some new homes are built for spec and may go through the MLS while others that are owner occupied will probably never be included in the data I use.

Also, if you are looking at permits issued, it could be a long time from when someone gets a permit till they start construction and actually complete the home.  For a non-professional that could take at least 1 year if not more.

Steven Hyman

CCF asks Coastal Commission 25 questions

Hi Barry,

I’m not sure what figures you are quoting as far as growth goes in HMB.

Here’s the data that comes from our MLS for both the Coast and HMB covering 2004 - 2006 that I have reporting on in the HMB Review over the years.

HMB sold 189 homes in 2004, up 13% while the entire Coast sold 402 homes, up 9%.

HMB sold 155 homes in 2005, down 18% while the entire Coast sold 328, also down 18%.

With the first half of 2006 unit volume being off so much, it is highly unlikely that we will sell over 275 homes on the Coast.  This will be 2 years of negative growth. I personally think we will be testing the lows recorded when Devil’s Slide went out in 1995 when only 255 homes sold.

Hope this helps.

Steven Hyman

Video: How is business?

As a local business owner for over 10 years, I can tell you no one has asked me personally about the light at 92 & Main.

I remember a few years ago when CALTRANS came to address our weekly Raltors meeting, I specificially asked them about turning off the main street left turn light on 92 durning the evening commute so the light would stay green longer.  I said that all main street traffic could go to Kelly Ave and then get to Main St.  Their response was that they needed a several month traffic study before they could do anything.

To state that all HMB residents support our officials I think overlooks the fact that the turn out rate for elections in off years is only around 25%.

Having watched politics and all the referendums, I feel that the whole coast is run by the loud minority.  The silent majority is too busy dealing with their jobs, families, kids, school, etc.

In my job, I have come across so many smart and talented people, yet none of them would want to get into politics.  It seems all we do is talk and fight and sue and nothing gets done.

Video: How is business?

This past Sunday afternoon, my wife and I walked down Main St after going to the festival at the IDES Hall.  I was really surprised how little foot traffic there was considering that it was a beautiful sunny day.

I also spoke with several shop owners and their feelings reflected what I saw both then and throughout the week.

Despite what many people think about HMB City Council and the traffic light at 92 & 1, these are our neighbors and friends.  They do need our local support.

Steven Hyman

Letter: Questions for Supervisors Rich Gordon and Jerry Hill

Steve,

My point was that if there is no problem with exceeding the current cap on building, why alter it.

When anybody puts a cap that restricts the supply, that is a quota as I see it. It doesn’t matter if it is for immigriation visas or building permits.  And when the demand exceeds the supply, you have a problem.

In the City of HMB, building permiits were significantly reduced. Compounding this reduction was the fact that the majority of these permits were previously allocated to a developer under a deal with the City.

Lot prices in HMB are higher than other parts of the Coast because most of the available land is in more expensive neighborhoods(i.e. Alsace Loraine and Miramar) and to a lesser extent because there are fewer available permits each year for the public.

Even within HMB, you will see people paying a premium for a lot that is buildable now versus one that isn’t. So if there wasn’t a cap or quota, all the prices in that neighborhood would more or less be the same.

In the past, we’ve had sewer moratoriums that were circumvented by enterprising people who retrofited toilets. Wells were drilled to overcome water constraints.  We even had secondary markets for water connections where people have paid up to $30,000 for a hook-up.

By putting constraints on supply, you force prices up when there is strong demand. 

Letter: Questions for Supervisors Rich Gordon and Jerry Hill

Kevin,

As a real estate broker, I obviously make make my living by selling homes and land.

I will say that most of my views are shaped on economic principles.  I am a big believer in the free market and that the laws of supply and demand will produce the best results.

I also believe that most of the time when the government gets involved, they alter this balance and usually mess things up.

I think history has proven that quotas, price controls don’t work.  The smart people always find the loopholes and get around it.  And the little guy ends up paying for it.

As far as further reducing the allowable building, I would say that if the number isn’t being exceeded then there’s no reason to even change it from its current level.  There’s obviously not a problem with this ordinance that has been on the books for many many years.

I know HMB has a 1% cap.  Personally, I think the public was deceived when that was voted on because it was not well known that the City already had an arrangement with the owners of North Wavecrest for a specific number of homes which was included in the 1% total.

The result of this is that only 15 or so homes a year would go to the little people.  The beauty contest point system to award building permits has been painful to watch.  I question whether the public would have voted for this if they knew how it would work.

By artificially constraining the supply of new homes, you will drive prices up more making this place even more expensive. So the new homes that take almost 2 years now to complete may cost $1.4-$1.5 million. 

As they say “if it ain’t broke, dont fix it.”

Letter: Questions for Supervisors Rich Gordon and Jerry Hill

Kevin,

I question whether the 2% growth really matters.  I don’t think we have ever on the Coast built that many homes.  When you look at the number of homes sales for any given year, you’ll see that there really isn’t the strong demand to live here.

On a good year, which this isn’t, we only sell 400 homes.  This year, we will be lucky if we even sell 300 homes. So adding a large supply of additional inventory would be hard to absorb.  Don’t forget that there will always be the constant supply of people who need to sell their homes for a variety of reasons.

Ocean Colony built 50+ new homes and that has taken several years to sell.  The project on Symour St in HMB took over a year to sell and that was just a few homes.

And new homes have become very expensive because of high land and building costs and the ever increasing time to get a building permit.  Its hard to build a new home today for less than $1.2 million. This high price tag also limits the number of people who can afford them.

So unless there is going to be a rush of people wanting to move here from over the hill, a large increase in new construction will just flood the market costing builders a lot of money in carrying costs.

Steven Hyman

Caltrans may end “free” right turns onto Hwy 92 for HMB commuters

Hi Francine,

In the HMB Review this week I wrote an article compairing the impact on the closure of Devil’s Slide regarding real estate back in 1995 to now.

It is really too early to see the financial impact yet on property values because most sales that took place after April 2nd haven’t closed escrow yet.

What has happenned this year is that home prices are even with 2005 but volume is down significantly.  I personally think based on current sales and sales pending info year to date that this year will be one of the worst in terms of sales volume in the past 15 years.  And again most of this already took place in the first quarter.

Inventory is probably the best gauge of judging the impact of the road closure. The year started out with 58 available home and 21 sale pending. As of March 31st there were 91 available listings and 30 sale pending. As of 5/22 there were 122 available listings and 27 sale pending.

Obviously inventory is growing being the highest level in 2.5 years.  This is due to very low volume and rising mortgage rates.

FYI, I gave Barry a copy of my article so he could post it.

If you have any more questions, please contact me.

Steven Hyman
Owner, Century 21 Sunset

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