Thursday, July 14, 2005
Did a developer steal this woman’s camera?
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Cheri Parr
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Barbara Mauz is ankle-deep in eucalyptus cuttings, and shorter than this pile of chips.
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Victoria Ortiz
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It may be ephemeral, but the stream and the surrounding trees dwarf Barbara Mauz and Coastsider photographer Cheri Parr.
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Cheri Parr
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A little further downstream, you can see tracks where the bed is being used as a road.
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Cheri Parr
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The wood chips drift like snow among the trees. Yesterday, they were trees.
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Cheri Parr
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On Monday morning, says Barbara Mauz, men clearing land for a Miramar developer stole her camera while she was trying to take a picture of what they were doing.
Barb Mauz lives on the southern edge of El Granada, within earshot of Miramar. Recently, that area of Miramar has become a center for development in the unincorporated Midcoast.
The area is sensitive. It butts up against the urban/rural boundary and the Mirada Surf hillside area. It’s on the borders of three greenbelt open space areas: Mirada Surf, Quarry Park and Peninsula Open Space Trust’s Wicklow property.
An ephemeral stream (a stream that flows only during and after it rains) winds through it. Although the stream is ephemeral and partially underground, you can see a well-defined channel and the willows, riparian plants that thrive on stream banks. You can see the willows further downstream at the Quarry Park access road of Highway 1. It passes under the highway to feed the willows at Magellan as well.
Welcome to Miramar Heights
In the last few years, an entire neighborhood of mansions has sprung up almost overnight in Miramar east of Highway 1. Someday, they’ll call it Miramar Heights, but you probably don’t even know it’s there, because most of this development is just out of sight of the highway.
But as the development has moved east toward the hills, and north toward El Granada, it has become impossible for folks in this part of El Granada to ignore.
Barb Mauz has several concerns. First, they were filling the stream bed with wood and chips from the eucalyptus trees they had cut down. Second, in addition to blocking the stream, the eucalyptus could be lethal to plants and animals in its bed. Third, she wants to make certain that whatever changes are being made are recorded, so that Coastsiders and the county understand what is lost in this development. And she wants to make sure that the urban/rural boundary and greenbelt open space areas are respected.
What Barb saw
Barbara Mauz is a small woman, but she’s also a fierce defender of her local environment. She’s fought many battles over the years with developers, the county, and the Coastal Commission.
She knew the development had been going on, but she wasn’t necessarily expecting anything Monday morning. She described what happened in an email.
I heard lots of saws and noise & when I went up from our house and looked down Moro to where my little stream is. All of the trees there were gone. So, I went over there with my little throw-away camera to document whatever was going on. I took a picture of some guy blowing Eucalyptus chips into the channel—those chips can kill any wetland plants and animals. The guy in charge came over and asked me what I was doing. I told him I was concerned about the stream and the area in general as it is a fragile and beautiful place directly adjacent to the Open Space areas.
I told this guy and the one in charge that it would be just plain terrible for people who walk past this area going up to quarry park & will now only see monster houses instead of the natural area. He appeared to be listening and said that he didn’t want people taking pictures of his truck and that he didn’t want anyone from the county coming over looking at what they were doing—then he snatched my camera; he gave me a $20 bill. I told him that I didn’t want his money and that I wanted my camera back.
But Barb wasn’t getting her camera coming back.
On Tuesday, my wife Cheri went to the site with Barbara Mauz to take more pictures. Our daughter and her friend tagged along. The guys got into their truck and left the site at the sight of the two women and two girls armed with yet another camera.
Wednesday, Barbara Mauz filed a report with the Sheriff’s office. The deputy who took the report went over to the site, but the man whom Barb says took her camera denies having done it.
What are we to do?
Babara Mauz wants the stream protected. Right now, it isn’t recognized as a coastal resource by the Coastal Commission. She says, “Make the county and the owners restore the stream and plant sequoias for people who are using Quarry Park. Write letters asking the County Board of Supervisors not to permit building on this ephemeral stream—or other such streams & creeks such as Medio Creek which is also currently under threat”
Barb wants a movement. The first step is to understand what’s happening in this place and to share that information.
We’ll never know what’s happening in out-of-the way neighborhoods unless we ask questions, take pictures, and share information. If we’re going to do this, we have to assert our right to know what’s happening. That’s a big reason I started Coastsider.
We only have Barbara Mauz’s word for what happened on Monday. But I do know that despite her fears for her safety and privacy, and her doubts about the Sheriff’s interest, she took her complaint to the Sheriff’s office.
I also know that I have been the subject of aggressive behavior at construction sites that I have photographed for Coastsider.
I am beginning to learn how quickly the landscape in this part of the Coastside has been altered. Everyone should be aware of this, because it doesn’t take long to completely change place this size.
With the county’s Local Coastal Program about to be updated, what’s happening in Miramar could happen anywhere. Large parts of Montara are already in play in the LCP update.
What is essential is that everyone on the Coastside know what they’re missing behind a thinning screen of trees, in a buried ephemeral stream bed, on the film in a stolen camera, or in a windowless room in Redwood City.
Comments
What this contractor & his workers did was to significantly alter with Cut & Fill this well documented Ephemeral Stream thus, violating the LCP Policies shown below. They FILLED IN a large portion of the Stream with Eucaplyptus Chips which are toxic to wetland plants & animals.
LCP Policy 8.1 Definition of Landforms states:
Define landforms as natural topographic and landscape features which include, but are not restricted to, ridgelines, hillsides, canyons, coastal terraces, headlands, mountains, rock outcroppings, hills, cliffs and bluffs, sand dunes, beaches, wetlands, estuaries, STREAMS, and arroyos.
LCP Policy *8.17 (a) Alteraton of Landforms states:
Require that development be located and designed to conform with, rather than change landforms. Minimize the alternation of landforms as a consequence of grading, cutting, excavating, filling or other development.
LCP Policy 8.6 Streams, Wetlands, and Estuaries states:
(a) Set back development from the edge of streams and other natural waterways a sufficient distance to preserve the visual character of the waterway.
(b) Prohibit structural development which will adversely affect the visual quality of perennial streams and associated riparian habitat, except for those permitted by Sensitive Habitats Component Policies.
Just exactly what makes this contractor & his hired thugs exempt from complying with these Local Coastal Plan Policies or, the County from enforcing these Policies and punishing those who violate them, Steve?
Barb Mauz (nature_watch@hotmail.com)
Gone,
This Stream feeds willows&wetlands - base of Quarry Park Trail&SR1 where it flows through a culvert under SR1 & feeds the willows&wetlands on the Mirada Surf Bluff at Magellan&SR1 year around-proof that this Stream IS perennial.
I’m including Ken Lajoie’s BOS presentation letter re: this Stream. This is meant to assist you/others in understanding the importance of this Ephemeral Stream & the need to preserve it & others; they not only feed willows/wetlands but, they also replenish aquifers, a vital function!
Barb Mauz
February 27, 2001
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
Re: PLN 2000-00493
APN 047-330-010
Dear Members of the Board,
I am Kenneth R. Lajoie, a geologist recently retired after thirty years service with the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park,CA. While with the USGS, I conducted extensive research and published several reports on the geology of coastal San Mateo County.
I am writing this letter in support of a citizen’s appeal regarding the definition of a riparian wetland habitat along a small, unnamed stream near the southern boundary of land parcel 4776 between El Granada and Miramar in coastal San Mateo County (please see enclosed map). Residents from El Granada recently informed me that part of this wetland had been damaged by road construction and home building in the area.
I understand that the wetland along this stream is not recognized as an environmentally sensitive habitat by the County Planning Department or by the Coastal Commission mainly because the stream, itself, is not delineated by a blue line on the USGS 1:24,000 topographic maps (Half Moon Bay and Montara Mountain) covering that area. I should point out that most small, intermittent streams are not delineated on any USGS topographic maps at this scale. Consequently, these maps are virtually useless for locating or defining riparian habitats, or any other wetlands for that matter.
At the request of two El Granada residents, I have inspected three sets of stereoscopic aerial photographs (1943, 1956 and 1974) presently in the archives of the USGS library to ascertain the nature of the disputed stream course (please see enclosed photocopies of these photographs)
Additionally, I inspected the site in the field with local residents on Friday, February 24, 2001.
On all five aerial photographs, which span 67 years, a small stream course clearly delineated by riparian vegetation (most likely willows) extends from the mouth of the hillside watershed above land parcel 4776, across the flat coastal terrace and into the ocean. The stream course is also clearly delineated by the 10’ contour lines on the large-scale 1962 CalTrans ortho-photographic map. On the 1962, 1974 and 1995 photographs part of the stream course is obscured by a grove of eucalyptus trees, but is still visible.
A small culvert allows the stream to flow beneath a dirt road along the southern boundary of land parcel 4776, and a second, larger culvert allows it to flow beneath Highway 1. Prior to severe sea-cliff erosion in the 1960’s, a low concrete bridge allowed the stream to flow beneath Mirada Road and into the ocean; presently the stream enters the ocean through a deep gully east of the damaged bridge. Additionally a small culvert beneath the dirt road allows drainage from Magellan Ave. to enter the stream.
The evidence from the aerial photographs, the culverts and the bridge clearly attest to the presence of a stream course along the southern boundary of land parcel 4776, even though it is not delineated by a blue line on the USGS maps. The presence of water-loving vegetation along the stream clearly attests to the presence of a riparian wetland, which by any environmental standard is a sensitive habitat.
I understand that the Planning Department of San Mateo County is presently updating the Coastal Resources Map of the Local Coastal Plan for the urban Mid-Coast. The aerial photographs I have inspected here and many others that are already available would be extremely useful in delineating environmentally sensitive wetland habitats in the Mid-Coast area. I would be happy to work with your staff to demonstrate the effectiveness of using aerial photographs for this purpose. A useful means to field check potential wetlands delineated from aerial photographs is a book by Phyllis M. Faber entitled Common Wetland Plants of Coastal California (Pickleweed Press, 1996). This field guide is designed specifically to provide students, coastal planners and public interest groups with a useful tool for identifying and delineating sensitive coastal wetlands.
Please feel free to have your staff contact me concerning any questions they might have regarding the information I have presented here. I look forward to working with them in identifying coastal wetlands, the first step in preserving these sensitive and rapidly dwindling natural environments.
Sincerely,
Kenneth R. Lajoie, Ph.D Geologist
The letter below is FYI. As you can see, the Coastal Commission was ready to change their jurisdictional map to show THIS Ephemeral Stream as a Coastal Resource — does anyone doubt the quailfications of the Coastal Commission’s Biologist, Dr. John Dixon, who examined THIS Ephemeral Stream and determined it to be a Coastal Resource? Only BIG MONEY and DIRTY POLITICS stood in the way of them changing their jurisdictional boundaries and now, both they and San Mateo County Planning Dept. now HAVE Ken Lajoie’s aerial photographs ** THAT DON’T LIE ** of THIS Ephemeral Stream to go by and there is absolutely NO reason for them not to get this done!
Barb Mauz (nature_watch@hotmail.com)
April 7, 2000
San Mateo County Planning & Building Divn.
Attn: Dave Holbrook
Mail Drop PLN 122
455 County Center
Redwood City, CA 94063
Re: Mirada Surf/Doherty
Dear Dave:
I am writing regarding the alleged Coastal Act/LCP violations on the Mirada Surf/Doherty properties. During our site visit of Tuesday, April 4, 2000, Chris Kern, John Dixon, and I looked at the culvert repair/expansion, the access/haul road, the drainageway, the areas of TREE REMOVAL [Note: Doherty also illegallly butchered hundreds of large diameter trees from upper Magellan down to the bottom of the rd. that caused an enormous amount of erosion of the weak, aluvial soils the trees were anchoring. A neighbor told me that he witnessed the Doherty’s excavating & trucking away tons, of this weak, alluvial soil that washed down and replacing the 10 foot deep hole with granite compost (I have a pix of that) so that they could build a house on that lot — it is the one next to and east of the tree filled open space lot adjacent to the little trail that comes across Mirada Surf and the Quarry Park access trail for which Midcoast Parklands has an easement & has blocked off so that vehicles cannot violate the trail & Quarry Park/Mirada Surf Areas. THIS CRIME WAS REPORTED to EVERYONE to No Avail & now there are over-sized houses that go down to the bottom of Magellan from the top - near the streambank where Jo Ginsberg states that the huge orange house directly adjacent to the streambed SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED - I have pix of these disasters if you want to see them, just let me know.] …
Text of Ltr. Continues … and, the Mirada Surf property. Pursuant to our site visit, John Dixon, our biologist, indicated that he believes that the drainageway located near the access road is actually a streambank, under the Coastal Commission’s definition, as well as the Department of Fish & Game’s definition of a stream. This stream CONSTITUES AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE HABITAT AREA (ESHA), and thus, ANY DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED WITHIN 100 feet of the ESHA would be appealable to the Coastal Commission. IT IS OUR INTENT TO REVISE OUR POST-CERTIFICATION MAP TO REFLECT THIS CHANGE.
In addition, as we discussed on site, the County’s LCP regulations for repair/maintenance exclusions limit exclusions to repairs THAT DO NOT INCREASE the size of the structure being repaired. Since an addition to the culvert was constructed, INCREASING ITS SIZE, it appears that the work done on the culvert DOES NOT properly qualify for an exemption under the County’s regulations. You indicated to Mr. Doherty that an “after-the-fact CDP would be required for the culvert repair and expansion. This CDP WOULD BE APPEALABLE to the Coastal Commission. WE FURTHER CONCLUDED THAT THE PENDING CDP FOR A SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE located near the culvert WOULD BE APPEALABLE TO THE COASTAL COMMISSION, BASED ON ITS PROXIMITY TO THE STREAM.
We have yet to determine if the access/haul road graded by J.L. Johnson is exempt from coastal permit requirements because it was allegedly graded pursuant to a timber harvest plan. We will look into that matter.
Finally, based on this site visit, it is Dr. Dixon’s opinion that the boundaries of LSA’s [McCraken/Byer’s EIR biologists] … wetland survey of the Mirada Surf property seems to be accurate.
[Also note that Mirada Surf, East & West Sides, have NEVER had an INDEPENDENT/COMMUNITY BASED examination of wetland/biological/bird/animal life — this REALLY needs to get done and February or March are the BEST months to do this type of examination.]
Sincerely,
Jo Ginsberg
Enforcement Analyst
cc: Chris Kern
I wonder if there is anything that can be adapted from Witness - http://www.witness.org/ - the organization (Peter Gabriel is involved) to put video technology in the hands of people to record human rights violations. You could imagine a similar effort to buy many disposable cameras and place them near hiking trails or adjacent to developments and encourage people to document what they are observing. Take the cost of the device out of the equation, and get the numbers of users way up and teach the thugs a lesson about bullying people.