Comments by Don Bacon
March 30, 2007
HMB's City Council is planning to take action this Tuesday on Pacific Ridge. Here's a link from their website that outlines their plan: http://cityhall.half-moon-bay.ca.us/Terrace%20Avenue%20Light%20040307.pdf
November 15, 2006
WHAT'S THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN? (part 3 of 3) Suppose one or more of the property owners files a class action over the downzoning, claiming that the ordinance is a regulatory taking; in other words, that it restricts the use of the eight properties so thoroughly and unreasonably as to exercise de facto eminent domain. The plaintiffs would have some strong arguments: the ordinance's blanket prohibition against "all" development, the stated opinions of County Counsel and Planning Staff advising against…
November 15, 2006
THE DANGERS OF INDIRECTION (part 2 of 3) This position–that the best and highest use for Burnham Strip is public–is shared by many, and frames the central question here: have the Supervisors in fact moved the community closer to securing that objective? A more straightforward approach would have been for the County to simply exercise eminent domain over the nine vacant parcels. Such deliberate, direct action would guarantee the space's preservation for public use, and conclude the matter…
November 15, 2006
EXAMINING THE COUNTY'S NEW BURNHAM STRIP ORDINANCE (part 1 of 3) Last month the Supervisors surprised most observers by voting unanimously to prohibit residential development of Burnham Strip's nine vacant parcels. An ordinance to that effect, passed yesterday (November 14th), actually goes much further than just prohibiting houses: with the exception of the largest parcel, all development on the other eight parcels (ranging from 6,000 sq. ft. to 2.5 acres) is strictly banned. Here's how the ordinance…
November 04, 2006
CUSD candidates were not invited to the MCC candidates' forum until one day before its occurrence. The late notice was protested in writing by candidates unable to attend. The MCC acknowledged as the forum began that "due to the weekend and some organizational issues we weren't able to notify the candidates until very late." Coastsider.com's 'reportage' covered up this shortcoming by stating that "For scheduling reasons, only Ken Johnson and Pam Fisher appeared at the event." Ken Johnson then disingenuously…
November 02, 2006
The organization is Coastside Community First, not Foundation. And as Mary points out, it is diverse enough (as we quickly learned) that raising state, national or international politics in a CCF meeting held zero hope of agreement. Would the LCP run into that difficulty? If Barry is concerned about organizational diversity, perhaps he could list the party affiliations of the LCP leaders for the sake of comparison. He might explore whether any LCPers have ever publically expressed any regret over…
November 02, 2006
It is an irresponsible and baseless lie to state that CCF is "identical" to the national Republican party, that it is a reincarnation of a prior "name-switching" organization, that it excludes all elements of the community it disagrees with, or that it is participating in the school board race. CCF is a 501c3 (educational), with no parent organization or party affiliation. By law it can take positions on legislative acts, including ballot measures, as a non-substantial component of its total activities,…
November 01, 2006
Barry writes: "As far as I know Bob was not speaking on behalf of the Sierra Club, so to describe him the way you suggest wouldn’t be fair to either Bob or the organization." Bob Pilgrim has been listed as the contact person for the Sierra Club campaign against Measure L since August, in both the Loma Prietan, newsletter of the local Sierra Club chapter, and their website. In general, diplomatic protocols should be observed toward the Sierra Club and its leaders. For example, Mark Massara,…
November 01, 2006
So, Ric Lohman venomously decries “venom,†accuses CCF of being “identical†to the national Republican party, all the while practicing the politics of hate, division and blame. Below is a quote from Ric practicing the politics of love, unity and compassion on MidCoast Lists. The context was a discussion of tsunamis, and their potential effect on the Coastside: “This, of course, would solve the monster home problem in West Miramar.†Ric Lohman, June 16, 2005 Folks…
October 30, 2006
There's a straightforward factual disagreement between Pam Fisher and her detractors that occurred in the Review, but I can't find much discussion of here. Detractors claim that her lawsuit cost the district a lot of money (low-to-mid six figures); my understanding is that Pam contends there were no legal costs to the district. These two positions are so far apart, on what appears to be a factual issue with a discoverable answer, that it would probably be highly instructive to the voting public to…
October 29, 2006
"I've been working in the news business for about 20 years."--Barry Parr
"The learning curve has sometimes been steep, Parr acknowledges. A high school journalism class was his only formal experience."
--San Francisco Chronicle, from "Citizen Journalism Takes Root Online," June 6, 2005
September 19, 2006
My earlier post today discussed two points: first, that MWSD’s boundaries violate the Local Coastal Program, and second, that LAFCo has the ability to investigate and change those boundaries. The next question is exactly how much general (1%) tax is being misallocated to MWSD and GSD, monies that should be going to the special districts and agencies that are mandated to serve rural-zoned MidCoast properties. MWSD and GSD are prohibited by the LCP from providing water or sewer services in the…
September 19, 2006
There is no doubt that MWSD’s boundaries are in violation of our Local Coastal Program, and have been since the LCP’s inception. The Review reported on January 28, 2004: “According to the opinion of San Mateo County legal counsel, MWSD's boundaries are out of compliance with the Local Coastal Program. And if they were brought into compliance the district would be much smaller.†I received a letter from County Counsel on January 22nd to the same effect, stating “…we…
September 18, 2006
Some questions have been raised about the balkanization issue. To begin, it's true that no matter what size a governmental unit is, it is capable of behaving badly. The point is to right-size the political jurisdictions. As for the Coastside, I don’t think there is any doubt we are suffering from balkanization. Sometimes it seems like the MidCoast and Half Moon Bay are in parallel universes. Imagine if Pacifica were divided like that, so the southern neighborhoods were unincorporated, and…
September 18, 2006
At this point I should probably focus on misunderstandings, so that the discussion can instead focus on the positions I’m actually carving out. First, clearly I’m not in favor of abolishing the Coastal Commission or the Coastal Act. I am in favor of acknowledging that the Act is first-generation law, the Commission a first-generation agency, and much can be improved. The Oregon model, which is where we got a lot of the ideas on these subjects, shows us the way forward in certain respects.…
September 17, 2006
With all respect, the third and fourth comments indicate a lack of familiarity with the pre-eminent progressive land use philosophy of our generation, a movement that has been widely recognized as having little viable ideological competition in the field of planning. In any event, Smart Growth/New Urbanism cannot be carelessly dismissed. Readers of coastsider.com interested in seriously studying issues of growth and development should consider the following books: •SUBURBAN NATION, Andres Duany,…
September 17, 2006
Barry: Thanks for your comment on my piece. I hope this discussion focuses proactively on the (many) issues raised by Smart Growth as applied to the Coastside. Your comment states that I am ignoring environmental laws, which I do not believe to be the case, and is certainly not my intention. A close reading of my statement about Highway 1 at Surfer's Beach shows that I am not suggesting riprap as a protection for the road, but to beef up the harbor breakwaters. As the seas rise, the breakwaters will…
July 07, 2006
Kevin Lansing writes: "...the City’s professional planners are simply performing the job of due diligence that is required by law." How can the City's professional planners perform the due diligence required by law on the Ailanto application for a Terrace stoplight, if the settlement agreement compels them to recommend approval, regardless of their actual opinions? Short answer: They can't. The settlement agreement destroys the public oversight protections our professional planners are employed…
July 13, 2006
Ken: I assisted in the formation of CCF, and served as one of its founding directors. After CCF's public launch in May, I stepped down in favor of others who had demonstrated commitment and leadership during the formation period. As I understand it, only written statements released under CCF letterhead, or on its website, should be considered an expression of the CCF directorship. With that understanding, statements by individuals – here or anywhere else – are only expressions of personal opinion,…
July 09, 2006
Ken: the "stacks of relevant traffic studies" at City Hall and the Coastal Commission were the basis for their Foothill/Bayview requirement. Please wade through their approvals, which are posted on CCF's website, and then show us where the City's and Commission's findings and conditions requiring Foothill and/or Bayview are in error. The City and Commission did envision that "Foothill would be designed as a four-lane arterial street with a median, bicycle lanes, and sidewalks" (p. 42, Commission's…
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