CGF says Big Wave’s proposed story poles are inadequate


By on Mon, March 1, 2010

Only one of four planned office buildings would be delineated by the proposed story poles. The four buildings would have 225,000 square feet of office space total. The adjacent wellness center would have 98,000 square feet.

An attorney representing the Committee for Green Foothills has put the county on notice that Big Wave’s plan for story poles is inadequate [pdf]. The developer plans to erect poles showing less than half the actual square footage of the project.

On February 17, Camille Leung, county Project Planner wrote, "per the applicant, poles will go up for the wellness center and storage building and the northern office building (closest to mobile home park). No poles will go up for the communication building." 

Big Wave is requesting a permit to build four office buildings, no just one. The CGF believes that the proposed story poles would not meet the developer’s and the county’s obligations under the California Environmental Quality Act.

CGF’s attorney notes that this would not accurately represent the impact of the project. They go on to note that the California Environmental Quality Act requires applicants to provide "an adequate, accurate analysis of a project’s aesthetic impacts…. a paramount consideration is the right of the public be informed in such a way that it can intelligently weigh the environmental consequences of any contemplated action and have an appropriate voice in the formulation of any decision."

The placement of story poles has been delayed because the developer has not yet updated the project’s Environmental Impact Report.