The draft Environmental Impact Report for the Big Wave wellness center and office park complex, which is currently being circulated in a formal comment period, lacks a crucial section.  Section IV-N, which deals with utilities (Sewer, Water, Solid Waste, and Energy) is missing from the printed report distributed to county and other government agencies, as well as the public.

The individual section can be downloaded from the county’s website, but it has not been distributed to anyone who is responsible for reviewing the EIR. Nor does the full, downloadable PDF include this crucial section.

The county only required the applicant to print 30 copies of the report, only one of which is available to the public in the Half Moon Bay Library. This was a source of significant concern to attendees at Wednesday’s Midcoast Community Council meeting. Citizens wanting a physical copy have to pay the county about $50 to cover printing costs.

Thanks to Montara Fog for checking the online copy.

The National Weather Service has issued a high surf advisory beginning 10pm Friday through 10am Saturday. Large northwest swells are being generated by a low pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska.  Swells are expected to range from 17 to 19 feet with 20 foot breaking waves in surf zone and dangerous rip currents as well.

As of 4:30 Thursday afternoon, new vote totals from the county show Lisa McCaffrey ahead of Leonard Woren, with 497 to 479 votes.

The county will next update its totals Thursday, Nov 12, at 4:30pm.

Ethereal and gritty four-part vocal harmony and delicious vaudevillian combo of cello, accordion and banjo. Original improvisation-built songs steeped in Appalachia and Eastern Europe. Voted #1 a cappella band in the U.S. in 2007, VOCO is the energy of street singing and the elegance of a string quartet. Touring 2009 with the latest live CD, "Circle, Square, Diamond & Flag", released in October, 2008.  Sweet, hard-driving Americana mixed with crooked eastern European dance and dissonance, with body-stompin’ percussive movement. Joyous, magnificent, hair-raising harmonies - music that mourns and dances at the same time. Called "a truly phenomenal act" by Folkworks Magazine, "fascinating and multi-lingual" by the LA Times. "Their body percussion sets are a sight to behold!". VOCO will be joined by master percussionist, Evan Fraser and Teslim, a potent duo performing Greek, Turkish and Sephardic music on violin, oud, saz, laouto, and viola.  with fiery improvisation and deep attention to the traditions. 
The Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society presents jazz, classical and world music at the Douglas Beach House. Legendary for its intimate concert room and 180 degree ocean views, it is 40 minutes from downtown San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Buffet and drinks available.

Presented by The Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society at the Douglas Beach House
311 Mirada Road (corner of Cortez), Half Moon Bay, CA
Showtimes:  Doors open at 3:00 PM Music 4:30 to 7:30 PM with intermission
Admission:  $35
For tickets email [email protected], or call 650-726-2020

Adopt A Family at Coastside Hope is starting up for the Christmas season.  

The program will help bring Christmas gifts to about 400 Coastside families again this year.  This includes seniors and Pescadero residents as well as Half Moon Bay families.

Last year almost 800 children were served by the program. The program will open in our Princeton warehouse at 214 Harvard on November 29th.  I am attaching a form for anyone who is interested in adopting a family or making a financial contribution.

Judy O’Leary

On Saturday November 7th, The Visionary Edge will screen The Living Matrix: The New Science of Healing, a recently released documentary that challenges conventional medicine to expand its understanding of human biology.

Doors will open at 7:00pm, event begins at 7:30 at the Community United Methodist Church, 777 Miramontes Street (at Johnston), HMB. The event is free; donations will be   accepted to cover the costs of screening. Call 650-207-3440 for information and reservations.

Produced by Harry Massey and directed by Greg Becker, The Living Matrix uncovers evidence-based research in bioenergetic medicine that reveals energy and information fields – not genetics – drive human physiology and biochemistry.  

Woven among interviews with world’s most respected experts in bioenergetic medicine, dynamic 3-D graphic animation takes The Living Matrix viewer on a journey deep into the structure of the human body to illustrate how quantum biology influences health. Through in-person interviews and dramatized video vignettes that document the stories of people who recovered from chronic illness – including a five-year-old boy born with cerebral palsy, an osteopathic doctor with a brain tumor, and a housewife bedridden with chronic fatigue syndrome – the film demonstrates the effectiveness of bioenergetic medicine where traditional medicine has not succeeded. 

Would Big Wave have a significant environmental impact on agriculture by converting prime farmland to non-agricultural use?

County maps and zoning may not designate these parcels as prime farmland, and indeed until Big Wave began farming it in 2003, the land was left to grow wild for as long as anybody around here can remember, including a whole series of historical aerial photos.  The agricultural value of the land was considered important enough to invest in intensive farming practices since 2003, importing many truckloads of soil (to raise the center front low area in the southern parcel), not just disking but deep plowing the soil, cutting back riparian willows, and plowing up wetlands to destroy any native species, creatures or habitat.

The DEIR concludes that the proposed development would not completely preclude future agriculture since the project includes offsite Big Wave Farming and a 5-acre onsite plant nursery.  The offsite farmland proposed to be leased is already in agricultural production and does not depend on Big Wave to continue in production.  There will be no effect on the offsite farmland whether Big Wave is developed or not.  The onsite plant nursery is temporary and located on the 100-ft wetland buffer that is to be restored to its natural state.

Indeed, one of the Big Wave Project Objectives, “to provide space for gardens to grow organic food for consumption”, is made impossible by the overdevelopment of the site.

The county Planning Department has extended the comment period for the Big Wave Draft Environmental Impact Report by 15 calendar days, citing the length and complexity of the document.

The public review period began on October 22, 2009 and will close at the end of the business day on Tuesday, December, 22, 2009.

The informational Planning Commission hearing scheduled for November 18, 2009 will occur as planned. All other Planning Commission and Board of Supervisor hearings tentatively scheduled to occur in February and March 2010 will be moved two weeks into the future.