County’s June 16 LCP update hearing will be covered at tonight’s MCC meeting

April Vargas will be covering the county’s proposed updates to its Local Coastal Program (LCP) at tonight’s Midcoast Community Council (MCC) meeting. The LCP is the county’s plan for the unincorporated Midcoast. It is required by the Coastal Act and must be approved by the Coastal Commission.

MCC will meet at 7:30 pm at the Seton Medical Center Coastside, Marine Boulevard & Etheldore, Moss Beach. Take Highway 1 to Marine Boulevard and follow hospital signs uphill. Attendees must park in upper parking lots per hospital policy (turn left just before the end of the main driveway).

The county will be holding a hearing on the update at Half Moon Bay High School on June 16 at 5pm.

Coastal Commission staff rasised a number of significant issues with the county’s proposal. Some that were identified by the county as significant are listed below, but I’m sure there’s more that other folks in the Midcoast are interested in seeing covered.

• The scope of the proposed changes, which revise the amendments approved by the Board, as well as policies of the LCP that were not proposed for change.
• New policies that require demonstration of adequate public service capacities and restrict the allowable capacity of public works projects.
• A recommended prohibition against individual private wells and septic systems within the Midcoast urban area.
• Replacement of the County proposed 75-unit annual limit with a population growth rate of 1%, and application of this limit to secondary dwellings units.
• New policies that replace Countywide stormwater pollution control requirements with detailed construction, erosion control, drainage, and treatment standards.
• Deletion of a policy that would enable the County to resolve conflicts between LCP policies in a manner that is on balance the most protective of coastal resources.
• A prohibition against the formation or expansion of special districts until public service capacity issues are resolved.
• New traffic mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements.
• New requirements for the provision of coastal access trails and related studies.
• Deletion of a proposed incentive to provide affordable housing units.
• Requirements to designate the Devil’s Slide bypass alignment as a Linear Park and Trail and rezone this area to Community Open Space.
• Changes to land use designations and allowable uses on the Burnham Strip.