Thu, March 16, 2006

Gallery:  Supervisors continue hearings on Midcoast LCP update


By on Thu, March 16, 2006

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Darin Boville
Chris Kern, the North Coast District Manager of the California Coastal Commission told the supervisors, "Despite the oft-heard contentions that the LCP and the Coastal Act have stifled growth on the coast, in fact, the Coastside is one of the fastest growing regions of the county and will continue to be under this plan.� Click on the photo to see our gallery and more on Chris Kern's testimony.

MCTV will show the tape of the meeting Monday, March 20, at 10am.

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors continued the process of revising their Midcoast Local Coastal Program on Tuesday morning.  Coastsider features our third of Darin Boville’s galleries of the testimony. As always, if you have any corrections on names or additional notes, please let us know.

About half the testimony was from supporters of the Big Wave project for developmentally disabled adults.  The County Times has a good summary of the meeting. Here are some highlights:

  • The subcommittee of supervisors Jerry Hill and Rich Gordon reduced the growth cap from 125 to 75 units per year, which is still higher than the current growth rate of 52 units per year.
  • The subcommittee withdrew its proposal to widen Highway 1 to four lanes, recommending that the plan focus on improving traffic flow with more turn lanes and bike lanes.  Chris Kern, the North Coast District Manager of the California Coastal Commission, told the supervisors that widening the highway to more than two lanes would cause the LCP to not be approved by the Coastal Commission.
  • Forty water connections will be set aside to serve homes with failed wells.
  • The supervisors will consider whether the Big Wave project should be considered for a separate LCP amendment.
  • The supervisors will look into balancing the needs of the Harbor District for revenue generation from building on the Burnham Strip with the needs of the community to maintain the integrity of its original plan. The Harbor District has been pushing hard to develop the property and sent several people to testify at the meeting. Harbor Commissioner Sally Campbell stated, �We have used that property…to collateralize our $19 million worth of loans from the California State Boast and Waterways. A hit like that would be devastating…we need absolutely every asset and every part of revenue we can get.�

The board will return to the LCP revision in late spring.

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