The County Planning Commission will hold an open study session to discuss the items on the Planning Commission agenda for the Big Wave project and Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR). The session will be Wednesday, January 27, at 8am in the Supervisors’ Chambers, 400 County Center, Redwood City.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the Study Session. But because this is not a public meeting or hearing, speakers will be limited to one minute and to "remarks to questions that they believe should be addressed by staff or the Commission at the hearing on the item".

The session will be followed by the regularly-scheduled meeting of the Planning Commission at 9am.

You can download 243 comments on the Big Wave Draft Environmental Impact Report in one 17 MB zip file, or browse and download individual comments by the name of the sender.

Click the link below for a complete list of comments by sender.

One southbound lane of the Great Highway south of Sloat Blvd has been closed due to erosion of the bluffs by winter waves, reports the Chronicle:

In 1994, storms took out 30 to 40 feet of the bluff. Then in 1999, after a particularly nasty El Niño winter, engineers opted to build a barrier out of sand dredged from the shipping channel outside the Golden Gate. About 300,000 cubic yards of sand have been dumped offshore every summer since. The "sacrificial barriers give the ocean something to chew on rather than the bluff," Filice said. [...]

City officials are working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Park Service to come up with a long-range plan to deal with the erosion.

Last night at a special MCC meeting is was announced that Lisa Grote resigned from her position as San Mateo County Community Planning Director.

I emailed Rich Gordon’s office this morning with the following questions:

What date did the planning director resign and who is the acting director? 

What is the process for hiring a new director and how long will the process take?

This information will be updated later today:
http://www.thepelicaneye.com/2010/01/lisa-grote-planning-director-turns-in.html

Sabrina Brennan
http://www.thepelicaneye.com/

Updated, with information from Supervisor Rich Gordon’s office:

"The Community Development Director, Lisa Grote, has accepted an opportunity with the City of San Mateo. She will conclude her work with our County on Friday, January 22nd. The County Manager expects to announce next week what plans will be for the near-term and the process for recruiting her replacement."

What are the real costs of saving blufftop real estate from natural erosion?

As the bluffs continue to erode under the apartment buildings in Pacifica, the potential futility and cost to the public of armoring the coastside becomes more clear.

Engineers have come up with some potential solutions to erosion that is threatening several Pacifica apartment buildings, reports Julia Scott in the County Times.

These will likely include a plan to stitch the top of the bluff together by installing a series of long "nails," or steel rods, deep inside the bluff, securing them in place with industrial-sized applications of grout, and then stretching a long concrete wall across the outside of the bluff that would be camouflaged to look like the natural face of the cliff. In addition, O’Connor wants to permanently protect the bottom of the cliff with a thick steel retaining wall sunk 30 feet into the beach. It would extend five or six feet above the beach, preventing the ocean from undermining the boulders already there. [...]

Neither [Esplanade co-owner Farshid] Samsami nor his wife returned calls Tuesday. Considering the cost of the boulders was estimated at $400,000, a long-term fix could easily surpass $1 million, although costs will be shared among the owners of all four buildings if they agree to a partnership.

"They can’t just leave it unrepaired because it’s going to threaten the neighbors and the road. They do have some responsibility to prevent this from impinging on others," O’Connor said.

Just before Christmas, Scott wrote an excellent summary of the issues involved in saving land and buildings that would wind up under water if nature were allowed to run its course.

Walked into Harbor Village for the very first time this past week and was shocked to see how little life there was in the place.

Now, as the project was being built, I didn’t think it would be good for the Coastside. It seemed out of scale and didn’t really fit the feel of the community. Up till now, I never had a reason to visit the place.

First off, the entrance to the complex is somewhat hidden from the main road behind the free-standing cafe (who designed that ill-advised arrangement?) Once inside, all I heard was the echoing of my footsteps against a backdrop of hollow Christmas music. There was not a customer in sight.

I think there were only 5-6 stores occupying the mall, with 2 or 3 times that in empty storefronts. It was quite depressing.

I feel for the merchants who surely opened there with high hopes. But the economy, poor promotion, lack of critical mass of stores, and perhaps a flawed business plan for the complex itself, have all conspired to make for a sad situation.

Getting the occupancy rate up would definitely help things. Is the management holding out to a unrealistic price per square foot?

Will new merchants, ones who cater more to locals find more loyal (and regular) customers?

Will increased marketing efforts make a difference?

For me, I don’t think I’ll ever set foot in the place again, and I certainly wouldn’t bring any visitors there.

The California Coastal Commission has unanimously rejected the county’s proposed update to its Local Coastal Program for the unincorporated Midcoast, as recommended by its staff.

We’ll post more details later, but this means that the ball is back in the court of Board of Supervisors.

On Thursday, December 3rd at 5:15pm, a 12-year-old boy was struck by a vehicle while riding his bike across Highway 1 near the Moss Beach Sheriff’s substation.

The sheriff’s office reported that the boy was conscious and breathing,  both legs were severely injured. The boy was transported to Stanford Medical Center for treatment.

The sheriff’s substation has no further information at this time. 

I hope the MCC will form a task force and work with Caltrans and the County to resolve this problem ASAP.  I don’t want any more kids severely injured or killed while crossing Highway 1.  What are we waiting for?  The situation is totally unacceptable and has been extremely dangerous for years.  Traffic is increasing on the Coastside and Caltrans and the County are doing nothing to deal with the risk to pedestrians and cyclists.