Things got ugly at the last Midcoast Community Council meeting, where Big Wave’s developer discussed the project’s draft Facilities Plan, but refused to answer other questions from the community on other topics.

You can watch the complete video on Montara Fog.

NOTE: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) regarding Big Wave that you have sent to the county Planning Department. We’ll share them with the community.

Dear Ms. Leung and the Planning Department,

I, like many others who have recently become aware of what is being proposed,  am opposed to the Big Wave Project.

When I was initially presented with this proposal to vote on, or consider, I believed we were voting for a relatively small size facility for the handicapped.  But now as I am learning more about this project, after the fact, it appears to be much more than that.  The Big Wave project is not a good fit for these small communities as, the infrastructure and demographics can not adequately make it feasible long or short term.

As we saw when Devil’s Slide was closed, Highway One could not support the flow of traffic given the existing number of local residences vehicles needing to use this throughway. I believe estimates have stated it would take and add 4000 more new vehicles, daily,  to make the Big Wave Project economically viable which would further stress the fragile transportation routes including the Tunnel and Bridge, thus negating the benefit of having the Tunnel we so longly waited for and need.

While there are many things I could add to support my opposition, such as the unsightliness of the hugh footprints these structures impose on the landscape, and the fact that it lies literally in the flight-path of aircraft that could pose a danger to those occupying the proposed facilities as there is a real and greater risk to them. Lastly, consider the loss of existing tax revenue the County receives from the merchants’ tourists and locals patronage. These merchants would be further stressed when there customers stop doing business with them because of the additional traffic congestion and blight these structures impose in contrast to what is already there and why people enjoy visiting and doing business there.

In closing, this is the wrong project for the wrong area and surrounding communities.  Please, use whatever influence you and the Department have to bulldoze this project over and not steamroll it ahead.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I believe if the local residents and surrounding communities knew what was happening and going to happen if this project moved ahead, your office would be flooded with these similar comments, concerns and criticisms.

Sincerely,

Joel A. Colletti
Concerned 11 year Montara Resident & Taxpayer

Even after watching Neil Merrilees’s excellent video, I was startled by how much space will be devoted to parking at Big Wave.  If you click on the diagrams to see the larger views, you will also see something called a "wetlands trail" following the wetlands that separate the two lots. If you’ve ever walked on a trail alongside an office park—and most people never bother—you know how eerily suburban and corporate an experience it can be. If you’ve ever walked the POST trail on the bluff above Big Wave, you know how dramatic the vistas are in all directions.

Big Wave is a proposed development on land adjacent to Airport Road and Princeton harbor. Developer Jeff Peck envisions building a set of residences there for developmentally disabled individuals and to support these individuals financially by building an office park next door. 

As you might imagine, the proposal has generated its share of controversy on the coast. 

In a new video, Neil Merrilees has a look at the Big Wave project and takes us on a visit to the site and helping us to visualize the structures. 

Video about the Big Wave Development Project: https://coastsider.com/index.php/site/news/video_understanding_the_big_wave_development_in_princeton/

San Mateo County’s Planning Department is looking to hear feedback on the Big Wave project by February 20.

The Midcoast Community Council, under new Chair Deborah Lardie, will be holding a discussion on Big Wave on Wednesday, February 11 at the regular meeting of the MCC.

The meeting will take place at 7:30 at Seton Hospital in Moss Beach (please park in the upper lot). 

Please share your thoughts on the Big Wave project with Camille Leung, the Planning Manager at the San Mateo County Planning Department by clicking here. 

Sabrina Brennan
Seal Cove-Moss Beach
Click here for the e-mails of the MCC members. 

There will be a special meeting of the Midcoast Community Council tonight to discuss the Big Wave project in El Granada.  The meeting will be at 6pm at Granada Sanitary District meeting room, 504 Avenue Alhambra, El Granada [Google map].

This is an important meeting because the deadline for comments to the county is February 20. Take a few minutes to watch the video below about this major project by Neil Merrilees and Darin Boville.

This remarkable video does a better job than any environmental impact report of explaining the scale of the proposed Big Wave development, and what its impact will be on the neighborhood and the Coastside as a whole. It concludes with some thoughtful examples from Neil Merrilees of well-thought-out and properly located projects of a similar nature. The video was produced by Darin Boville for Montara Fog.

Watch the video, come to the MCC tonight. Comments should be emailed to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), who is the county planning department project manager for the Big Wave proposal.

If you have time, I also recommend watching the James Howard Kunstler video below, which deals with some similar questions.

"When we have enough places that are not worth caring about, we will have a nation that is not worth defending."—James Howard Kunstler

I’ve mentioned in the past that my view of development and community has been strongly influenced by Kunstler’s The Geography of Nowhere.Take 20 minutes to watch Kunstler’s take on the Tragedy of Suburbia. Kunstler is not only right, he’s incredibly funny.

Kunstler introduced many Americans to "New Urbanism" and "Smart Growth".  The Tragedy of the Coastside is that these terms are being used to promote projects that are the opposite of what they mean. Watch this video, and think about projects like Wavecrest, Beachwood, or Peeble’s Pacifica Quarry. Ask yourself what kind of community their promoters have in mind for us.

With a pavement condition index (PCI) of 59, Half Moon Bay’s roads are worse than those of just about every city in the county, except Millbrae and East Palo Alto, according to a ranking [pdf] by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The MTC classified the city’s roads as "at risk".

PCI scores of 90 or higher are considered "excellent." These are newly built or resurfaced streets that show little or no distress. Pavement with a PCI score in the 80 to 89 range is characterized as "very good," and shows only slight or moderate distress, requiring mostly preventive maintenance. The "good" category ranges from 70 to 79, while streets with PCI scores in the "fair" (60-69) range are becoming worn to the point where rehabilitation may be needed to prevent rapid deterioration. Because major repairs cost five to 10 times more than routine maintenance, these streets are at an especially critical stage. Roadways with PCI scores of 50 to 59 are deemed "at-risk," while those with PCI scores of 25 to 49 are considered "poor." These roads require major rehabilitation or reconstruction. Pavement with a PCI score below 25 is considered "failed." These roads are difficult to drive on and need reconstruction.

"All around the Bay Area, and especially in our rural areas and older cities," noted Dodd, "we see a lot of streets and roads with PCIs below 60, which is the point when pavement begins going downhill fast. One of our priorities is to make sure we invest in both preventive maintenance and in rehabilitation."

San Mateo County roads finished in the middle of the pack, but the roads in the unincorporated Midcoast are almost certainly worse.

T.J. Rodgers continues his plan to build a winery west of Skyline, above La Honda. The Almanac has an extensive report on the state of this controversial project.

Seven years after Mr. Rodgers, CEO of Cypress Semiconductor and a resident of Woodside, got a permit from San Mateo County to drill three caves 300 feet into Langley Hill for the winery, he is still trying to get another permit to install the actual winery in the caves. Grapes from Mr. Rodgers’ three vineyards are now being trucked to San Carlos to make the wine. ...

Months of blasting with dynamite to complete the caves riled neighbors, particularly downhill in La Honda. At the same time, neighbors became increasingly concerned about impacts of the vineyard on their community. They worried about how it might compete for scarce water supplies, or how erosion from runoff might silt up streams and pollute drinking water with pesticides and chemicals. ...

The revised DEIR should be released in April, says county planner Mike Schaller. It will be available for public review and comment for 45 days, and subject to several public hearings before the commission acts on the winery application.

The revised EIR will include results of a new hydrologic study that looks at both groundwater supply and demand in the area, and at surface drainage from the vineyards into Langley and Woodhams creeks. "It should hopefully answer the questions," Mr. Schaller says. One key element in the winery application, a land swap, is being welcomed by downhill neighbors. Mr. Rodgers proposes to trade about 23 acres of land in the watershed of Woodhams Creek for land above the entry owned by neighbor Willard Wyman.

This land trade, which depends on county approval of the winery application, would eliminate a potential vineyard on the steep slopes above Woodhams Creek. This creek provides the water supply for Cuesta La Honda, a community of 280 homes and the La Honda Elementary School.

"The proposed land swap is a big step in the right direction in terms of ensuring the protection of our drinking water," wrote the Cuesta La Honda Guild in a comment last August.

"If I owned the Quarry", a big if, but that was the headline of the Pacifica Tribune’s 12/3/08 article outlining my Pacifica Quarry suggestions and interests.

Today I’m encouraging community leaders to take proactive measures against another divisive land use fight. In my opinion, the best measure is to present the quarry owner, Mr. Peebles, with a citizen sponsored land use plan that is desirable, feasible and profitable. Here are three uses I believe meet these criteria.

Consider senior housing. Baby Boomer demand for better senior housing will grow for the next twenty years. Senior housing doesn’t impact schools and generates little traffic. This site is ten minutes from Seton Medical Center. A wide range of prices including below-market units can be provided. Local jobs will be created.

Next, there’s the three star conference oriented hotel. It will provide coastal conference facilities costing less than Half Moon Bay’s Ritz Carlton. It will meet inland summer demand for cool coastal weather. A city transit occupancy tax will benefit the community. Local jobs will be created.

A linksland style Golf Track (my invention) will be the catalyst for the project’s success. A combination of a golf course and a driving range, the Golf Track will provide a fast, affordable golf experience where everyone can improve their skills. For the quarry site it will need about 25 acres to duplicate the tees, greens, fairways and other features of regular golf courses. Players uses standard equipment to hit operator supplied balls to interior target fairways and greens from a perimeter teeing course. The teeing course is landscaped with natural lies consisting of slopes, level areas, long and short grass, sand and hardpan, etc. Virtually every golf shot can be duplicated including short game shots to putting greens interspersed along the teeing course. The Golf Track can accomodate players of all skills simultaneously learning, practicing and competing.

I envision extending the existing bike trail to loop around the Golf Track site. The linksland style landscaping-rather like the new Half Moon Bay golf course-will be aesthetically appealing to hikers and bikers, as the players never leave the teeing course to enter the interior area. The Golf Track will be a green facility using treated water from the nearby sewer plant. It will mitigate other project environmental issues. The Golf Track will appeal to seniors, their relatives and friends, to hotel guests and conference organizers, to the public and Pacifica residents, who will enjoy discounts. The Golf Track will become a community center for wholesome teenage and family recreation. Local jobs will be created.

Other suggestions have included a playground, some rental apartments for young people who work at the facilities and apartments for not-yet senior Boomers who want out of home ownership chores, repairs and taxes.

I’m a Half Moon Bay resident who has commuted through and shopped in Pacifica since 1976. Please contact me with your ideas and questions at 415 928 4400 or [email protected].

Dwight Pate