State Senator Leland Yee has withdrawn as a co-author of the AB1991, the bill to guarantee Half Moon Bay’s settlement with Chop Keenan by expediting development of Beachwood and Glencree. When the settlement was announced at Tuesday’s city council meeting, Yee was listed as a "sponsor" of the bill (he actually agreed to be a co-author).

Yee says he will not support the bill until he has had more opportunity to study the settlement and its consequences for the property, the city, and state law. He says he could wait until after hearings on the bill, but that he is still concerned about the possibility that the city could bankrupted.

The settlement and Senator Yee’s sponsorship were announced on Tuesday evening at the Half Moon Bay City Council meeting.

I spoke with Senator Yee on Wednesday evening.  He told me that he didn’t know the details of the agreement until he saw the city’s press release on Wednesday. He had already heard from constituents about their unhappiness with his name being on the bill.

Yee acknowledged that he had not seen the settlement before he agreed to sponsor the bill, saying he had been "privy to the essence of the settlement" and had been very concerned that the city avoid bankruptcy.  He did not know that the city had promised Keenan $18 million if AB1991 did not pass or that the settlement included permission to develop the Glencree property.

AB 1991 would allow the development of Glencree (as well as Beachwood) without review by the Coastal Commission, the state Department of Fish and Game, or other state and local environmental and planning agencies.

On Wednesday, Yee described the city’s $18 million guarantee to me as a "fallback plan", saying "there seems to be another alternative" to bankruptcy or the passage of AB1991.

Half Moon Bay mayor Bonnie McClung declined to comment for this story.

Developer Charles "Chop" Keenan will be allowed to build 129 new houses on Beachwood and the adjacent Glencree property [pdf of city’s press release] as part of a settlement agreement with the city over the Beachwood lawsuit. This returns the two properties to their planned development states in 1990, and gives Keenan the right to 46 houses beyond Beachwood’s original size of 83.

The settlement is dependent on the passage of AB 1991, which will exempt the development from state and local review, including (presumably) the Coastal Act. The bill is sponsored by assemblyman Gene Mullin and senator Leland Yee.

The city will also put a stoplight at Bayview, which will be paid for by the developer. The cost could be shared with future developments that use Bayview for access.  The city says that this "would also facilitate access to other new developments". This opens the door for the reconfiguration of Pacific Ridge to enable the building of the Foothill Bypass from Highway 1 to Highway 92.

The development will not be subject to the growth limitations of the city’s Measure A, which limits growth in Half Moon Bay to 3% per year.

Keenan will pay the city $2.25 million to offset the city’s costs and for the development rights.  If the legislation fails and the development rights are not granted, the city will owe the Keenan family trusts $18 million.

The city council approved the settlement with a vote of 4 to 1. Council member Jim Grady voted against.

UPDATE: You can download the settlement agreement from Coastsider.

The settlement of the Beachwood case by the city and the property’s owners could be announced at tonight’s Half Moon Bay City Council meeting, reports the County Times:

Attorneys for both Half Moon Bay and Palo Alto developer Charles "Chop" Keenan say that if a settlement is signed today, the details will be presented at the start of the regular City Council meeting following a closed-door session between the two sides.

"I think it’s likely to be at the council meeting. That would be my best guess," said John Knox, an attorney representing the city with the firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Rumors have been circulating all day (and last night) that the city was about to announce a settlement in the Beachwood case following its closed door meeting Thursday night. I called city hall this morning, asking to be copied when the city issued its press release.

Instead, the city decided to announce its decision to "authorize a settlement" by posting a note on its bulletin board, located in the City Hall parking lot. A note was put on its website at 3:10 this afternoon. The announcement reads in full:

March 28, 2008

City Council authorizes settlement of Yamagiwa case

As we have reported, the city and Ms. Yamagiwa have been in active settlement discussions. Last night, the City Council authorized a settlement, which remains subject to Ms. Yamagiwa’s review and approval. If and when Ms. Yamagiwa approves of the settlement, the city will make it public and will report the terms of the agreement. Until such time, the terms of the proposed settlement must remain confidential.

There are no other details.

The California Senate today unanimously passed legislation to name the Devil’s Slide tunnel in honor of the late Congressman Tom Lantos, according to a press release from the office of Senator Leland Yee, who authored the legislation. The legislation must still pass the State Assembly, which Yee’s office described as "likely".

The Midcoast Community Council will have an special meeting to discuss street access through the Seal Cove neighborhood due to the closure of Ocean Blvd. The meeting will be an informal discussion of alternatives, funding, assessments, and related issues. The meeting will be at Seton Medical Center Coastside, Marine Boulevard & Etheldore, Moss Beach. Take Highway 1 to Marine Boulevard and follow hospital signs uphill. MCC attendees must park in upper parking lot.

Recent Half Moon Bay events and court cases are making national news.  After reading about the following land use decisions and transactions, one can make an interesting observation:

•  Wavecrest Partners sold 208 acres to Peninsula Open Space Trust for 13.1 million.  That’s $63,000 per acre.

•  Nurserymen’s Exchange sold 22 acres to the City of Half Moon Bay for $3.1 million.  That’s $155,000 per acre.

•  In the Yamagiwa lawsuit against the City of Half Moon Bay, Judge Walker’s decision awarded Yamagiwa $38 million for 24 acres.  That’s $1.6 million per acre – 1.6 million!

Judge Walker’s decision seems out of proportion to any sense of reality.  Land values aren’t rising that fast.

Gael Erickson
P.O. Box 2905
El Granada, CA 94018

Two Midcoast tsunami sirens will be tested as they go online Thursday, February 28.  The sirens are located in El Granada and Princeton.  Each sirens will be tested for 15 seconds as the siren technicians from Hormann America complete the final installation process.  Hormann America could not provide a more definite time schedule for the tests.

Future siren tests will be conducted on the first Wednesday of each month at 10:00 a.m.  During regular monthly tests, the sirens will all sound simultaneously for 15 seconds.

The tsunami warning signal is a steady siren sound for 3 minutes.  If this should occur, residents are urged to tune their radios to the local Emergency Alert Station, KCBS 740 AM for official news and instructions.

Pacifica will also have its first two tsunami sirens connected this week with a similar 15 second installation test.  Pacifica will conduct its first regular monthly test next Wednesday, March 5 at 10:00 a.m., at which time both sirens, located at Rockaway Beach and Sharp Park, will sound for 15 seconds.

For more information, please contact the San Mateo County Office of Emergency Services at 363-4790.

Submitted by Jim Asche, Emergency Planner, San Mateo County OES.

There is a need for the tax-paying homeowner/residents in the Midcoast & HMB to put a stop to active attacks on the Coastside’s greenbelt/open space areas, now.

For instance, the Harbor District is attempting to sell areas of Burnham Buffer Strip in El Granada Zoned Community Open Space Conservation & is rural Land. This is wrong - it is a public greenbelt/open space area that is there by law to separate El Granada from SR1. The State Lands Commission has determined that the Harbor District manage it not, play real estate games with it. 

The Mirada Surf East greenbelt/open space that is there to separate one developed area (El Granada) from another (Miramar) & El Granada from SR1 which is RM/CZ & also rural land is also under attack.
This is the County’s urbanized Park/Rec Plan that threatens this treasured Greenbelt/Open Space Entity.
http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/vgn/images/portal/cit_609/5/41/1051973884Midcoast%20Parks%20Action%20Plan_new%20pics.pdf
The placement of a "Community Center" & Active Sports Fields would be totally inappropriate to put inside the Mirada Surf East Greenbelt/Open Space and a County Scenic Corridor with Riparian/Wetland/ESHA areas & rural land and a critical component of the Historic Burnham Street Plan and also the Mid-Coast’s Open Space Element that the County has no mention of in their fraudulent, exploitive "LCP Update" where development including Water/Sewer Infrastructure is prohibited.

County Supervisor Rich Gordon will discuss landslide mitigation on Jan 28 at 7pm at La Honda Elementary School. The county is proposing the La Honda community pay for about $3 million of the cost and 536 parcel owners will pay $5,600 per parcel and 13 parcel owners close to the slide will pay around $11,000. If the voters reject this in April, Gordon’s office says it is not clear what will happen.

The Cuesta La Honda Guild has posted a brief paper at the post office describing the situation and a map showing which parcels are part of the assessment district to pay for the landslide mitigation.

Supervisor Gordon’s office would like to address the following questions:

 

• Who should pay for the landslide mitigation?

 

• What will happen to La Honda if it is not fixed and the slide continues?

 

• Who should negotiate with the County?