The California Coastal Commission will consider two huge houses (7,650 and 6,785 square feet) proposed for agricultural land on the Coastside.

Coastal Commission staff has proposed that the floor space of these houses be reduced to 2,500 square feet and that the residential lot be limited to 10,000 square feet.  The goal of these reductions is to keep the prices of agricultural land determined by its value for agriculture and not for its potential as a site for a coastal mansion.  There are extensive reports on these two houses (west side of Bean Hollow Road in Pescadero and 21960 Cabrillo Highway).

The vote is going to be close and all letters must be received at the Commission by 5pm today. However, this is an ongoing issue on the Coastside and this is a good opportunity to educate yourself. The Committee for Green Foothills has been working on this issue with the County for a while and you may want to take a look at their coverage of mega-homes.

Click on the play button in the Quicktime window on the right to see a preview of West Bank Story by Ari Sandel, A musical comedy about the Israeli Palestinian conflict. David is an Israeli soldier.  Fatima is a Palestinian fast food cashier. They are an unlikely couple who fall in love amidst in the middle of a war between their family’s dueling West Bank falafel stands.

The films will run around 98 minutes.  Many of the film makers will be on hand to take part in the post screening discussion.  The films begin 8:00 pm at Community Methodist Sanctuary,  Half Moon Bay, 777 Miramontes, Half Moon Bay.  $6.00 donation per person

Click "read more" to find out about other films to be shown Friday.

The Chronicle looks at the problem of getting FM over Comcast cable from the perspective of Marin and doesn’t offer us a lot of hope.

"There’s relatively little we can do at this point of time,’’ said Martin Nichols, [Marin Telecommunications Agency’s] executive director. "Comcast has pretty much told everyone they are not going to restore FM over cable."

Friday, May 6, turned out to be a perfect day on the Devil’s Slide—sunny, but not too hot. The day started with a bus ride to the groundbreaking site and ended with a party at Half Moon Bay Brewing Company.

The groundbreaking was the reward for years of grueling labor by opponents of a freeway that would have cut through Montara Mountain. The mood of celebration among Coastsiders Friday transcended the artificial nature of the media event. Take a look at tunnel.org if you really want to get some idea of the energy that went into this dream and what the they accomplished. The original Yes on T website is also still online.

I’ve chosen a few pictures that will give you some idea of what Friday was like.

Barry Parr

The groundbreaking took place on state park land, and not at the construction site itself. You could see the actual construction in the background.  The groundbreakers were (right to left) Assemblyman Leland Yee, Caltrans District 4 Director Bijan Sartipi, County Supervisor Rich Gordon, Congressman Tom Lantos, State Senator Jackie Speier, Assemblyman Gene Mullin, and Lennie Roberts.

Barry Parr

This event was made to order for TV.

Barry Parr

There were a lot more dignitaries than tunnel activists at the event.  After the groundbreaking a bunch of the activists delivered a good-natured reminder that it was average citizens who changed Caltrans’s plans for the Coastside.

Click "read more" to see more pictures from the event.

The Half Moon Bay City Council is in the middle of the daunting task of revising the city’s Local Coastal Program. There has been a long series of public meetings of the Planning Commission and the City Council leading up to this moment and the council is now in the process of reviewing the product of all that work.

At the same time, those who oppose the changes have been attending these meetings and continuing to harangue the City Council in opposition to the changes. That’s their right, but you have the right to show your support. The City Council is not hearing from the thousands of Half Moon Bay residents who support their efforts to make Half Moon Bay a better place to live. It’s time to let them know that you support what they’re doing,

The City Council meets on Monday night.  If you live in Half Moon Bay, you should come to the City Council meeting at the Ted Adcock Center. (If you live in Montara or Moss Beach, you should be at the Point Montara Fire Protection District LAFCO meeting at El Granada Elementary.)  Here’s the schedule for the final series of Half Moon Bay LCP update hearings at the Ted Adcock Center:

Monday May 9, 7pm
Tuesday May 17, 7:30pm
Tuesday May 24, 7:30pm

Additional information on the hearing schedule and the source document for the update can be obtained from the City’s website.

The LCP update consists of a set of integrated foundation policies in three basic areas:

• Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas (Chapter 3)
• Development (Chapter 9)
• Public Works (Chapter 10).   

Come to these meetings and show your support for

• The City Council’s efforts to finalize work on the LCP update, which has been 7-plus years in the making.
• The policies in Chapter 3 that will establish a clear distinction between wetlands/habitat areas and other areas such as drainage ditches, so that homeowners’ interests are protected.
• The policies in Chapter 9 that will implement the mandate of the Half Moon Bay voters who overwhelmingly passed Measure D (the 1 percent growth initiative) in 1999.
• The policies in Chapter 10 that require public works and infrastructure projects to be designed and coordinated to ensure "smart growth" for the City of Half Moon Bay.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  I received this letter from a goup of concerned citizens who want to make sure that everyone who possibly can will come the meeting on Monday about the fate of the Point Montara Fire Protection District. I support this effort and encourage you to attend.

It’s important to come to the Community Scoping Session for the Draft Municipal Service Review for the Pt. Montara and Half Moon Bay Fire Protection Districts

The average household in Montara & Moss Beach pays over $800/year in taxes just for fire protection. And your taxes can be raised without your vote.

This is your only local opportunity to share your concerns about the cost, quality and options for emergency and fire protection services here on the coast with the Executive Director of the Local Agency Formation Commission.

Every parcel in the district pays 13% of its property tax dollars for fire service.  We also pay the Measure H parcel tax of $177/year; it can be raised to $250 without your vote.  A home with an assessed value of $500,000 could have taxes for fire services total $900/year.

About two years ago Point Montara Fire District (PMFD) terminated our successful fire services agreement with Half Moon Bay Fire District (HMBFD). Today only 4 1/2 short months remain until HMBFD removes its staff from our fire house in Moss Beach. Yet PMFD has no written plan in place, and no chief, no firefighters or paramedics hired.

The quality of our emergency services is up in the air.

Several years ago, when it became apparent the PMFD was headed for serious problems with its "go-it-alone" attitude, a citizens group banded together.  For years members have attended every PMFD meeting. They’ve asked questions; PMFD refused to answer.  In desperation they petitioned the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) for a Municipal Fire Services Review (MSR) to get answers to their questions. PMFD is still refuses to be accountable to the public.

With a "go-it-alone" district the ever-increasing costs for legal, retirement, training and personnel to cover sick leave and vacation (overtime pay) could bankrupt the district in the next few years.

The MSR reveals that a contract with California Department of Forestry is the most cost effective option to maintain our high level of emergency services.  They would place CDF firefighters in our Moss Beach station. CDF has statewide resources for training, professional management, and legal expertise.

Come hear the report, meet the CDF chief, and get your questions answered. You can download your own copy of the MSR from Coastsider.

LAFCO Community Scoping Session
May 9, Monday, 7:30 p.m.
El Granada School
400 Santiago Avenue
El Granada

Pt. Montara Fire Protection District regular meeting
May 10, Tuesday, 7:30pm
Seton Coastside
Moss Beach

A stolen car, an aggressive solicitor who turns out to be wanted in Kentucky, vandalism, burglary, drunkenness behind the wheel and on the front porch, and an assault on two men and parrot named Mango add up to another week of Coastside crime.  Both the San Mateo Daily Journal and the Mercury News carried stories about the parrot story last week for reasons that continue to elude me.

Click "read more" to see the Sheriff’s report

Despite a limitation of 1% on new housing construction, the number of housing units in Half Moon Bay increased by 2.6% in 2004. The city’s growth rate was surpassed only by that of Colma, the cemetery community north of Pacifica, where 286 new residents in two apartment buildings led to a 21% population increase. The data comes from a new study by the California Department of Finance. This growth rate raises questions about exceptions to the city’s and county’s growth limits.

According to planning director Jack Liebster, there were a couple of reasons the growth rate was so high last year.  The growth limit applies to the authorization to build houses. More houses may become occupied in any one year than were authorized, because they may have been authorized in previous years. Over time, this should average out to 1%.  But the biggest contribution came from the senior housing apartments at Lesley Gardens.

This raises the question of how many exceptions to growth limits should be granted in the city or the county.

This week the Review carries a story on a proposed office complex in Moss Beach, near Princeton, which includes a 24 two-bedroom apartments for developmentally disabled adults. In the issue before that, the Review ran a story on whether caretaker apartments in Princeton should be included in the county’s Coastside growth limit.

ADDENDUM:  Let’s be clear. I favor affordable housing for seniors, developmentally disabled folks, caretakers, inlaws, renters, teachers, and the poor. I strongly support setting aside a share of our growth every year for these purposes.

Today is the groundbreaking for the Devil’s Slide Tunnel and there’s coverage in the Mercury News and Chronicle. This is the culmination of ten years of hard work for tunnel advocates, who can hardly believe it’s happening. The big ceremony is at 2pm.

Of course, if you’ve driven on the Slide this week, you know that the ground has already been broken. The Merc reports that the ceremony isn’t taking place at the southern construction site:

Because it’s not safe for people to stand along the highway, it actually will occur a quarter-mile away from where the tunnel’s south portal will be, said Caltrans spokesman Jeff Weiss, in a small area that will accommodate about 30 people. The shovels will dig into dirt hauled in for the occasion from Half Moon Bay.

We’ll have more Tunnel coverage later today.

Committee for Green Foothills, a local environmental nonprofit organization, has announced a call to artists for an exhibition with an emphasis on the San Mateo County coast.  Nature’s Inspirations:  Celebrating the Arts, a juried exhibition will be held on Sunday, October 2, 2005 at Strawberry Ranch in Half Moon Bay. The exhibition is open to all Bay Area artists; photographs and original landscape paintings only (oil, acrylic, watercolor, mixed media, or pastel; on paper or canvas). Entry fee is $15. Application deadline July 13, 2005.

The Jane Gallagher Award and $250 cash prize will be awarded to an artist whose work honors the places, people and organizations that inspire the protection of open space.  Selected finalists will participate in the October 2 exhibition.

The prospectus is available from the CGF website. For more information, contact Committee for Green Foothills, 650.968.7243, or [email protected]