The Half Moon Bay reported incorrectly in last week’s interview with David Iverson that the League for Coastside Protection evolved from Neighbors’ Alliance.  I would like to clear up a few of the articles misconceptions and add some history to the January 3, 2007 article.   

Neighbors’ Alliance was primarily founded to oppose the development of North Wavecrest so naturally its membership was composed of people from Arleta Park and Alsace Lorraine.  The rest of the Coastside was not included in the Neighbors’ Alliance.  Realizing the entire Coastside needed an opportunity to voice their concerns on the decision making policies of both the Midcoast and the city of HMB, the Coastal Alliance came into being, none of the founders being members of Neighbor’s Alliance.  This new organization was formed to include the entire Coastside in all political and environmental deliberations and actions but the members were all separate organizations making voting difficult under one umbrella.

About this time, David Iverson started leaning towards developing North Wavecrest, putting the middle school there and essentially changing the philosophy and mission statements of this group.  Speaking as one of the former Vice-Presidents of Neighbors’ Alliance, the foundation of this organization’s mission statement made a complete, unilateral turn around. So, it is a correct statement by the Review to say that the Alliance gave a lot of assistance to the increase of membership in organizations like The League for Coastside Protection which better reflected our vision. The Neighbors’ Alliance fell into inactivity a long time ago due to the course it took, specifically around the ongoing Wavecrest issue.  

According to the article, Mr. Iverson concludes that we activists no longer need Political Action Committees in place or "legal actions or measures" since there no longer are any growth issues on the Coastside.  One can conclude then that we have no wetland debates, all endangered species are protected, zero lawsuits are pending and there are no more questions on land use issues.  One could also interpret these statements that the citizens of Half Moon Bay all vote the same way and the League for Coastside Protection doesn’t have to ensure that the Coastal Act is upheld.  Measure D did get the growth rate down to 1%, but since it hasn’t been implemented yet, there is no basis for any type of activism shift. as is suggested. It is crucial that the Measure D growth limit be established. The California Coastal Commission needs watchdog organizations to help them be aware of and understand local land use policies and be informed when voters pass measures which sit unheeded for years.  Coastside activists should still continue to be ever vigilant of large developments and we will always require fundraising efforts to support these endeavors.

There are many land use issues outstanding on the Coastside in which the League for Coastside Protection is actively involved. Front page news includes Wavecrest, bluff-top antiquated subdivisions, Princeton’s Big Wave project, The Ailanto Property Settlement Agreement, Beachwood, the Community Park, The Boys’ and Girls’ Club and 92/Main Street Improvement.  There is always a lot of work ahead of us to maintain the character of our Coastside so in reality, no era ended at all, just the demise of an organization that changed its politics midstream.  It remains clear that growth related issues are not a thing of the past. 

Even though many people were saddened and disappointed by David Iverson’s ideological change, he is recognized and applauded for all the good achievements he helped accomplish prior to the changing of his politics. I think I can speak for the many people who moved their membership from the Alliance to the League for Coastside Protection that we prefer to remember the times when he was with us.

Dana M. Kimsey
Half Moon Bay`

The San Mateo County Superior Court is holding a public meeting to discuss its strategic planning process on January 23, at the Adcock Center in Half Moon Bay at 7 pm.

The court is in the process of revising its strategic plan.  The current plan contains a number of services and programs that have been successfully launched - including improving services for jurors, EZLegalFile, Court in the Schools Day, Community Law Night, Bridges Day Treatment and the new Juvenile Youth Services Center.

You can also provide feedback to the court on juror services, court services, traffic, and
other areas using a form on its Web page.

The county Parks Department will hold a series of meetings on the Midcoast to discuss the development of an implementation plan for Midcoast parks.

At the meetings, the county will be looking for two members from each Midcoast community (Montara, Moss Beach, Princeton, and El Granada) to service on the planning committee, which will also include representatives from Half Moon Bay Parks & Recreation Commission, Cabrillo Unified School District, Midcoast Community Council, and Midcoast Parklands.  The county hopes to have the planning team established by the end of January.

The planning team will "help synthesize public input and prepare for public meetings".  The public meetings will begin in February, completing by July a prioritized implementation plan, an implementation organization, and funding sources.

In October 2002, the San Mateo County Parks Department completed a Mid-Coast Recreational Needs Assessment. 

On December 18, 2006, San Mateo County Parks Department held a public meeting at Seton Hospital to outline a process for completing an implementation plan to provide for the Midcoast’s recreational needs. [PowerPoint presentation and meeting notes from County]

Coastsiders with questions can contact Senior Park Planner Sam Herzberg at 650/363-1823.

Moss Beach
January 11, 2007
7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Seton Medical Center, Fireside Room, 600 Marine Blvd., Moss Beach

Montara
January 16, 2007
7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Seton Medical Center, Fireside Room, 600 Marine Blvd., Moss Beach

El Granada
January 17, 2007
7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
El Granada Elementary School, Multipurpose Room, 400 Santiago Street, El Granada

Miramar/Princeton
January 29, 2007
7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Harbor House Conference Room, 107 Broadway, Princeton-by-the-Sea

The Montara Water and Sanitary District (MWSD) is looking to raise their rates over the next three years.  MWSD will hold a public hearing Thursday, February 15 at 7:30pm to consider the matter.

The district wants to raise basic connection charges 22.5% and the price of water from 17% for the the first 19 hundred cubic feet to 29% for 20 or more hundred cubic feet.  According to the district, 79% of its customers use less than 19 hundred cubic feet per month.  The rate increases would not take effect immediately, but would be the maximum total increases over the next three years.

The district says it needs the increase to pay for capital improvements, including two new water tanks that are more earthquake resistant and higher capacity, and improvements in water treatment facilities to meet state and federal requirements.

The proposed increase cannot take effect if the owners of a majority of parcels receiving water from the district file written protests. Property owners can submit written protests, which must include their property address or parcel number, to:

MWSD
PO Box 370131
Montara, CA 94037

The meeting will be at the district’s headquarters at 8888 Cabrillo Highway, next to the Pt. Montara Lighthouse and Hostel.

UPDATE:  The deadline for written protests is the date of the public hearing: February 15.

Once again, two people exhaled at the same time, and the power went out again on the dark side of Montara.  For those of you outside the immediate area, the dark side of Montara is anything east of Birch Street, extending almost as far as Etheldore Street in Moss Beach.  My wife has lived here for over 30 years, and she says its always been like this.  The power goes out between 4 and 12 times every season, often for no discernable reason.  We can look across the lots in front of us, and one block to the east on Birch Street, the power is ALWAYS on when ours is out.

So far, it’s been out four times this season, including about 22 out of 26 hours from 6:15PM on Tuesday, December 26 to 10:00 PM December 27.  Tonight, January 3, it went out for 45 minutes, with no sign of rain or wind anywhere around this home.

I’d like to know more about what the problem is.  Is it always the same place, or are there multiple places around the wooded areas where branches keep knocking the trees down?

I read other stories from earlier in the year about hearings being held, and nothing being done, as usual.  I wrote a letter to the PUC after the Dec 26-27 fiasco, but what else can we do?

Is there anyone in the community with the energy to take this on?  I’ve been working on the stormwater drainage problem, and that’s as much as I can or want to take on.

Is there enough community will to raise enough hell to get somebody’s attention?  Or do we each head to Home Depot, each get a generator, and each add our little bit to global warming?

Stephen Lowens

The state Supreme Court will probably have to decide which old subdivision maps are legal, reports the Chronicle.  For example, one landowner wants to subdivide prime agricultural land in Solano County for houses.

Ferrari, however, claims in an October Superior Court case that he has a detailed drawing that shows his land was subdivided nearly a century ago into roughly 10-acre rectangular parcels. County officials say the map, filed with the county recorder in 1909, has no legal effect.

"Either it’s a real map or it isn’t,’’ said Ferrari, the owner of a Mountain View engineering firm whose family bought the farmland on Abernathy Road as an investment two decades ago. He quit farming it over the last three years because it lost money, he said.

Ferrari’s case could have enormous statewide development implications because the number of so-called antiquated subdivisions or ghost lots shown on historic maps is estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

This case and others in three more counties may have to be eventually decided by the Supreme Court. Some counties don’t accept maps drawn before 1929, about the time counties began to decide land use.  Landowners’ attorneys argue that maps going back to the state’s first subdivision maps laws in 1893 should be valid.

Anthony Campos, 18, was arrested for attempted murder of James Jordan, 19, of Half Moon Bay in front of the Starbucks at Linda Mar Shopping Center at 11:20pm on Thursday, December 28. Jordan was found in his minivan, having been stabbed once, reports the Pacifica Tribune.  Police say it appears to have started as a verbal altercation among several young people.