The Rockaway Quarry, the centerpiece of a development battle in 2008, has been transferred from Peebles Corp to an affiliate of its lender, reports Julia Scott in the County Times.

The 87-acre Rockaway Quarry has been sold to an unidentified affiliate of Ambit Funding LLC, a Pennsylvania-based company that originally loaned former quarry owner The Peebles Corp. $16 million to purchase and develop the property, according to an announcement by Peebles. Peebles bought the quarry for $7.5 million in 2005 from another company that had tried and failed to build a mixed-use housing and retail development in that location.

Florida-based Peebles likewise failed to convince a majority of Pacifica voters in 2008 of the value of its proposed 355-unit mixed housing plan, which would also have included a luxury hotel and ample retail space — a new downtown along Highway 1, steps away from the ocean and several favorite beaches. [...]

Unfortunately, Rockaway Quarry was not a hot ticket among commercial developers in the sliding economy. [Peebles Corp. Senior Vice President Daniel] Grimm said it had three or four offers, all of which were far below the $25 million his company was seeking. The quarry was most recently appraised at $85 million. "We were unable to sell it for a price to satisfy both parties, so we had to have another discussion," Grimm said. "We reverted back to our positions, which was a dispute, and agreed to sell it to an affiliate of the lender. ... I know they gave us a good deal, so we took it."

The terms of the transfer, and Ambit’s plans for the property, are unknown.

Please take ten minutes to join us in an effort that we think can save the State of California from budget gridlock and cuts to essential services, and restore Democracy to California.  The California Democracy Act, a volunteer, grassroots effort, that is not backed by any special interest money whatsoever, is fourteen words long; probably the shortest initiative petition in state history:

"All legislative actions on revenue and budget must be determined by a majority vote."

This simple initiative would end the 2/3 rule that has left the state in the hands of a minority of legislators who have prevented the government from doing what it was created to do: protecting and empowering its resident. This has resulted in a tyranny of the minority.

Here’s what you can do to help:

Download the petition and print it (do not shrink or enlarge it; print it only at 100%, single sided, on white, 8.5" X 11" paper only) sign the petition and send it to the campaign (instructions provided) send the petition to your friends, urging them to support this measure. 

We must collect over a million signatures by April 5, and we need everyone’s help.

If you’ve ever thought you’d be interested in serving on the Grand Jury, now’s your chance. Those who’ve served tell us it’s a very rewarding experience, and we could use more Coastsiders on the panel.

The county is now accepting applications for service on the 2010-2011 Grand Jury. The deadline for application is April 23. The grand jury year begins July 1.

Any resident of San Mateo County for more than one year who is a citizen of the United States, 18 years of age or older, of ordinary intelligence, sound judgment and good character, with sufficient knowledge of the English language is eligible for selection. Elected public officials are not eligible. The Court strives to obtain a cross section of the county population. After the completion of an interview process by Joseph E. Bergeron, jurors will be selected through a random draw.

Application forms can be obtained by writing Grand Jury Clerk, Court Executive Office, 400 County Center, Redwood City, CA 94063 or telephoning (650) 599-1200.

Kidd Jordan, New Orleans master of free improvisation, will be at the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society with his quartet, featuring Eddie Gale-trumpet, William Parker-bass, and Warren Smith-drums. Jordan is a master of the free improvisation tradition, one of a handful of saxophonists of his generation to absorb the breakthroughs of his contemporaries Coltrane and Ornette Coleman. “A quiet genteel man, Kidd has always remained faithful to the sounds in his soul. The honesty in his playing is only matched by a tone that has rarely been heard in the history of his instrument.”

March 7, 2010 – 4:30, $30
Reservations: [email protected]

Douglas Beach House on Miramar Beach
307 Mirada Road, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
650 726-4143, www.bachddsoc.org

Residents of a mobile home park are the most recent Pacificans to be threatened by the erosion of wave-battered cliffs, reports Julia Scott in the County Times.

The waves took out a 3-foot-wide, 20-foot-long section of blufftop and shattered the living room windows of at least one home facing the ocean at Pacific Skies Estates, a mobile home community perched precariously near the edge of the cliff less than a mile south of the apartment building that was evacuated in mid-December due to cliff erosion.

Only four of the 12 homes that face the ocean across a narrow cliffside road are occupied, said mobile home park manager Steve Kester. He closed the road and boarded up the west-facing windows of many of the homes on Monday, but said residents should have nothing to fear despite Sunday’s events. [...]

Some of the mobile homes now have no more than 17 feet between their backyards and a sheer drop to the ocean. But Doug Rider, Pacifica’s chief building official, said he isn’t looking at evacuating them.

To all former CFMC patients - HMB Phoenix Project has been given court-ordered guardianship of the remaining 34,000 patient medical records from the bankrupt clinic, in order to facilitate distribution of as many as possible before the August destruction date. We are open Sundays only, from now till August, 10am-4pm, at the new practice, Purisima Family Medicine, 575 Kelly Ave, corner of Church St, which has generously allowed us to use their office as the distribution site. No records are kept there during the week, so please do not disturb the staff - contact us through the website, http://hmbphoenix.org/latestinfo.php.

The easiest method is to email names and birthdates to me at [email protected] - I can look them up and let you know when they’ll be available for pickup, usually within a week. Or you can download a release form, put all the family’s names on it, and fax it to me at 318-3634. This is a free service to the community, however a small voluntary contribution of $5 per patient will help us cover our expenses and continue the process. Please help spread the word!

Regards,

Grant Weiss, MD

An attorney representing the Committee for Green Foothills has put the county on notice that Big Wave’s plan for story poles is inadequate [pdf]. The developer plans to erect poles showing less than half the actual square footage of the project.

On February 17, Camille Leung, county Project Planner wrote, "per the applicant, poles will go up for the wellness center and storage building and the northern office building (closest to mobile home park). No poles will go up for the communication building." 

Big Wave is requesting a permit to build four office buildings, no just one. The CGF believes that the proposed story poles would not meet the developer’s and the county’s obligations under the California Environmental Quality Act.

CGF’s attorney notes that this would not accurately represent the impact of the project. They go on to note that the California Environmental Quality Act requires applicants to provide "an adequate, accurate analysis of a project’s aesthetic impacts…. a paramount consideration is the right of the public be informed in such a way that it can intelligently weigh the environmental consequences of any contemplated action and have an appropriate voice in the formulation of any decision."

The placement of story poles has been delayed because the developer has not yet updated the project’s Environmental Impact Report.

CORRECTION: The committee plans to continue to make donations to nonprofits in the next year.  However, the additional grant application process will not be conducted in 2010.

The Half Moon Bay Beautification Committee has donated $63,000 to Coastside nonprofit organizations from the proceeds of the Pumpkin Festival. This amount is down for the third year in a row.

However, for the first time in many years, the Committee will not accept applications for additional grants in 2010.  According to Tim Beeman of Miramar Events, who manages the festival for the Committee, "Although the plan is to conduct the grant application process again next year, we won’t know for certain until this time next year." Beeman says that sponsorships were off by 15% in 2009 and that the cost of producing the event goes up every year. He says that they hope to accept additional grant applications in 2011.

He noted that Coastside nonprofits take in $400,000 to $500,000 in net income from booths at the event. He knows this because they pay 10% of their net to the festival. Additionally, many groups make money from selling parking, which is not included in that number.

Follow the jump to see the details on this year’s donations.

MCTV carried no coverage of Saturday’s tsunami advisory, despite the fact that it led to the closing of the harbor and all Coastside beaches by the Harbor District and the County Sheriff. This was noted by Darin Boville on Montara Fog yesterday.

I sent MCTV attorney and spokesman Mike Day a question about whether MCTV covered the tsunami and he issued the following statement.

In response to your inquiry, we have checked and MCTV received no email or phone call notification from anyone at San Mateo County regarding the tsunami warning Saturday morning.  You are correct that Mr. Boville made no effort to contact MCTV before publishing his article criticizing MCTV.  We have indicated in the past that MCTV can serve as a means to transmit public safety information to the community, and we have placed messages on the message channel and shown public service programming on specific topics at the request of the County and other governmental agencies.  However, if we do not receive any communication from the governmental agencies, it is obviously not possible for MCTV to disseminate such information, particularly when it is time sensitive information.  Mr. Boville’s uninformed and unfair criticism does not take into account the fact that MCTV has always made an effort to cooperate with the County and City to inform the community about public safety issues and other important public matters in addition to the regularly scheduled meetings we cablecast—when we have been asked to do so. [emphasis added]

The entire Coastside was buzzing about this event on Saturday. I was stopped by a couple of readers in downtown Half Moon Bay that morning asking about the tsunami. MCTV is the only Coastside media outlet that was not covering the tsunami. In addition to Coastsider, Montara Fog and the Review issued bulletins throughout the day. Coastsider alone received 2,400 visits on Saturday—about five times our typical Saturday traffic.

If, as Mr. Day says, "MCTV can serve as a means to transmit public safety information…", they should to be prepared to do just that in an emergency and not wait for the authorities to give them a call.

NOTE: The reason for the communication breakdown between MCTV and the county has been updated in the comments.

Is your road difficult to navigate during winter rains?  Are the pot holes and ruts taking a toll on your car? The San Mateo County Resource Conservation District (RCD) is offering a free workshop, a field tour (if weather permits), and information on funding assistance for rural road improvements. 

The workshop will help rural road residents understand the basics of erosion and drainage, recognize the early signs of road failure, find funding and technical assistance for improvements, and get tips on creating a road association and working with neighbors to improve private roads
 
Saturday, March 6: noon to 2
2pm Presentations
4pm Site visit
 
Gazos Grill,
5720 Cabrillo Highway/Rte. 1
(just south of Pigeon Point Lighthouse)
 
RSVPs: Ellen Gartside 650.712.7765 or [email protected]