Editorial: Does the Chronicle’s editorial board read the Chronicle?

The editorial in today’s Chronicle blames slow-growth policies for the Yamagiwa decision, leading with "The taxpayers of Half Moon Bay may find out that slow-growth policies can come with a cost."

Somehow the Chronicle missed the facts of the case, as reported by the, um, San Francisco Chronicle:

Walker ruled that the city had created the wetlands - and damaged the property - by botching a storm drain project and by allowing dirt to be removed for a nearby housing development. Its wetlands status meant the plot could not be developed under state coastal regulation.

The simple fable that environmentalists are responsible for the Yamagiwa decision is very appealing. It allows the assignment of blame, it sounds like poetic justice, and fits with a popular theme in right-wing radio: that property owners have lost their rights to busybodies. And you, sir, are no longer safe in your own home, author of your own fate, or master of your domain.