Letter: Speak up about County’s Midcoast plan
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Committee for Green Foothills is asking people to speak up to the Board of Supervisors about their plan for the Midcoast at their upcoming meeting in Half Moon Bay on Tuesday, December 6 from 2pm to 5pm. I’m reprinting their letter here because they’ve done as good a job as I could of laying out the issues and what you need to do.
The recommendations aren’t radical. They want the Supervisors to follow the recommendations of their Planning Commission: a 1% growth rate, keeping development within the bounds of our infrastructure, and preservation of the Devil’s Slide Bypass right-of-way as open space.
If you can’t come to the meeting and can’t send a letter by today, please email your letters to me (or attach them as a comment on this story with your name and address). To send email, click on "Email Barry Parr" on the left-hand navigation bar. I will hand-deliver your letters to the meeting on Tuesday.
Dear Friends,
As many of you know, the state’s Coastal Act is designed to protect our coastal resources. The Act is implemented locally through Local Coastal Programs, which promote the protection of natural resources and good land use throughout the coastal zone.
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors has proposed some updates for the Local Coastal Program (LCP) for the Midcoast (El Granada, Miramar, Moss Beach, and Montara) that would weaken environmental protections in this area and promote intensive growth.
Please help speak up for coastal protections — attend the hearing next Tuesday, December 6, or write to the Board of Supervisors by this Friday.
What’s happening
The Supervisors’ proposed plan would bring large and unsustainable growth to the Midcoast and damage our fragile coastal resources. Water and sewer capacity in this region is already taxed. Transportation is problematic and getting worse.
Their proposal would, among other things, allow the addition of 3000-3400 housing units to the some 3700 existing units, and set annual growth limits at 2% — double that of neighboring communities. Importantly, their plan also fails to deal with the troublesome problem of substandard lots, and proposes a 5-7 year delay in dealing with protections for the unused Devil’s Slide Bypass Right-of-Way property, a popular and heavily-used open space area.
What you can do
Instead of the Supervisors’ plan, CGF supports most of the recommendations of the County Planning Commission. For details, visit our website.
Tell the Supervisors to listen to the advice of the Planning Commission and the Midcoast Community Council — the groups that spent years hearing from citizens and making recommendations for a viable Local Coastal Program that would adequately protect coastal resources.
1. Attend the hearing
We know that the real estate and construction lobbyists will be there in force: stand up for coastal protections!
Tuesday, December 6, 2005, 2-5pm
Ted Adcock Center
535 Kelly Avenue, Half Moon Bay
2. Write to the Supervisors
Ask the San Mateo County Supervisors to ensure that the LCP is based on the Coastal Act and protects the Midcoast.
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
Board President Rich Gordon
Members Mark Church, Jerry Hill, Rose Jacobs Gibson and Adrienne Tissier
400 County Center
Redwood City, 94063
Subject: Midcoast LCP review
Fax 650-599-1027
Time is short: please write to the Supervisors by this Friday, December 2.
Points to make before the Board or in your letter:
Ask the Supervisors to revise the LCP as recommended by the San Mateo County Planning Commission, specifically:
- Set a 1% growth rate to be consistent with that of Half Moon Bay and Pacifica
- Require the merger of substandard lots to make them compatible with the rest of the community, and to ensure that any development that occurs on them will not overtax the water, sewer, and transportation resources
- Move forward now with the surplus Devil’s Slide Bypass Right-of-Way property to ensure the future use of this land (once destined to be a freeway) as a recreational trail.
Please send a copy of your message to CGF so we can track our efforts on this issue: fax 650-968-8431 or email:
For background and more information on the update of the Midcoast LCP, to read CGF’s letters to the County on this issue, and to learn more about Local Coastal Programs, visit our website: http://www.greenfoothills.org/LCP
Please speak up to preserve our coastal resources. Your voice does make a difference!
Many thanks,
The folks at Committee for Green Foothills
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