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`Last
big hurdle' for tunnels
RANCH
OWNER SEEKS TO BLOCK PLAN TO BYPASS DEVILS
SLIDE
By
Thaai Walker
Mercury
News
For
all of its beauty, the breathtaking drive along Devils Slide has
often been a journey through hell. The hairpin turns on the narrow
coastal stretch of Highway 1 are unnerving enough. But it's the
landslides and rocks tumbling down the mountainside that have caused
motorists the greatest anxiety for more than 60
years.
This
month, Caltrans expects a
San
Mateo
County
commission to approve the last major permit needed for construction
of twin 4,000-foot-long tunnels. With that final hurdle removed, the
project could be under way as early as fall, and by 2009 Devils
Slide would be left to bicyclists and
hikers.
But not
if Oscar Braun has anything to say about
it.
``You're
talking to the last big hurdle,'' said Braun, the 60-year-old owner
of a sprawling multimillion-dollar ranch in the hills high above
Half Moon Bay, who vows to do his best to stop the
tunnels.
For 25
years, environmental groups such as the Committee for Green
Foothills and the Sierra Club waged war against Caltrans over its
plan to shoot a highway bypass over pristine peaks and across a
verdant valley where horses graze. They finally forced Caltrans to
accept their alternative: a tunnel, which
San
Mateo
County voters
approved in 1996. One tunnel evolved into
two.
Caltrans
officials and environmentalists have worked together since then and
expect the San Mateo County Coastal Commission to approve the
coastal development permit when it comes up for a scheduled review
this month.
The total
project is expected to cost $270 million, which will come primarily
from federal emergency relief funds. It's thought the tunnels could
open by 2009.
Braun has
fought the tunnel plan with appeals and a lawsuit ever since
San
Mateo
County voters
approved it. He opposes the project because he doesn't believe it
would be the least expensive, least environmentally damaging
alternative. He'll appeal again if the permit is granted this month,
he says. And if that doesn't stop the project, he's sure a new
lawsuit he's planning to file against an array of organizations,
will.
Caltrans
has built into its scheduled fall groundbreaking the time to resolve
Braun's anticipated appeals, and anticipates that he may
sue.
``We
always know there's going to be folks who will challenge it,'' said
Caltrans project manager Skip Sowko, who has seen most of the
battles up close, having worked on Devils Slide since
1981.
The
current fight is only one of many times Braun has tangled with the
county and environmentalists. He sued to stop plans to bring 140,000
acres of coastal rural land under the jurisdiction of the
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in 2003, and when a
wildlife sanctuary moved into his
Higgins
Canyon
neighborhood a few years ago, he sued, but the case was
dismissed.
``I don't
know what his problem is,'' said San Mateo County Supervisor Rich
Gordon. ``There's hardly a thing that folks talk about doing on the
coast that he doesn't oppose or
appeal.''
Braun
waged his first legal battle in the 1980s, when a breach-of-contract
suit he filed against his employer, Johnson & Johnson, netted
him millions. He considers himself a whistle-blower, fighting for
the protection of the coast and landowner rights against the
so-called collective rights of the greater
community.
He
believes certain environmental groups use ``eco-terrorism'' tactics
to acquire huge swaths of land to exploit and control the natural
resources. He accuses them of colluding with the
county.
``Their
motivation is as old as biblical times,'' said Braun, who in 1995
joined with a small group of coastal landowners to explore the idea
of seceding from the county, and last year initiated an effort to
form a new town by taking over open space
land.
``It has
to do with power. It has to do with corruption. It has to do with
greed.''
Lennie
Roberts, the legislative advocate for the Committee for Green
Foothills, said she thought construction on the tunnels would begin
in 1997, the year after voters approved the
plan.
Instead,
the years since have been filled with environmental reviews, design
studies, permit hearings and Braun's challenges, which she said have
been baseless.
``He's
never stopped anything, he's never won in court, he hasn't gotten
very far,'' said Roberts, who in the 1960s evolved from a Ladera
homemaker into one of the most influential environmental activists
in San
Mateo
County.
``But
Caltrans has been very gun-shy because of all of his threats and
initial actions,'' Roberts said. ``It's slowed everything
down.''
Roberts
and Braun agree that the hostilities between them began in 1990..
Roberts has long reviewed proposed coastal development permits for
her group in an effort to ensure compliance with environmental
protection guidelines. She told Braun the ridge top he had selected
to build his dream house was inappropriate because it would spoil
the scenic vista. He eventually built the house at a lower spot on
the hill.
``He
said, `I'm very litigious, don't get in my way,' '' Roberts
recalled. ``The board of supervisors ended up making him move the
house off the ridge top. I think ever since then he's had it in for
us.''
Braun
denied using those words and said he hasn't been the instigator in
the 14 years of animosity among him, the county and various
environmental groups.
``They
brought the battle to me,'' Braun said from his Spanish-style home,
which he also refers to as ``the
compound.''
The next
step in forestalling the Devils Slide tunnels, he said, is his plan
to file a civil RICO lawsuit, for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act, a federal strategy created in the 1970s to take
down criminal enterprises. Braun plans to aim the suit at a number
of open space non-profit organizations, county officials and
employees, and environmental activists, arguing that there is a
pattern of corruption on the coast.
``The
lawsuit will stop a whole lot of activity, including Devils Slide,''
he said, adding that he believes the suit will disqualify the county
from receiving federal money for the project. ``These are not hollow
accusations. This is just as much Oscar Braun's last stand as
anything else. This is going to be the big battle. I plan on taking
everything they've got.''
The
battle-hardened tunnel advocates say they're
ready.
``We sued
and were successful in stopping the bypass,'' Roberts said. ``He
hasn't been successful in stopping the tunnel yet. And we don't
expect him to be.''
Contact
Thaai Walker at twalker@mercurynews.com or
(510) 790-7316.
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