Date: July 31, 2002
To: Mr. Patrick Miller, Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District
From: Oscar Braun, Half Moon Bay Coastside Foundation
Re: Comments/Questions: San Mateo County Coastal Area Annexation Service Plan/Draft EIR
Description of
Services to be Extended to the Coastal Annexation Area (Affected Territory)
The District’s mission is:
“To acquire and preserve a regional greenbelt
of open space land in perpetuity; protect and restore the natural
environment; and provide opportunities for ecologically sensitive public
enjoyment and education.” (adopted by MROSD Board of Directors, March 10,1999)
Description of the Coastal Annexation Area
The approximately 218 plus square miles that comprise the
San Mateo County Coastal Zone are governed by the California Coastal Act and
the San Mateo County Local Coastal Program (LCP).
The Urban coastal zone area is
made up of the City of Half Moon Bay, Princeton, El Granada, Moss Beach and
Montara and constitutes less than the 7%
of the entire coastal zone area. The Coastal Act and the voter approved LCP
requires that the maximum amount of development be concentrated within the
urban coastal zone corridor.
The Rural Lands coastal area constitutes the remaining 93% of the proposed MROSD Coastal
Annexation Area.
·
Over 98% of the Rural Lands communities are
undeveloped as of January 2000.
·
The voter approved 1980
LCP allows a maximum of 33 housing units built per year.
·
Since 1980, County build
out records show less than 4 houses per year built to date.
·
The Rural Lands
communities are at their lowest level of density sense the year 1850.
·
It will take over 750
years to fulfill the current smart growth 1980 LCP Rural Lands area community
build out schedule.
·
The San Mateo County
Coastal Rural Lands area is a living and
vibrant Community with over 98% of
the Rural Lands either in agriculture
or undeveloped. The Rural Lands communities currently border MROSD’s “Urban
Open Space Greenbelt” to the east.
·
The residents/voters of
the Rural Lands voted 56% against the MROSD annexation.
·
The CAC Coastal
Communities representatives have
agreed to support MROSD only if the
District divest and forfeits it’s statutory power of eminent domain for ever in
the proposed Coastal Annexation Area. Eminent Domain powers are granted by the
State of California to special districts such as MROSD and can only be nullified or rescinded by an act of the State Legislature. The current MROSD Board of Directors does
not have the legal authority to prohibit
future MROSD Boards from changing “policies” regarding eminent domain or
everything else. There is in fact no such thing as a “Permanent Policies”
doctrine that MROSD can enforce under State law.
·
The highest priority for
development under the Coastal Act and LCP is “Visitor Service Facilities”.
·
The Coastal Act’s
requires that the County “provide
maximum access to and along the coastal zone and maximize recreational opportunities” for all Californians.
Comments and Questions on the Coastal Annexation Area
Service Plan
·
Will MROSD forfeit their
power of Eminent Domain via the State Legislature?
·
Now that the
“Anti-Coastal Community Coalition” of the Sierra Club, Committee for Green
Foothills, Peninsula Open Space Trust and MROSD have shamelessly and
successfully ganged up on the tiny
order of Russian Nuns does the District really believe they and their Coalition
partners have any credibility remaining with the Rural Lands communities and
property owners?
·
Skyline area resident
Cheryl Ditachi submitted a $3.5 million bid for the Nun’s property in order to build a family home and pay real
estate taxes of over $50,000 a year for the privilege. How much property tax
will MROSD and POST pay in real estate taxes on “all” their holdings to support
rural coastal community services in the propose annexation area?
·
How much tax for fire,
sheriff and emergency services will the District contribute?
·
How much tax for our
rural schools, roads ,water and sewer systems will MROSD and POST pay ?
·
Last summer a lightning
caused fire burned for two days inside the MROSD’s Purisima Redwood Preserve
before I reported it to the HMB Fire District and CDF. MROSD had only two small pick up trucks with
four staff personnel to fight the fire. MROSD did not know about the fire until CDF
notified them and had no water to fight the fire. Please disclose MROSD current fire fighting assets in detail that
the District has to protect their land holdings as of January 2000? Is the
District prepared to protect another
400 hundred square miles of watershed with their current fire fighting
resources?
·
MROSD Coalition partner
POST recently purchased another $40 plus million of coastal rural lands. Their
purchase removes over 50 desperately needed family home sites and eliminates 6
units from a small B&B (aka Visitor Service Facility). All the properties were compliant with the
rural community development elements of the Local Coastal Program. San Mateo County and the Rural Lands
communities have lost annually an additional
$1 million in real estate taxes
for support of vital coastal community infrastructure and visitor
services. Isn’t MROSD and POST mission
and policies of NO orderly growth and development of essential elements to the
social, fiscal and economic well-being of the Rural Lands communities in direct conflict with the spirit and intent
of the San Mateo County Local Coastal Program and the Coastal Act?
·
What happens to
agricultural parcels tax paid under the
Williamson Act when MROSD purchases the property?
·
Will the District assume
full responsibility and liability in nuisance for any pollutants emanating from
leaking oil strip wells and the unlicensed illegal landfills currently located
on Peninsula Open Space Trust coastal lands holdings that are discharging
pollutants into steel head streams and sensitive endangered species habitat?
·
What dollar amount is
the MROSD prepared to spend on the clean up and rehabilitation of their
polluted lands and their partner POST open space properties?
·
Will the District comply
with State Water Resources Control Board Water Quality Order No. 97-03 and
apply for a NPDES Category 5 Discharger permit for the unlicensed landfills
on POST lands?
·
Will the propose Coastal
Annex Area have their own Rural Lands community elected Director on the MROSD Board of
Directors? Or will the annexed area be
absorbed into the current Districts wards?
·
Will the Coastal Annex
Area residents vote on a new parcel tax separately? Or will the 3,500 Coastal
Rural Lands resident voters be added to
the entire 650,000 Urban District taxpayers?
·
Will all MROSD residents
taxpayers have the same parcel tax
rate? What percentage of the coastal tax revenues will be spent within the
coastal zone? Does Proposition 13 apply to the MROSD tax rate?
·
How much revenue will
MROSD contribute to the coastal County Park and Recreation Dept.? How much for
coastal State Parks? Coastal Urban
parks and trails?
·
How will MROSD promote a
policy of orderly “Growth” and “Development” as essential elements to the
social, fiscal, and economic well-being of the proposed Coastal Rural Lands
Communities?
·
How does MROSD promote
in-fill and smart growth within their Urban boundaries to prevent sprawl into
the surrounding rural agricultural areas ?
·
How does MROSD and POST
buying up existing family residentially
zoned parcels in the rural coastal zone support the rural coastal communities
and farm families need for housing
stocks? Doesn’t the price of rural
homes go up as the supply is reduced?
How does the community at large benefit from higher home prices? How does this benefit our farm labor
families, teachers, police and firemen?
·
How does MROSD narrow
mission focus of “OPEN SPACE” comply with the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA) mandated principle of
“ecological balance” and requiring at least one “ reasonable and
feasible alternatives ” to all proposed development?
Thank you for inviting and
offering our Foundation the opportunity to collaborate, comment and asked
questions about MROSD proposed annexation of the San Mateo County Coastal Zone.
We would appreciate a written response to our comments and questions.