November 2014 – Friends of the Coastal Trail

Open Space vs. open space

By Rick Hernandez

After a year long process, city staff and consultants presented a hodgepodge of proposals collected in the form of three maps to the General Plan Advisory Committee last week. More than 50 additional citizens, many of them wearing orange in support of open space and bluff tops along the Coastal Trail attended. What the plans lacked in any long term vision, they made up for in getting the conversation started with an engaged audience.

As I listened to folks debate specific details on the maps and express consternation about this or that, I was struck by a major communication issue. The technical experts from over the hill leading the process were speaking a different language than the locals. You see, it turns out there is a major difference between open space and Open Space.

We moved to Half Moon Bay in 2008 because we loved the open space. We walk our kids to school. Nearly every day, we enjoy some part of the Coastal Trail along with stunning views of the Pacific Ocean over the bluff tops west of Highway 1. It turns out that the open space, which is the defining characteristic of our small town, is not actually Open Space, and this is where folks get confused.

While most of the land in city limits is undeveloped, open space. It is NOT in fact Open Space Preserve protected in perpetuity. To the contrary, much of the land west of Highway 1 that contributes so much to our rural aesthetic, wildlife, and erosion control, is technically zoned for development as part of something called a P.U.D, which is ostensibly a sub-division. Despite this designation, owners are effectively blocked from developing it under current land use policies defined in the General Plan and other zoning regulations. Other parcels are zoned as agricultural, regional public recreation, or urban reserve. Collectively, these constitute more than half of the land in town. So before we make any changes, we better make sure we get it right. Here is where something gets lost in translation.

The consultants were excited because in some of these plans, they increased what is technically considered Open Space Reserve. They were being responsive to the community! However, to the horror and confusion of many in the audience looking at these maps, virtually every other piece of undeveloped property is being moved into something that looks like new housing and commercial real estate. A hotel/coffee shop at the west of end of Kelly! Rezoning for Mansions on Redondo Beach! The justification for these radical changes are unclear. What is clear is that virtually every piece of undeveloped land is literally on the table. As one of the attendees pointed out, the strip of actual green space along the bluffs appear to shrink significantly in these maps.

Based on the overwhelming feedback at last week’s meeting, I don’t see that happening any time soon. Fortunately, this is a slow moving process and we can and will change the discourse. Part of that will be learning to speak the same language.

As we work through these communication issues, we need our city leaders to help us articulate that defining vision of what we want to be 10, 25, or a 100 years from now. Without a clearly defined destination, it doesn’t make sense to pay somebody to tell you how to get there. Now is the time to take a short time out and define that vision.

If it’s an open process, you can count me in.

Rick Hernandez & Friends of the Coastal Trail will be wearing lots of orange when they attend the Planning Commission Meeting on December 9th @ the Emergency Operations Center.

Rick Hernandez

wethepeople You may not know it, but our city is in the process of writing a new constitution.

This living document is not being drafted in a stuffy room by men wearing powdered wigs and stockings. Rather, it’s being written at the Emergency Operation Center and City Hall and it’s called the General Plan. This document will define the strategic objectives of our town and its very nature for decades to come. It will impact traffic, housing, and the types of businesses we want to promote. Most importantly, this document will affect whether or not we retain our small town charm and protect the lifeblood of our community, the coastal trail and surrounding open space from the foothills to the sea.

City staff, volunteer committee members and private consultants have been working on this process for nearly a year – collecting feedback through surveys, community forums and public meetings. Collectively, they have articulated guiding principles, which at their core reflect the overwhelming community feedback: maintain and enrich our small town character and protect and enhance the Coastal Trail and surrounding open space.

Now is when the rubber hits the road, and our guiding principles and community values are most likely to be tested by the self interest of a select few. Tomorrow night, the General Plan Advisory Committee will review its first working drafts. At first blush, these maps and proposals are alarming; virtually every piece of open space along the coastal trail, and undeveloped property and farmland in the city limits is up for change.

Sadly, most of us aren’t even aware this process is going on. But it is…and if you care about the character of our community, you better pay attention and get involved. Twenty years ago, David Iverson and Deborah Ruddock led a campaign to stop bulldozing the bluffs. Today, we face a much more subtle but no less dangerous threat to our community. Fortunately, this is an open process and you can participate by just showing up!

It’s fitting that this opinion will be published just after Veteran’s day, a holiday dedicated to the men and women who served in the armed forces to protect our nation’s constitution. How will you serve your community and the generations to come? Will you get engaged and fight for the core values that have served our community, or will you let somebody else take your place?

If you can, please join us for at least the first 30 minutes of tomorrow night’s meeting for a brief overview of the proposals and limited public comment – wearing orange if you support protecting the Coastal Trail and surrounding open space. This is a working public meeting – so pay attention but be polite.

You can also sign our petition.

The General Plan Advisory Committee Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 13th at 6:30pm at the Emergency Operations Center. The agenda and documents can be found at www.planhmb.org.