The Loma Prietan
October 1999
Meandering: As Far As The Eye Can See
Open Space District Opens Up on the Coast
by John Maybury
What if the scenic stretch of 280 looked like 101? Sound walls, traffic jams, screaming billboards, plastic bags, monster trucks, ticky-tacky development on both sides?
Thanks to Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD), it doesn't. Twenty-seven years ago, 67% of the voters of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties were so appalled by decades of ruthless landfilling and logging (how do you think Redwood City got its name?) they decided to approve Measure R and save the Peninsula from further destruction. The mandate established the district as a continuous greenbelt from Los Gatos to Montara.
Now MROSD is preparing to annex voter-approved open space (Measure F won with 55%) from Montara south to the Santa Cruz county line. Recently the district paid $25 million for land along Bear Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains, bringing total acreage over 44,000. The district cooperates with cities and private nonprofit land trusts in acquiring and managing affordable rural land. The result so far is 250 miles of trails (some improved, some still rough), trailhead parking lots and restrooms, and little else: just the great outdoors, needing no improvement.
A few acres involve mixed-use agricultural easements (cattle grazing, Christmas tree farms), but the district still is in learning mode for coastside annexation, working closely with the Farm Bureau, the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), a paid consultant, a 13-member advisory commission, plus federal, state, and local agencies.
Mountain bikes are allowed on 80% of district trails, some of which are steep and challenging. Vegetation in the fragile ecosystem varies from old-growth redwood to serpentine grassland. Bobcats and mountain lions roam the hillsides. Panoramas afford views of both San Francisco Bay and Monterey Bay. Birdwatchers gather at Ravenswood (what a perfect name!) in East Palo Alto, one of the district's few bayfront sites. In all, a million people a year visit the district's scenic wonders.
Twenty-two rangers patrol MROSD's wilderness. They are sworn peace officers, carrying collapsible batons, pepper spray, and handcuffs, but no firearms. Some ride bikes, some drive trucks, and some walk. All are well trained in emergency medical response and fire suppression. Ranger trucks carry 150-gallon water tanks. When necessary, rangers control-burn excess vegetation and nonnative invasives such as yellow star thistle but have found that goat grazing may be just as effective as fire.
Some 40 planners, designers, acquisitions experts, and administrators staff district headquarters in Los Altos. Three hundred docents lead educational hikes. Volunteers help patrol trails on bike and horseback. Others donate time to maintenance duties. MROSD welcomes volunteer help and requests for information: Call 650-691-1200.
District revenue comes mostly from property tax (81%), the rest from grants, interest, rentals, and leases. This year, revenue was about $12 million. To acquire new land, the district borrows money and refinances old debt. Expenses include debt (41%), administration and overhead (39%), and fixed assets/building and maintenance (20%).
New land comes into MROSD mostly from owners looking to sell or donate, often for tax advantage. No size is too small. The district has acquired as little as one acre, and holds partial interest in other properties. Sometimes a court-ordered mitigation against a developer or industry will net MROSD a windfall such as 1,000 oak saplings.
MROSD is "here for the long run," says former freeway flack Malcolm Smith, MROSD's public information officer ("I'm glad I came over to the good guys," he admits.) "I hope we have the foresight to protect open space for the enjoyment of future generations. We are not anti-development. We are for balance."
Regarding the district's recent run-in with the Russian Orthodox convent on Skyline, Smith says, "It was blown out of proportion." The dispute has been settled and both sides' lawyers are working things out over pelmeny and pasta.
Cheerfully acknowledging that some coastsiders may grumble about "bayside bureaucrats coming over here telling us what to do," Smith says the district has contributed to the quality of life on the Peninsula that has helped make the economic boom possible.
Coastal neighbors, however, are feeling mighty growing pains. For several years now, Silicon Valley and San Francisco commuters have flocked to the idyllic shores and slopes of Half Moon Bay, El Granada, Princeton, Moss Beach, and Montara. Caltrans obliges them by widening Highway 92 through the mountains to the east and soon (knock on rock!) by tunneling Highway 1 behind Devil's Slide.
With the transit floodgates wide open, what will become of the formerly peaceful coast? Will coastsiders end up saying, "Be careful what you wish for." Only time will tell.