The Loma Prietan
December 1999/January 2000
Clean Sweep of Coastside Elections
by Chris Thollaug
Environmental Politics on the Coast
Ten candidates endorsed by Sierra Club swept the field in November's elections on the San Mateo County coast.
The election of these ten candidates is a hearty endorsement of the Club's assessment of their skills and values. We look forward to supporting their work, and wish them success.
The Half Moon Bay City Council (5 members) will be voting on major amendments to the city's General Plan. The plan update process was initiated in 1996 by council members Dennis Coleman and Debbie Ruddock. Their re-election will maintain continuity in that process and ensure that the stringent growth restrictions approved by voters this November are properly incorporated. Both re-elected incumbents have consistently supported environmental issues, including the tunnel alternative for Devil's Slide, coastal trails and the preservation of open space. Even with the passage of Measure D, which restricts future residential development to 1% annually, the city faces numerous environmental issues, including construction of subdivisions already approved, and a traffic situation approaching gridlock on Highway 92.
Mid-Coast Community Council (5 members) is an advisory board to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. Critical issues for the mid-coast include establishing community parks and instituting a design review process for new residential construction. Chuck Kozak, Ric Lohman, and April Vargas have solid records as community activists, particularly on the Coastal Protection Initiative, Measure T (Devil's Slide tunnel), and Measure F (expansion of open space). Residential development has increased dramatically with the completion of a sewer treatment plant expansion, and recent projects demonstrate the urgent need for public input and consideration of environmental impacts. Chuck and Ric have been active on the MCCC's Planning and Zoning committee and can be expected to be active on the design review issue.
Coastside County Water District (5 board members) is an agency in serious need of improved public oversight. Recent issues include policies which appear to selectively make water connections available to developers, rather than addressing the needed water capacity for individual lot owners; the district's decision to significantly increase the diameter of water main replacements without preparing environmental impact documents for cumulative impact; and piecemeal presentation of expansion plans in annual capital improvement budgets. Eva Coleman, Carol Cup, and Eleanor Wittrup ran as a reform slate, and are well qualified to critically review district policies regarding compliance with the county Local Coastal Program, and to improve oversight of district management.
The Granada Sanitary District (5 board members) is one of three agencies providing sewer services on the coastside as part of a joint powers authority (JPA) operating a single treatment plant. A decision over ten years ago by the JPA to build sewer capacity for full buildout in a single step, rather than to phase capital improvements as needed, has left the district with tremendous treatment capacity, and undeveloped property owners saddled with an assessment district that counts on future development to control costs. Fran Pollard and Laura Stein join a board that will be considering additional major capital improvements that protect the coastal environment from sewage overflows and increase the capacity of the system to serve new development. The challenge to this board is to balance environmental protection, taxpayer interests, and adherence to current land use restrictions.
The Chapter's Interest in Special Districts
The Chapter's general political interests, and its effectiveness at pursuing them, is well-known on the coast. Less well understood is our interest in coastside special districts.
Opponents to the Sierra Club's endorsements in the coastside special district elections charge that the Chapter attempts to control growth by interfering with the provision of infrastructure (water and sewer) to new development. This is similar to criticism the Chapter faced when it led the fight for a tunnel solution at Devil's Slide, where opponents charged that the Chapter was not interested in a permanent repair, but was instead attempting to restrict road capacity and stop development.
At Devil's Slide, Caltrans proposed a massive highway project through a state park, and spent decades and millions of dollars defending the project as consistent with state and federal environmental policy. With the wildly successful passage of Measure T in 1996 we stopped the destruction of McNee Ranch State Park. We fought for an infrastructure solution that adhered to environmental regulations.
Adherence to environmental regulation is often a matter of judgement. In the case of Caltrans, we submit the agency demonstrated exceedingly poor judgement. Our interest at Devil's Slide, as with special districts, is to see that agency administration and judgement is exercised in a manner that is consistent with current land-use regulations protecting our environment, and the public interest. All too often committed activists win political and legal battles that result in strong environmental protections, only to have those safeguards eroded by faulty interpretation or poor administration.
In the case of CCWD and GSD, these special districts are charged to provide services in conformance with the San Mateo County Local Coastal Program (LCP), and are presently facing issues requiring interpretation and judgement. It falls to their elected boards to see that they do so wisely. Without careful board oversight things can go seriously amiss.
In an age of reduced planning and compliance resources the burden for oversight falls increasingly to the public and their elected representatives. That is why election of community activists to special district boards is an important component of environmental action. Proper interpretation and application of land use policy is crucial to protection of the environment.