Half Moon Bay settles its Kehoe drainage ditch lawsuit

Jimmy Benjamin who sued Half Moon Bay was part of a planning commission appointed by a no growth city council. That city council stopped the Kehoe drainage ditch maintenance to promote habitat, causing damage to 22 properties according to George Muteff, opinion below. In 2009 the city cleared the ditch. In 2010 Benjamin sued the city because they failed to obtain coastal permits to do the work.

"Half Moon Bay officials announced Tuesday night they have settled a civil lawsuit that found the city had ignored its own coastal protections by clearing the Kehoe drainage ditch in 2009. By settling the case, the city avoids a $1,000-per-day civil penalty levied by a court ruling siding with plaintiff Jimmy Benjamin. That penalty would have accrued until the city obtained a coastal development permit and today would surpass $1 million.

 

Kehoe drainage ditch 2008 before it was cleared*

 ....  Under the terms of the deal, the city will repay Benjamin’s legal costs, a sum totaling $295,000. The city must also seek a retroactive coastal development permit for the work performed three years ago in the ditch. Half Moon Bay will convene a future public meeting to update its coastal resource maps, specifically to update protections for the red-legged frog around Kehoe ditch. Finally, the city will remove an “unneeded” easement put in place previously with the goal to extend Pilarcitos Avenue.

The lawsuit centered on actions taken by the city in 2009 to clear out plants and debris that were blocking the Kehoe ditch. Benjamin, a former city planning commissioner, sued the city one year later on the basis that the work project lacked environmental permits. After a five-day trial, San Mateo Superior Court Judge Julie Conger found the city had violated the California Coastal Act, although she found the actual habitat damage was relatively minor."  Half Moon Bay Review/Mark Noack, 8/21/12. "City to pay $295,000 in Kehoe ditch settlement."   Read Article.

Who is Jimmy Benjamin?  On April 23, 2010, Casa del Mar resident Jimmy Benjamin filed a seemingly benign lawsuit against Half Moon Bay over cleaning the Kehoe Ditch (Case # CIV494372).

No growth city council stopped maintaining the ditch

Benjamin, a former member of the Half Moon Bay Planning Commission, was appointed in 1998 by city council member Dennis Coleman. He was one of the 'no' votes on Beachwood (1999) and has either stopped or appealed numerous projects in Half Moon Bay. The Kehoe Ditch has taken the run-off from the hills to the ocean for decades and used to be maintained on a regular basis, until the no-growth council that appointed Benjamin stopped it at about the same time they denied the Yamigawa (Beachwood) project.

Stopping the maintenance allowed the ditch to develop hydric soils, thus qualifying it as an environmentally sensitive habitat area. That move — although clever by no-growth advocates — created destruction for the 22 homes that abut the ditch. With debris collecting in the ditch, the flow of run-off was redirected and was flooding and taking the backyards of the abutting homes."  Half Moon Bay Patch, 11/28/11. Opinion by George Muteff:  Who wins in the Kehoe ditch decision"  Read Article.

Related articles -  The Daily Journal/Heather Murtageh, 8/23/12."Settlement ends Half Moon Bay drainage ditch dispute."  Coastsider article/Barry Parr, with podcast, 11/13/11, "Jimmy Benjamin on the Kehoe Ditch decision."   Fix Pacifica reprint article, 11/16/11, Half Moon Bay Review/Mark Noack, 11/12/11,"Half Moon Bay ditch clearing violation goes to court."  * Picture above from this article.

Posted by Kathy Meeh