Monday, September 30, 2013

Two more San Mateo cities ban plastic bags, Redwood City and East Palo Alto




The Daily Journal (San Mateo) Michelle Durand, 9/30/13.  "Redwood City ready to ban plastic bags."

Goodbye....
"Starting Tuesday, Redwood City joins numerous other Peninsula cities in putting the kibosh on free single-use plastic and paper bags at most retail establishments. Unlike the 12 cities and county that launched the ban in April to coincide with Earth Day, Redwood City pushed off its start date until October to allow businesses and patrons more time to prepare for the change. On its heels, East Palo Alto’s ban takes effect Wednesday, Oct. 2. 
The fee is meant to act as an incentive against purchasing bags and help businesses recoup any costs associated with the mandated record keeping of bag sales. The fee also covers the cost of retailers advertising and purchasing pricier paper bags for sale. Paper can run 8 cents to 15 cents each which is the main reasons businesses turned to the much cheaper plastic option, Peterson said.





The environmental impact report conducted prior to the vote concluded that an estimated 400 million single-use plastic bags are used annually in San Mateo County included approximately 42 million in Redwood City. Only a small percentage are recycled and the majority end up in landfills or as litter, according to the EIR. 

All of the ordinances are modeled on the county’s template which was crafted after a lengthy environmental review process meant to head off any legal challenge. Prohibitions are already in place in San Mateo County and the cities of Burlingame, Daly City, Colma, Brisbane, South San Francisco, San Bruno, San Mateo, San Carlos, Pacifica, Portola Valley, Half Moon Bay, Foster City, Belmont and Menlo Park. Millbrae passed its own ordinance."  Read article. 

Related San Mateo Mercury News/Peninsula/Bonnie Eslinger (Staff), 9/30/13.  "Under the bans, modeled after a San Mateo County ordinance, customers can still get paper bags for at least 10 cents each. Plastic carryout bags are permitted as well, so long as their thickness is at least 2.25 mil, which is considered reusable. They too come with a dime charge. The ban applies to grocery and convenience stores, pharmacies and other shops, but not to restaurants. Plastic bags can still be used for produce, meats, bulk foods and prescription medicines." 





Note:  Plastic bag picture from Wikimedia Commons.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club this Saturday



Submitted by Mike O'Neill
BGCNSMC Web Header 
Dear Friends:
Pacifica BBQ Fundraiser
Saturday, October 5th
5:00 pm to 8:00 pm - Come anytime / Open seating
Pacifica Moose Lodge, 776 Bradford Way, Pacifica
Loosen your belt for our Pacifica BBQ on October 5th! Celebrity servers from the Pacifica Police Department will serve you dinner and all proceeds will benefit Boys & Girls Club programs at our Pacifica Clubhouse and Ingrid B. Lacy Middle School.
  
We appreciate our event sponsors: FoodService Partners, Torani Syrups and Flavors, and the Pacifica Moose Lodge!

Please spread the word to friends, family and colleagues about this fundraiser to support Boys & Girls Clubs of North San Mateo County. Feel free to contact me any time with questions, or if you would like additional information. Thank you!
    
Sincerely, 
Sharon Dolan
Executive Director
Boys & Girls Clubs of North San Mateo County   
(650) 589-7090 x14  or  sdolan@theclubs.org 
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Pacifica Patch covers Fog Fest 9/28-29, 2013, 19 photographs



Fog Fest parade with Mayor Len Stone and his wife Jessica.
Mayor Len Stone and spouse Jessica 2013
riding in the Fog Fest parade.
Pacifica Patch/Christa Bigue (Editor), 9/30/13.  "Photos:  Scenes from Fog Fest -- see your Pacifica neighbors here!"

"Pacifica couldn't have asked for better weather for the 28th annual Pacific Coast Fog Fest. See the slideshow above for a snapshot of a stellar weekend chock full of good food, fun, community support, art, and music."

Posted by Kathy Meeh

America's Cup may return to San Francisco


San Francisco Chronicle/Tom FitzGerald, 9/27/13. "Oracle will rethink costs in future boat designs."

Oracle wins 34th America's Cup, with rights to choose
35th America's Cup challenge venue, conditions for 2016
"Larry Ellison has said he'd love to bring the America's Cup back to San Francisco if he and city officials can agree on the details. Another big question is how many teams will join Ellison's next party.

Ellison and Oracle Team USA chief executive Russell Coutts say they'll pay a lot more attention to design and construction costs for the 35th Cup. Using some one-design elements and possibly a smaller catamaran than this year's 72-foot giant - or even returning to monohulls - would help increase the challenger field from this year's lonely trio.

It's not known if Emirates Team New Zealand will be back. The Kiwis needed a $38 million stake from the New Zealand government in this campaign, and officials might not be as generous next time around despite the sailing zeal of their constituents."   San Francisco Chronicle/Tom FitzGerald, 9/27/13.  "Oracle will rethink costs in future boat designs." 
---- 
"Reuters is reporting that Australian vintner Robert Oatley has challenged Larry Ellison for the America’s Cup.  "Oatley, famous on land for his TIK TOK wines and on the water for a series of ocean racers named Wild Oats, reportedly delivered his challenge on behalf of the Hamilton Island Yacht Club in Queensland moments after Oracle Team USA won the Cup in a stunning come-from-behind victory on Sept. 25.

...."One reason Ellison may be hanging back on naming the new challenger of record is because he’s busy negotiating with another essential party: San Francisco. This year’s Cup, while a spectacular display of sailing speed and skill, was widely criticized as costing the city too much and failing to deliver the economic benefits Ellison and Oracle had promised. By delaying the announcement of the challenger and final regatta rules, Ellison may be buying time to negotiate a favorable agreement with San Fransisco under the threat of moving the event elsewhere.

Monohulls are considered
for the 35th America's Cup race
It will be interesting to see how Ellison — excuse me, the Challenger Of Record — modifies the rules for the next Cup. The wing-masted catamarans used this time were exciting to watch, but a handful to control since the rules prohibited the kinds of basic stability controls that are used on most foiling sailboats. The rudders had horizontal surfaces to help lift the seven-ton boats out of the water, but no way of controlling them, kind of like trying to fly an airplane with the horizontal stabilizer locked."  Forbes/Daniel Fisher (Staff), 9/30/13. "America's Cup challenger will emerge soon, though the talks began long ago."  

Related USA Today/Sports, /Douglas Robson, 9/25/13. "Oracle pulls off stunning comeback in America's Cup."  "SAN FRANCISCO – Now that Oracle Team USA has improbably retained the 34th America's Cup, what can Larry Ellison & Co. do for an encore?  ....Trailing 8-1 a week ago, Oracle sailed away from Emirates Team New Zealand by 44 seconds on Wednesday to retain the Auld Mug, the oldest trophy in international sports, in a winner-take-all finale on San Francisco Bay.  ....  But in the oddity that is America's Cup, Oracle, the defender, gets to more or less call the shots for the next edition in three years....  Ellison, one of the richest men in the world, indicated that he was inclined to remain in San Francisco in the next defense with some form of foiling multihulls that were able to reach speeds above 50 mph. But he did not want to go backwards in a regatta he said had "changed sailing forever."    Reference - The Multihull Company, "Catamaran vs Monohull".

Note:  Oracle catamaran photograph by Ezra Shaw Getty Images, from the USA Today article; the Monohull photograph is from the Multihull Company,"Catamaran vs. Monohull" comparison.  For prior America's Cup articles on Fix Pacifica, use "search this blog".

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Sunday, September 29, 2013

San Carlos smart parking pilot program from October 1 through December 31, 2013


Smart parking helps you find parking, and also helps the officer ticket you for overstay.

The Daily Journal/Staff, 9/28/13.  "Smart parking pilot begins in San Carlos."

I'm looking at you
"Motorists in San Carlos thinking of overstaying their welcome in parking spaces can no longer look for tell-tale chalk marks to know if enforcement officers are ticking down their time. 

Beginning Oct. 1, the city launches its “smart parking” pilot program which eliminates the need for officers to mark tires and instead lets them use a network of sensors embedded in the pavement. Once a vehicle is detected in the space, the system starts a time and alerts officers when the space remains occupied past the allowed limit. The officer will then go to the space, validate the violation and issue a citation.

.... The trial program begins Monday, Oct. 1 and is expected to run through December. Once finished, the city and Streetline will evaluate the effectiveness and come before the City Council in early 2014 to decide whether to continue in the future."   Read more.

RelatedInhabitat.com/Green Transportation/Mark Boyer, 12/6/12. "New Parker Mobile App gives users real-time parking info." ... "About 135 sensors were planted in the pavement in downtown San Mateo, and 100 were embedded in San Carlos, sending a signal to Streetline’s free Parker mobile app when parking becomes available. The program can be used for street parking, parking lots and indoor garages. Using Cisco’s smart reuters and Wi-Fi mesh networks, the sensor data is aggregated and transmitted to the Streetline data center, which publishes the information on the Parker app. According to a press release, the data will soon be made available for general web browsers as well. Streetline has already deployed the app in at least 25 cities, but this is the company’s first partnership with Cisco.  ..."

Posted by Kathy Meeh

City calendar this week, September 30 - October 4, 2013


City of Pacifica calendar.  No public City meetings this week.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Half Moon Bay Highway 1 erosion is not going away


Half Moon Bay Review/Mark Noack, 9/27/13.  "Erosion danger spurs call to protect highway."

"Fearing erosion could soon threaten Highway 1, San Mateo County officials are urgently pushing for an emergency plan to buffer the coastline near Surfer’s Beach in the coming weeks.

The potential of Highway 1 washing out is still an emergency
....  Any project to protect the highway could face considerable challenges. Surfer’s Beach has gained the reputation as a notoriously difficult stretch for planning projects due to a hodgepodge of agencies that share jurisdiction. The city of Half Moon Bay, the county and Caltrans each control portions of the roadside and would need to give approvals. The riprap project could also need clearances from the San Mateo County Harbor District, the California Coastal Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

On the plus side, protection of the highway fit the bill to be classified as an emergency project, Horsley said. That would mean the planning process would be streamlined."    Read article.
 
seasurf005003.gif
 Highway 1, Surfer's Beach south end of El Granada
RelatedSave the waves blog, 6/29/11."The search for solutions to erosion issues at Surfers Beach."  Efforts continue to find solutions to protect Surfer's Beach in Half Moon Bay, California. The construction of a breakwater to create the harbor in 1961 has exacerbated erosion rates by causing more sand to be deposited on the harbor side. Now only a thin strip of beach remains at Surfer’s Beach, limiting recreational uses of the beach, threatening habitat for the federally threatened western snowy plover, and eroding away the embankment of Highway 1".   Half Moon Bay Memorie & El Granada Observers/June Morrall, 6/26/0, a 1980 look back at the cliff erosion. 

Note photograph and map.  Surfer's Beach erosion by Brian Overfelt from "Save the waves" blog.   Google map from  Sea, Surf & Fun.com, Surfer's Beach parking location:  "...you see the restaurant "Sam's Chowder House", and eventually you see the hotel "Beach House" (always on your right). At the following light make a left turn, and immediately after make a left turn again to enter the parking lot 300 feet later. Once you have reached the parking lot the road is very close to the beach."  Or see Mapquest.

Posted by Kathy Meeh