Sunday, January 31, 2016

Tiny housing solution studies, San Mateo County


The Daily Journal (San Mateo County), Bill Silverfarb, 1/28/16.  "County funds tiny house study: San Mateo County Board of Supervisors OKs $500K to explore innovation affordable housing strategies."

Image result for small apartment picture
Small, but living with that certain Bay Area style.
Beats being homeless or moving to Fresno.
"The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved a $500,000 expenditure Tuesday to fund 'innovative' affordable housing solutions as rents continue to soar in the area.

One grant to Samaritan House, Mental Health Association and MidPen Housing for $75,500 will fund a best practices analysis to produce a model for a tiny house community for homeless people in transition. .... MidPen Housing and Hello Housing were also awarded a $200,000 grant to help buy single-family homes and preserve them as affordable housing. 

....  The Center of Community Innovation at the University of California at Berkeley was awarded $66,620 to find parcels in unincorporated county lands that may be suitable to construct accessory dwelling units.  ....  The Housing Leadership Council was awarded $32,880 to explore whether new or more frequent bus routes along key corridors would affect the eligibility for Housing Tax Credits or “cap and trade” funds for certain parcels.
....  The other grant awarded was to Forsyth Street and Enterprise for $125,000 to produce a feasibility and options report for finding a dedicated funding source to build more affordable housing. One proposal the group will study is whether a housing bond is feasible. .... The $500,000 comes from the county’s Housing Innovation Fund."  Read article.

Reference, accessory dwelling unit (ADU)Investopedia, "A legal and regulatory term for a secondary house or apartment with its own kitchen, living area and separate entrance that shares the building lot of a larger, primary house. The ADU may be attached to an existing house or garage, or it may be built as a stand-alone unit, but it usually uses the water and energy connections of the primary house and may be rented separately." Related, example design.  Good home design Interior Design and Architecture,"...small apartment in Manhattan." 

Note photograph from New Hd template images/best small apartment interior design.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Planning Commission meeting Monday, February 1, 2016


 Attend in person, 2212 Beach Boulevard, 2nd floor.  Or, view on local television or live feed Pacificcoast.TV, (formerly pct26.com).  If you miss civic meetings, view on PCT 26 You Tube!  The planning commission meeting begins at 7 p.m., or shortly there following.  Planning Commission updates, archives are available on the City website/Planning Commission.
Ace Hardware - Pacifica, CA, United States. Key is my signature for pics Rolo A
Item 1. 500 San Pedro Avenue is located
west of 560 San Pedro Avenue, Ace Hardware.
 

Planning Commission Agenda, 2/1/16, pdf pages 98.

Closed Session, 6:30 p.m. 
Govt. code 54956.9 (d)(2), significant exposure to litigation, 1 case.

Open Session, 7:00 p.m.  Administrative.  Public Oral Communications.  Consent items, none. 

Public Hearings
1.  SP-154-15, PSC-800-15.  Construct a new 3,469 sq. ft. 3-story single-family residence on a 5,216 sq. ft. vacant lot, 325 Beaumont Boulevard (APN 009-037-460).  Low density residential, zoned planned development.  Filed by Brian Pung, agent for property owners Elaine and Alina Woo.

2.  PSD-792-15, CDP-349-15, SUB-225-15, S-113-15.  4-detached motel rooms on 1-lot subdivision, vacant lot, 500 San Pedro Avenue (APN 023-073-190).  Coastal Zone, recommend CEQA exemption section 15303 and 15315.  Filed by David Blackman, agent for property owner David Colt.

Planning Commission communications. Staff communications.  Adjourn.

Note photograph by Rolo A. from Yelp/Ace Hardware.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Friday, January 29, 2016

San Mateo County sea level rise meeting, tomorrow Saturday, January 30, 2016


The Almanac/Kate Bradshaw, 1/28/16. "Saturday: San Mateo County holds event on sea level rise."

Massive waves continued to hit the already battered coastline in Pacifica, Calif. Jan. 23, 2016.
Living on the edge in Pacifica.
"A public event on sea level rise, hosted by the San Mateo County office of Sustainability, will be held Saturday, Jan. 30, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Genentech Conference Center at 1531 Grandview Drive in South San Francisco (Building 31).
San Mateo County supervisors Dave Pine and Don Horsley, plus California State Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park, are scheduled to attend.
Organizers says the event will be family-friendly, featuring interactive activities and "eco-friendly prizes."

Topics for discussion include:
● What does sea level rise mean for me?
● How can I prepare for flooding this winter?
● What is the county doing to prepare for sea level rise?
ID is required for attendees, and adult supervision is required for kids under 18.
Register for the free event here, or go to the county's web page on sea level rise for more information." 

Reference, San Mateo County.  Office of Sustainability,  Sea Change.  

Related, news article, ABC 7 News/Sergio Quintana, 1/24/16, "Massive waves hit already battered Pacifica coastline," includes a Pacifica coastal damage assessment video, 1:43 minutes.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Thursday, January 28, 2016

The Climate Snow Job?

 

A blizzard! The hottest year ever! More signs that global warming and its extreme effects are beyond debate, right? Not even close.


By
Patrick J. Michaels
Jan. 24, 2016 2:45 p.m. ET

An East Coast blizzard howling, global temperatures peaking, the desert Southwest flooding, drought-stricken California drying up—surely there’s a common thread tying together this “extreme” weather. There is. But it has little to do with what recent headlines have been saying about the hottest year ever. It is called business as usual.

Surface temperatures are indeed increasing slightly: They’ve been going up, in fits and starts, for more than 150 years, or since a miserably cold and pestilential period known as the Little Ice Age. 

Before carbon dioxide from economic activity could have warmed us up, temperatures rose three-quarters of a degree Fahrenheit between 1910 and World War II. They then cooled down a bit, only to warm again from the mid-1970s to the late ’90s, about the same amount as earlier in the century.

Whether temperatures have warmed much since then depends on what you look at. Until last June, most scientists acknowledged that warming reached a peak in the late 1990s, and since then had plateaued in a “hiatus.” There are about 60 different explanations for this in the refereed literature.

That changed last summer, when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) decided to overhaul its data, throwing out satellite-sensed sea-surface temperatures since the late 1970s and instead relying on, among other sources, readings taken from the cooling-water-intake tubes of oceangoing vessels. The scientific literature is replete with articles about the large measurement errors that accrue in this data owing to the fact that a ship’s infrastructure conducts heat, absorbs a tremendous amount of the sun’s energy, and vessels’ intake tubes are at different ocean depths. See, for instance, John J. Kennedy’s “A review of uncertainty in in situ measurements and data sets of sea surface temperature,” published Jan. 24, 2014, by the journal Reviews of Geophysics. 

NOAA’s alteration of its measurement standard and other changes produced a result that could have been predicted: a marginally significant warming trend in the data over the past several years, erasing the temperature plateau that vexed climate alarmists have found difficult to explain. Yet the increase remains far below what had been expected.

It is nonetheless true that 2015 shows the highest average surface temperature in the 160-year global history since reliable records started being available, with or without the “hiatus.” But that is also not very surprising. Early in 2015, a massive El Niño broke out. These quasiperiodic reversals of Pacific trade winds and deep-ocean currents are well-documented but poorly understood. They suppress the normally massive upwelling of cold water off South America that spreads across the ocean (and is the reason that Lima may be the most pleasant equatorial city on the planet). The Pacific reversal releases massive amounts of heat, and therefore surface temperature spikes. El Niño years in a warm plateau usually set a global-temperature record. What happened this year also happened with the last big one, in 1998. 

Global average surface temperature in 2015 popped up by a bit more than a quarter of a degree Fahrenheit compared with the previous year. In 1998 the temperature rose by slightly less than a quarter-degree from 1997.

When the Pacific circulation returns to its more customary mode, all that suppressed cold water will surge to the surface with a vengeance, and global temperatures will drop. Temperatures in 1999 were nearly three-tenths of a degree lower than in 1998, and a similar change should occur this time around, though it might not fit so neatly into a calendar year. Often the compensatory cooling, known as La Niña, is larger than the El Niño warming.

There are two real concerns about warming, neither of which has anything to do with the El Niño-enhanced recent peak. How much more is the world likely to warm as civilization continues to exhale carbon dioxide, and does warming make the weather more “extreme,” which means more costly? 

Instead of relying on debatable surface-temperature information, consider instead readings in the free atmosphere (technically, the lower troposphere) taken by two independent sensors: satellite sounders and weather balloons. As has been shown repeatedly by University of Alabama climate scientist John Christy, since late 1978 (when the satellite record begins), the rate of warming in the satellite-sensed data is barely a third of what it was supposed to have been, according to the large family of global climate models now in existence. Balloon data, averaged over the four extant data sets, shows the same. 

It is therefore probably prudent to cut by 50% the modeled temperature forecasts for the rest of this century. Doing so would mean that the world—without any political effort at all—won’t warm by the dreaded 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 that the United Nations regards as the climate apocalypse.

The notion that world-wide weather is becoming more extreme is just that: a notion, or a testable hypothesis. As data from the world’s biggest reinsurer, Munich Re, MURGY 0.03 % and University of Colorado environmental-studies professor Roger Pielke Jr. have shown, weather-related losses haven’t increased at all over the past quarter-century. In fact, the trend, while not statistically significant, is downward. Last year showed the second-smallest weather-related loss of Global World Productivity, or GWP, in the entire record.

Without El Niño, temperatures in 2015 would have been typical of the post-1998 regime. And, even with El Niño, the effect those temperatures had on the global economy was de minimis.

Mr. Michaels, a climatologist, is the director of the Center for the Study of Science at the Cato Institute.

Submitted by Jim Wagner
 

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

First Pacifica baby born in 2016, Linda Mar


Pacifica Tribune/Jane Northrop, Staff writer/1/20/16. "Pacifica's first newborn of 2016."

Welcome to the world baby Luca!
"The first Pacifica baby of the New Year is a boy, the second child for Anthony and Nicole Fisicaro.

Born Jan. 6 at 1:31 p.m. at Mills-Peninsula Hospital, Luca James Fisicaro weighed in at seven pounds, three ounces and stretched out to 20.5 inches. He joins big sister, Gianna, two and a half, at the family’s Linda Mar home.

.... Nicole and Anthony said they want what all parents want for their children, to find success, and to be happy and healthy. "  Read more  (about his parents). 

Note photograph by Jane Northrop. The article and photograph were posted on Facebook 1/22/16.

Posted by Kathy Meeh


Plans to build affordable housing, South San Francisco


The Daily Journal (San Mateo County), Austin Walsh, 1/25/16.  "South City moves to create affordable housing: Officials pursuing workforce project on city property."

Image result for South San Francisco affordable housing picture
Affordable "Home Sweet Home",
City of San Mateo example.
"To address the struggle of some middle class families to afford the increasingly expensive cost of living, South San Francisco officials initiated an effort to build an affordable housing development near downtown.  ....  City officials recognize the significant need to build affordable housing as soon as possible, said City Manager Mike Futrell, and the council has expressed a desire to pursue that initiative. 'We are looking for every possible opportunity to bring affordable housing to South San Francisco,” he said. “And we are looking at every parcel of city-owned property.'.... To help subsidize the project, Futrell said officials are interested in pursuing available grant funding which could pay toward construction of some of the affordable units.

Despite the challenges that can be associated with financing the projects, Futrell said South San Francisco officials remain committed to ensuring the city remains livable for all residents. 'These projects are incredibly difficult to put together because financially they don’t pencil out very easily,' he said. 'To us, that is balanced against the acute need in the community to provide housing at an affordable cost.'

Couples making in the range of $60,000 to $90,000 annually would likely be eligible to live in the workforce housing project, said Futrell. It is yet to be determined whether the units will be available to all South San Francisco residents, or just those who are employed by public agencies such as the city or local school district, said Futrell."  Read article.

Reference, City of South San Francisco:  Affordable Housing, and Low Income Housing.

Note photograph from MidPen Housing, "San Mateo welcomes much needed, affordable workforce housing on the former site of the San Mateo Police Station."  Caption:  Delaware Pacific, a transit-orientated development with 60 affordable apartments for families in San Mateo." 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

City rental housing market "Best Practices Advisory" to be formed


City Council meeting, Monday 1/25/16.
Item 9, direction on rent stabilization. 
San Mateo County Association of Realtors (SAMCAR), Gina Zari, Government Affairs Director, 1/26/16.

"On "Monday, January 25, before a packed chamber, on a 3-2 vote, the City Council voted to oppose Rent Control in Pacifica.

After 4 hours of public comment and well after midnight, the Council wrapped-up a long debate over Rent Control with a motion from Councilman John Keener and a Second from Mayor Sue Digre to support rent control; voting against rent control  were Mayor Pro Tem Mike O'Neill and Councilmembers Karen Ervin and Mary Ann Nihart.

A second vote was taken supporting the creation of an advisory committee to help draft a 'Best Practices Advisory' that would provide guidelines for the rental housing market.  The idea of an advisory came from a model used in Healdsburg, California. Councilman John Keener was the only member to oppose the Advisory."

Note photograph of our 1/25/16 packed house City Council meeting by Gina Zari from the SAMCAR article above. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Missing Person - Enrique Chicas





http://www.fixpacifica.com/docs/Chicas.pdf

Submitted by Jim Wagner

Cliff erosion, yellow tagged apartments


San Francisco Chronicle/Peter Fimrite, 1/25/16. "More evacuations in Pacifica as cliffs give way to the sea"

Image result for Pacifica, CA apartment building yellow tag picture
Failing cliffs, yellow-tagged
apartments, 1/25/16
"Massive chunks of dirt seen crashing into the roiling surf this past weekend persuaded Pacifica officials Monday to evacuate cliffside apartments that everyone agrees are inching closer to a catastrophic collapse into the sea.  Dozens of residents living in 20 apartments at 310 Esplanade Ave. were ordered out by city officials, who declared the dwellings unsafe. The city will allow the residents to remove their belongings, but they will not be allowed into the apartments for anything other than that, said Mike Cully, Pacifica’s chief building official. 

"Recent bluff failures have resulted in unsafe conditions for living space at 310 Esplanade Ave.,” Cully said. “Cavities in the bluff are forming to the south, west and north of the building, and these critically over-steepened slopes are anticipated to fall back ... in the next several days.”   Read article. 

Related, national news, Pacifica, CA.  CNN/Tony Marco, 1/26/16, "Homes, apartments teetering on cliff's edge in California."  ....  "El Niño is hitting the city's coastline very hard and creating almost daily reports of impacts to both public and private property," Pacifica City Manager Lorie Tinfow said. "We need state and federal assistance to respond to the growing list of failing public infrastructure including the Beach Blvd. sea wall failure." ....  Police Chief Dan Steidle said the city had arranged with the American Red Cross and the Pacifica Resource Center to offer assistance to residents.   ....  Since December, city officials say storms have damaged the pier, the Milagra Watershed Outfall and caused a sea wall to fail.   

Related, State and local news.  Los Angeles Times/Veronica Rocha, Contact Reporter, 1/26/16, "El Niño storms erode Pacifica bluff as homes teeter on the edge."City Manager Lorie Tinfow declared a local emergency after the storms not only wreaked havoc on the cliffside, but also caused damage to Pacifica Pier and the Milagra Watershed. Rains also triggered the failure of a seawall along Beach Boulevard and Santa Maria Avenue in the coastal Bay Area city, about 15 miles south of San Francisco.“El Niño is hitting the city’s coastline very hard and creating almost daily reports of impacts to both public and private property,” Lorie Tinfow said in a statement." Local news.  NBC/Bay Area/El Niño/Staff, 1/26/16, "Pacifica City Council Approved Emergency declaration after El Niño storms slam coastline."  ... Eroding cliffs along Esplanade Avenue have already led the city to declare apartment buildings at 320 and 330 Esplanade Ave. uninhabitable, and neighboring 310 Esplanade Ave. joined them today, city officials said in a statement. .... The building was "yellow-tagged," meaning residents can go inside to get belongings out but can no longer stay there. The neighboring buildings at 320 and 330 Esplanade will need to be demolished, city officials said."  City tracked Esplanade Avenue cliff erosion photographs of Esplanade Avenue by Chris Dant 4/3/12 - 9/24/10, see Adequate Bird.  

Note: photograph:  Cliff erosion, Yellow tagged apartments, 310 Esplanade Avenue from CBS Local, 1/25/16.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Monday, January 25, 2016

Reminder City Council meeting, tonight, Monday, January 25, 2016

Image result for Pacifica, CA storm pictures
Consent, Item 6. "Confirming
Existence of a Local Emergency."

Attend in person, 2212 Beach Boulevard, 2nd floor.  Or, view on local television or live feed Pacificcoast.TV, (formerly pct26.com).  If you miss civic meetings, view on  PCT 26 You Tube!  The city council meeting begins at 7 p.m., or shortly there following.  City council updates and archives are available on the City website.   

Fix Pacifica article, City Council meeting, 1/25/16.      Interactive City Council Agenda, 1/25/16.

Public Hearings 
7.  AT&T wireless communications use permits, 11:  Vallemar.
8.  Appeal AT&T wireless communication, use permit, 1:  Vallemar.
Recommendation continue item to City Council meeting, 2/8/16.
Consideration
9.  Direction on rent stabilization. 

Note photograph from Associated Press/Capital Bay News/Mathias Dillon, 1/23/16, "El Nino batters the West Coast as Pacifica declares state of emergency." 

Posted by Kathy Meeh 

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Redeveloping infill to accommodate housing (mixed-use), Belmont


Image result for 490 El Camino Real, Belmont, CA picture
Updated use of land, 490 El Camino Real, Belmont
The Daily Journal (San Mateo County), Samantha Weigel, 1/22/16. "New housing development proposed for Belmont 7-Eleven site."

"Belmont could become home to some new residents if the City Council approves a proposal to redevelop a 7-Eleven and bank building into a new housing complex along El Camino Real.

The Planning Commission met Tuesday and recommended the council approve Sares Regis’ proposal to create 73 apartments and a separate single-story 4,909-square-foot commercial building at the 1.83-acre site at 490 El Camino Real.

The one-, two- and three-bedroom units range in size from 749 to 1,516 square feet and would be spread throughout two four-story buildings. The proposal also includes an underground parking garage with 138 spaces for residents, 29 at-grade parking spaces, a residential management office, fitness room and small landscaped area."  Read article.

Reference, City of Belmont, Community Development Department, "Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration, 490 El Camino Real Mixed Use Project, 4/20/15," prepared by M-Group, pdf 108 pages.  Note the apartment complex rendering, figure 1, "East perspective from El Camino Real" is from this M-Group reference, 12/16/14, page 16.

Posted by Kathy Meeh