Jeff Flint
(650) 422-1488
info@thepacificaquarry.com May 16, 2016
PACIFICA, CA - Just
shy of 3,200 signatures were submitted to the Pacific City Clerk today to place
a measure on the November ballot in Pacifica, giving voters the power to decide
on the proposed plan for restoration and limited development on the Rockaway
Quarry site. In order to place this measure on the ballot, no fewer than 10
percent of all registered voters were required to sign a petition calling for
the proposed project to go on the ballot, meaning just over 2,200 valid
signatures were required. Pacifica law requires any residential development at
the Quarry to be voted on by residents.
“After over a year of planning,
public input, and meetings with elected officials, community leaders and local
groups, we’ve come up with a balanced plan that will restore the Quarry land
and provide new recreation, hospitality and housing in Pacifica, through
responsible and limited development,” said Paul Heule, managing director of
Preserve@Pacifica LLC, the owners of the site.
The plan calls for 75 percent of the
86-acre site to be preserved as permanent open space. The proposal includes reclaiming
the old quarry site, shoring up fragile hillsides, and restoring coastal
wetlands along Calera Creek. Trails would be built out to connect Rockaway
Beach to Mori Point, and a Creekside Park would be created.
The ballot measure does not rezone
the property nor grant any entitlements. Instead, it grants voter approval to
the Pacifica City Council to review the plan, within strict limits on the size
and scope of development. The maximum development the Council could approve
would be a 200 room hotel, 13,000 square foot conference center, 35,000 square
feet of retail and office, and no more than 206 residential apartment units. 25
of the units would be live-work units, and 20% of the remaining units would be
designated as affordable. The measure would require the City Council to confirm
that green building standards be used, and that a traffic mitigation plan be
adopted and all traffic fees paid before any building permit issued.
“This plan is much smaller than previous
proposals, and we believe consistent with the majority of residents are open to
some sensitive development at the Quarry,” said Heule.
The City Clerk will transmit the
signatures to the San Mateo County Registrar of voters. If signatures are
verified for 10 percent of Pacifica voters, the initiative will go to the City
Council to be placed on the ballot.
###
Posted by Steve Sinai
26 comments:
Glad to see this moving forward but would very much like to see more info about the traffic mitigation proposals and would like to hear from our local hydrologist about construction and operation of the wetlands component.
Who is our "local hydrologist" ?
If it's one of the NIMBY, faux-enviro, Pacifica haters, we already know what their determination will be. Let's get on with this before our poor city falls off the financial cliff.
Have you consulted with Lancelle, Loeb and Verby? They are experts at everything and they absolutely know what's right for Pacifica.
Is there a video of the public meeting at Nick's?
Bob Batallio is his name. The wetlands component of the Quarry proposal was described in some detail at the meeting by Mr Zenter and the aspect that interests me, is it's ability absorb sea level rise and protect the surrounding Rockaway homes and businesses
Batallio is a one trick pony hack. "Managed retreat" is his only game. Follow his lead and end up living in a tent in the hills or better yet in the side yard of his oversized energy hog house in Vallemar. Can you say, "I got mine"-NIMBY-hypocrite?
Maybe some, he was certainly part of the effort to destroy the golf course and is currently involved in the littoral cell project but that doesn't invalidate his opinion on the feasibility of the Quarry proposal. He lives here and knows the area intimately, who better to offer an independent view?
He can certainly offer his view but it is far from independent and is entirely biased against finding real and workable solutions for Pacifica. There are lot's of people in this town who are self proclaimed experts on development, traffic and running a city of 40,000 people. The faux-enviro gang follows them like sheep. This selfish mob mentality has utterly destroyed Pacifica's economy and has made us vulnerable to bankruptcy, dis-incorporation and everything that Mother Nature throws at us every year, including rain storms that overwhelm our sewage system and pollutes our beaches with regularity. Humans are intelligent and know how to use tools we are not red-legged frogs or garter snakes. We have the ability to manipulate our environment and make it livable for human habitation.
Stand up against these eco-bullies and take our city back before it's too late.
I've met Batallio and he seems to be a good guy. Not sure how the wetlands at the far end of the quarry can protect the surrounding area against sea level rise, though.
Steve, don't get suckered in. Do your homework. Batallio's stance is unequivocally "managed retreat" with a sarcastic "unless you're willing to put everything up on stilts" thrown in for effect. Plater endows him with way more credibility than he deserves because he is a useful player in the fight by eco-bullies to assault public and private property rights for their own enrichment. He was the so called expert who justified the attempted shut down of Sharp Park Golf course. Now he's after everything west of Highway One.
I've heard people say that Trump is a nice guy one-on-one. I remember people saying Bush W was a great guy to have a beer with.
BFD!
We can't allow these nuts with selfish agendas ruin the lives of so many others.
@ Steve 1:50 pm May 19. Me. Zenter, the project manager, explained the process in detail at the meeting. It all sounded very plausible but I would like to hear from a qualified hydrologist regarding the proposal. I also want to have more specifics from the developer on the traffic mitigation issues.
@ Sharon, the man made wetland Zentner is proposing is up hill from where the housing would be. Unless water can fly over the tops of the projects housing do you think the wetland Zentner is proposing will proect anyting?
Has Jane Northrop lost her mind or has our Pacifica Tribune become another shill for the enviro-whack jobs roaming about in Pacifica? Honestly, building a front page story (May 18, 2016 edition) based on statements and accusations by Lori Goldberg is a new low for our local paper and put's it's legitimacy in question.
Goldberg is the same nutty woman who repeatedly pressed the crosswalk button at Reina del Mar and Highway One to cause a traffic nightmare trying to beat Peebles quarry development on the grounds of too much traffic. She was a partner with crazy Eileen Carey, who claimed she had Native American ancestors buried in the quarry and tried to sue Don Peebles for assault because he put his arm on her shoulder when she was dressed in a frog outfit. (Todd Bray was pushing the criminal charges. What else is new).
Now Goldberg is completely contradicting herself to support Peter Loeb's law suit to shut down improvements of Highway One. She lied at a council meeting stating that she knew it was actually illegally parked cars in the neighborhood not claims by the Fire Department that chronic traffic congestion on Highway One, caused emergency response delays resulting in the death of a heart attack victim. The Fire Chief, the Police Chief and even the man's widow all refuted her claim at the same meeting. She didn't even have the decency to apologize to the poor wife of the deceased. If you've ever tried to have a civil or rational discussion with Goldberg about anything she doesn't agree with, you'll find that her specialty is argumentative and irrational confrontation.
Jane Northrop and The Pacifica Tribune really failed on this latest Goldberg soap opera.
Zenter said the would be doing a lot of removal of all the many years of waste from the Quarry operations which would lower the that area so the high tides would channel up the creek and into the wetlands.
If the Chamber doesn't support it ,I don't support it.
Can't wait for Matt Levy as city councilman, get rid of Digre forever.
Anon @ 3:10 there are many not positive things to be said about the Tribs coverage but I was really shocked that not a single word was devoted to the fact Mike Mooney advised he received hate mail for having exercising his rights and signing the petition. That really takes the cake
"Zenter said the would be doing a lot of removal of all the many years of waste from the Quarry operations which would lower the that area so the high tides would channel up the creek and into the wetlands." For high tides to reach all the way back to the wetland area, it would have to be lowered many feet. It already is a wetland and Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area (ESHA). They couldn't do this. Also, wouldn't the high tides flood the apartments? Doesn't make any sense.
The real haters in Pacifica are the faux-enviros. Most of them are social rejects and this is their revenge.
@ Sharon, I seriously doubt Mike got any hate mail. I've passed him several times in the quarry in the last couple of months and always said "Hi Mick", but he has never acknowleged my salute. For reference, in the past. Mick has always stopped me to talk about the widening. I don't believe anyone sent him hate mail.
"Mike didn't say hi, therefore, I know what mail he has received."
For those who think Bob Battalio is a "one trick pony" only interested in managed retreat, I suggest that you watch his segment from the sea level rise conference. He discusses all options and shows which can be used in each of Pacifica's coastal areas. You can watch it here, he starts at about 43 minutes in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHyIbe-5UAs
Try pinning Battalio down on a single solution and he defers to "managed retreat" everytime. He preaches that ANY armament of the coast only results in erosion. He believes that wetlands, sand and cliffs are the only things that belong on the coast, human habitat be damned.
Naturally the NIMBY eco-bullies, who mostly live back in the valleys or on hilltops, buy his line of crap 100% because they have nothing to lose. The more dysfunctional Pacifica is the easier it is for them to keep out "evil developers".
See how it works?
Anon @ 2:18 this is why independent info is needed @ Todd Bray on my weekly walk through the Quarry the Tuesday before the meeting, Mike told me had received hate mail and further at the meeting he stood up to express his thoughts about the future of that site and again mentioned he had received hate mail. I am sure you can stop by any day of the week to ask him yourself.
Sharon, if Mick has really received hate mail I hope he turns the items over to the police.
@ May 20 3:10 I'm surprised there's not more of an uproar about Jane Northrop's obvious unethical reporting in her article 3 weeks ago http://www.pacificatribune.com/news/pacificans-rally-against-quarry-development/article_251bb472-12e4-11e6-aca4-47e81f6a6da6.html
Isn't a reporter supposed to let the public know if they favor one side or have a personal interest?
Let's play a game. Can you guess how many journalistic ethics rules were breached in that one story that would lead to serious consequences at other papers?
Nice to know the same old Tribune is alive and altering truth for NIMBY's.
I noticed they printed a correction last week on page 2 about Jane saying she saw signs all over town after someone I know called her on it. There are several other huge problems with that article like not interviewing anyone that wanted this on the ballot, as well as other stories Jane's written on the subject lately.
I'd say let the papers new publishers know if you don't want to see this continue at least with this issue and the upcoming City Council race.
Speaking of hate mail, a man in favor of quarry development was saying on NextDoor that he reported to Pacifica PD that he was threatened with physical violence for his statements on the Restore the Quarry Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/restorepacificaquarry/?rc=p
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