Thursday, September 8, 2016

Consequences if Measure W fails, NIMBY caused alternative


As promised by the developer, without the Quarry residential housing approved by the voters, something commercial will be built, plus a no public access Mitigation Bank.

Pacifica Tribune/Jane Northrop Staff Writer, 8/31/16. "Growth vs. no-growth passions ignited with quarry initiative."

Image result for Mitigation bank picture
No trails here, and no dog walking
....  "Because Pacificans have the right to vote on housing units in the Quarry, the issue about whether or not to change the zoning to allow 206 residential units will be decided in Measure W on the November ballot.  ....  Paul Heule (Enhoorn, LLC) proposes building 206 apartment units on 87 acres in a residential village that also includes retail shops and some live-work units. ...“There will be some nice restaurants and specialty shops, anything special that is a destination location.

....  “The residential count compared to the retail count shows significantly less impact to Highway 1. This is a big benefit to traffic,” he said. “We would work with the Rockaway merchants and do something that would make us congruent with that community, an integrated walkable area. I do not believe the length of time waiting in traffic will be significantly longer. The impact will be minimal.”  He expects a full traffic study to be completed next month.

....  When asked about what he would build if the initiative did not pass, he said, “We own it outright. We are not going away. Look at the existing zoning. It would be like a shopping center. That’s not something I want to do, but I need to look at every option. To create a mitigation bank, we would take a portion of it and create beautiful wetlands, but public access would be taken away. That would be the downside. We overestimated the amount of wetlands that are there. The little trail is protected but anything else is fair game for a mitigation bank.”  Read article.

Image result for Mitigation bank picture
Mitigation Bank, no public access
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Reference. The Pacifica Quarry, Restore and Connect/The Team.  "PROPERTY OWNERS Preserve@Pacifica, LLC purchased the quarry property in 2014 with a commitment to undertake a sensitive balance of restoration and site-appropriate development. Eenhoorn, LLC, a property management company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, represents the quarry property owners. Founded in 1988 by the father-son team of Carl and Paul Heule, Eenhoorn subscribes to a balanced, long-term investment strategy for managing a select international portfolio of residential and commercial properties. They are committed to being good stewards of the earth while providing high quality, safe environments for people to work, play and live in, from affordable housing to Class A high-rise apartments."  ...

Reference.  Mitigation Banking, Investopedia/Jikram Jhawar, 3/16/15, "Understanding the basics of Mitigation Banking." .... "A mitigation bank is a site developed for such a purpose. The person or entity undertaking such restoration work is referred to as a mitigation banker. Just as a commercial bank has cash as an asset that it can loan to customers, a mitigation bank has mitigation credits as its assets that it can eventually sell to those who are trying to offset mitigation debits. Generally these purchasers of mitigation credits are individuals or entities undertaking commercial projects."

Note photographs. Man in wetlands vegetation from Greens...Wetlands Mitigation Bank.  Bird image from image from HCFCD - Greens...Wetlands Mitigation Bank, and it's automated.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its private property. Its zoned commercial. Its appropriate for warehouses/office spaces and hotels. Maybe they should start with dual use warehouse/office spaces and market it to Google or FaceBook or any of the new cloud companies etc. They can solve the last mile connectivity issue from CalTrain and BART using their private buses.

They should also look into condotels. They should just get started and put something in place instead of trying to reason with the city to develop homes. Its tiresome to try and see reason with NIMBIES.

Unknown said...

If you want to hang out with Nimbies and have a great brownie, there is a fundraiser to be held at Shelldance tommorow, sept 11, from 2-4 pm. Hope to see you all there.

Julie Re said...

He could put warehouses, a hotel, and commercial there now. The problem is, he makes his money from apartments. He bought the Quarry, knowing the quarry wasn't zoned residential. That's a personal problem, not a NIMBIE caused problem.

Kathy Meeh (segment building, and profit) said...

".... he makes his money from apartments."

Julie 1113, is that kind of like the other 2 proposed significant mixed-use Quarry projects (2003, 2006), which would have brought in redevelopment monies (80% tax revenue dollars)? And all the other significant developments NIMBIES oppose?

Result, the City ends up with the consequences. More permanent empty space, good projects never built, local developers bankrupt, potential developers look then leave, Harmony@1, possibly this 25% minimal project, etc.

The reason most people work, the reason business continues has to do with necessary profit. Profit is not a dirty word, it's a component of any society, and a survival necessity.
With this project (as with other similar projects), isn't it the case that the hotel and housing would be built in segments about the same time, allowing for efficient utility infrastructure?

Anonymous said...

No it is not the case. There's no guarantee that a hotel would even be built, let alone at the same time as the 206-unit 4-story apartment building.

Steve Sinai said...

Yeah, warehouses are just what Pacifica needs. How about more self-storage units?

Julie Re said...

Steve, 9/8 @ 2:14 mentioned the warehouses. The point is, Kathleen, and everyone, is that any post 1983 buyer of the quarry knows exactly what can be built there.

Without a public vote.

Maybe he should have started with that.