Anyone who disagrees with Keener must be either a Realtor or someone stirred up by them - John Keener

Keener sez

Blogmaster's note: Got a hold of this letter from city council member John Keener to Coastal Commission member Carol Groom. It looks like Keener is trying to change the wording of a proposed resolution from the Coastal Commission in order to make managed retreat in Pacifica easier to impose.  

I can't claim to be totally clear on the details of the proposed resolution, but I did find it annoying that Keener repeats the mindless NIMBY argument that anyone who doesn't agree with them must be an evil Realtor or an easily manipulated idiot who can't think for themselves.  Doesn't show much respect for Pacifica voters.

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On Aug 6, 2018, at 4:48 PM, John Keener wrote: Hi Carole, As you know, Pacifica is formulating a SLR plan for incorporation into its LCP update. It is funded in large part by a grant from the Coastal Commission. We've had considerable controversy already (mainly from realtors and folks stirred up by them) about managed retreat. The Coastal Commission staff strongly suggests we should consider it, and we are. 

The resolution before you this month has raised further controversy, in that some are interpreting it as a loss of local control, and a lack of sympathy from the commission staff for cities that have urban areas next to the ocean, like Pacifica. Myself, I wonder, why are staff bringing this resolution forward. It seems to me to be a statement of existing policy. Perhaps that policy is unwritten? Perhaps it's a prelude to something else? These 2 clauses about armoring and sand replenishment seem true to me, I can't argue with them: “Whereas, the use of shoreline armoring to protect threatened development, including public infrastructure, as well as the presence of the armoring structures themselves, prevents the landward migration of the shoreline and coastal habitats, causing further degradation and loss of beaches, shorelines, and related coastal habitats, and these effects, in concert with sea level rise, will further degrade the public’s ability to access and recreate along the coast;” “Whereas, beach replenishment is one alternative to shoreline armoring, but replenishing beaches with sand is replete with challenges, including high costs, impacts to natural resources, limited sand sources, and the temporary nature of the replenishment;” Agreed that sand replenishment, which could play a big part in Pacifica's proposed adaptation strategy, but will probably not be actually performed for the reasons given, is not a very realistic alternative. The resolution part of this: “Ensuring that shoreline armoring is only permitted if necessary and if no less environmentally damaging feasible alternative is available;” I think should be modified to: “Ensuring that shoreline armoring is only permitted if necessary to save existing structures or infrastructure and if no less environmentally damaging economically feasible alternative is available;” Saving existing structures or infrastructure, it could be argued, makes the statement more stringent, but it also targets the armoring to 1 or 2 conditions. On the other hand, adding the word economically makes it much more a realistic policy. I wonder about the legal implications of "takings" also, but I am not a lawyer. I also worry about unfunded liability of the potential "takings". I think that the law is undeveloped in this area, to say the least. Certainly legislation is undeveloped. Another way of saying what's on my mind, is that an urban area with existing development right up to the bluff edge needs a different policy than an area without development. I've tried to give you my concerns, which I think are not as distrustful of commission staff as most in my city. I think you can sort out what my concerns are. And of course I trust you to do the right thing, whatever you decide that is. Best regards, John

Posted by Steve Sinai

Excerpt from Pacifica Tribune publisher's column

PACIFICA COUNCIL

Three seats are up on the Pacifica City Council and the hottest topic in town is whether managed retreat should be an option for Pacifica.

I am of two minds: No and hell no.

There may come a time, if the worst case scenarios on climate change come true in, say, 150 years from now, when managed retreat might begin to make sense. But that time is not now. I say when it comes to our land, our beaches, our homes, our businesses and our beautiful golf course, we fight for every inch of soil and sand we can keep.

I hope those running this election cycle declare themselves on the issue of managed retreat. People want to know before they vote.

Submitted by Mark Stechbart.

Planning Commission meeting, Monday August 6, 2018

Attend in person, 2212 Beach Boulevard, 2nd floor.  Or, view on local Pacific Coast television, Pacifica Channel 26.  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: City Council/Planning Commission Agendas, and City Planning Commission website.  Channel 26 television schedule, see Monday, 8/6/18.

Interactive Planning Commission agenda, 8/6/18.    Planning Commission agenda, 8/6/18, pdf pages 82.

Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.  Item: unknown.

Item 1: site development, 195 Carmel Avenue.

Open Session, 7:00 p.m.  Administrative:  approval of order of agenda, approval of draft minutes,  a) 7/16/18.  Designation of Planning Commission liaison to City Council meeting, none. 

Communications: Public (oral).

Consent items  

1.    Planning use permit determination for Crawford & Hanson Law Offices, LLP, which is considering relocation of their professional office to the first floor commercial space at 195 Carmel Avenue, once the mixed-use building is complete.   

Zoning is C-1 (neighborhood commercial), in the CZ (Coastal Zone).  The Planning Administrator's has determination that no parking exception use permit approval is needed, report.  a) Resolution 955.  Correspondence from Crawford & Hanson Law Offices, LLP:  b) Letter requesting determination, 7/23/18.  c) Email listing broad client location geography,7/12/18.

Consideration items

2.    Planning Department mid-year update, report.  a) City Council Goals and Workplan, FY 2018-19, see prioritized projects/initiatives, page 2.  b) Active Planning applications spreadsheet, view or print to view, pdf pages 5.

Communications:  Planning Commission, Staff.  Adjourn.     

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Reference, development/planning acronyms.  APN, Assessor's parcel number.  CDP, Coastal Development permit. CZ, (Coastal Zone Combining) zoning districts. DP, development permit. GPA, General Plan Amendment.  LDR, low density residential.  PD, Planned Development.  PE, Parking Exception. PSD, Site Development permit. PV, Permit Variance. S, Sign permit. SE, Sign Exception. SP, Specific Plan. RIA, Rent Increase Application.  SUB Subdivision. TA, text amendment (ordinance). UP, Use permit.  Zoning: California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).  CA CEQA Guidelines, Article 19, Categorical Exemptions: Class 1 categorical exemption, section 15301. Freestanding single-family residences set-back and parking, C-1, neighborhood commercial. C-3, Service Commercial.  R1, single-family residential, Reference.com.  S, City of Pacifica Sign ordinance.  CA code, accessory (second residential) dwelling units, 65852.2.  Zoning/Planning Handouts, City of Pacifica.  RZ, rezoning.  TDR, transfer of development rights (urban planning).  City: Capital Improvement program (CIP), Title/Ordinances/Municipal Code. General Plan. (GP) update documents, background history.  Pacifica Municipal Code (PMC). Local Coastal Land Use Plan, (LCLUP), update documents.  

Note photograph by Google: 195 Carmel Avenue from Redfin.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Pacifica Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan

http://www.cityofpacifica.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?t=71473.05&BlobID=14414

Posted by Steve Sinai

Save our homes and businesses

Jim Wagner and Mark Stechbart

To quote Mark Twain “No one’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” Or the Pacifica CityCouncil.

Let’s review the severe threat to homeowner value posed by the city’s sea level rise planning. It hits existing homes and businesses and all future development and remodeling.

The flood zone has not been clearly described to Pacifica homeowners and businesses. Everything west of Hwy 1 is exposed. In Linda Mar, everything west of an imaginary dotted line from Peralta Road to Fernandez Way is in the flood zone.

Managed retreat is in the sea level planning document. That means let the sea erosion chew east. Which properties are protected and which are unprotected? What neighborhoods will enjoy shoreline protection like seawalls and which will be unprotected? We don’t know because after months of talk, the members of the Council has not made a firm decision. Our suggestion is managed retreat must be rejected for the entire Pacifica coastline to protect our existing homes and businesses. Protecting homes must be the first priority.

Properties in the flood zone include at least several hundred homes; most of our hotels; Hwy 1; 80 percent of all Pacifica businesses; sewer, water and communications lines; schools; shopping centers. In short, the heart of Pacifica.

The City’s sea level planning incorporates a lot of California Coastal Commission language that is also under review but not fully disclosed to Pacifica homeowners. The Coastal Commission wants this: structures in the flood zone will need a bond or lien, paid for by the owner, to pay for the structure to be moved or demolished and the affected area restored at the applicant’s expense. The coastal commission will determine removal “triggers” and the date the order is given.

Will Pacifica become labeled the “Town Falling into the Sea”? The consequences and domino effect are clear. Home values will stall or drop. Buyers will be uncertain about buying a 30-year mortgage for a home under a sea level cloud. Mortgages will be tough to get if the property life is unknown.

Insurance will be hard to secure and expensive. Who wants to move to a town where the business district is eroding? When Hwy 1 is threatened, east side home values will suffer if buyers can’t commute out of town. When sea level rise threatens sewer and water lines, all homes and businesses in town, regardless of location, will face hundreds of millions in new taxes to move the pipes and facilities further east.

And here is the final insult to not having a clear rejection of managed retreat and a full commitment to shoreline protection: city finances take a huge hit and bond ratings drop.

Fifty percent of total city revenue for essential city services comes from property taxes. The math is simple—do anything to damage property value and city tax collections drop. Additionally, Moody’s, the bond rating company, has already warned coastal towns that if property values are not maintained from sea level rise, bonds ratings will drop. The City and school districts rely on property values to pay off their bonds. If property values are dropping or uncertain, bond costs increase and investors will hesitate to buy the bonds because the underlying ability to repay is questionable. No one in the City or school districts is talking about sea level issues damaging the fundamental economic health of Pacifica.

Our solution is for an informed citizenry to attend the next sea level rise meeting Saturday, Aug. 11, noon, in the community center. Ask, even demand, that City Council and anyone running for Council this November take a full-throated pledge to reject managed retreat and pledge to support shoreline protection measures. Our homes and businesses require the certainty of a clear Council policy. No reason to study managed retreat when that policy will cut the heart out of Pacifica. Managed retreat—a bad idea we can’t afford.

(Jim Wagner and Mark Stechbart are longterm Pacifica residents active in the Pacifica Business and Community PAC supporting forward looking solutions to Pacifica issues.)

Submitted by Jim Wagner

Pacifica Progressive Alliance City Council Candidates Endorsement Questionnaire

Blogmaster's note : As usual, the Pacifica Progressive Alliance is fixated on using Pacifica's tax dollars to save the world, and shows absolutely no interest in economic development, the city's finances, or the nuts-and-bolts of running a city, such as filling potholes and maintaining public services and infrastructure. 

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Please fill out and return to the PPA via email at pacificaprogressive@gmail.com by 5pm August 19th. Use as much space as you need.

1. What is your position on the workforce housing proposed for Oddstad Blvd?

2. What do you think the City Council should do for people living in RVs and cars?

3. What commitments do you think Pacifica should take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change.

4. What would you do as a council member to improve public transportation?

5. Would you help to designate Pacifica as a Compassionate City and what would a Compassionate City of Pacifica do?

6. What do you want to do for Pacifica and what experiences have most prepared you to serve our community?

7. What would you do for immigrants in Pacifica?

8. What would you do about income disparity in Pacifica?

9. Given that Caltrans has not acted accountably to Pacifica, what would you do as a City Council member to change that?

10. Where do you stand on city liability for new development in at-risk areas?

Posted by Steve Sinai

City Council meeting, Monday July 23, 2018

Attend in person, 2212 Beach Boulevard, 2nd floor.  Or, view on local Pacific Coast television, Pacifica Channel 26.  If you miss civic meetings, view on PCT 26 You Tube!  For Channel 26 television schedule, see Monday, 7/23/18.  The City Council meeting begins at 7 p.m., or shortly there following.    City Council Agendas and Minutes archives are available on the City website.

Interactive City Council meeting agenda, 7/23/18.  City Council meeting agenda, 7/23/18. pdf pages 237.

Closed session, 5:30 p.m.

Item 11. New NIMBY alternative plan for solving
highway 1 traffic. Just kidding, after all...
they have to get out of town too, and should.

1.     CA code 54957.6.  Conference with labor negotiator, Janet Cory Sommer.  Pacifica Firefighters Local 2400, Teamsters Local 856 Battalion Chiefs;  Teamsters Local 350 Management Employees, Management Employees, Teamsters Local 856 Miscellaneous Employees;  Teamsters Local 856 WasteWater Treatment Plant Employees; Pacifica Police Officers Association, Pacifica Police Supervisors Association, and Police Management.

Open session, 7:00 p.m.  Call to order, roll call, salute to flag.  Closed Session report, none. Special Session report, none. 
Consent Calendar 
1.     Approval of financial disbursements (checks), FY 2017-18:  6/16/18 - 6/30/18. 

2.     Approval of Minutes, report.  a) 7/9/18.

3.     Notice of completion: Pacifica Pier wall caps replacement project, report/Resolution.  a) Notice of completion.

4.     Notice of completion: Milagra Creek sinkhole repair project, report/Resolution.  a) Notice of completion.

5.     Notice of completion: 500 Esplanade coastal protection rock revetment repair project, report/Resolution.

6.     Notice of completion: Supply and installation of new stainless steel fuel tanks: Linda Mar and Sharp Park lift stations project, report/Resolution.  a) Notice of completion.

7.     Notice of completion: Crespi sanitary sewer repair project (COO5E), Crespi Drive to Linda Mar Bach parking lot, report/Resolution.  a) Notice of completion.

8.     Approve renewal of tree maintenance and emergency services, FY 2018-19: Davey Tree Expert Company, report. a) Agreement.

9.     Approve preliminary planning study for Manor Drive overcrossing improvement project, report. a) Agreement. 

10.   Recommendation of applicants for the 2018 rotational tow program, report.  Applications: a)  Big Guys Towing. b)  Miller & O'Brien, Inc., c)  Tom's Auto Body & Towing, Inc.
Communications (oral).  Public, City Council, City Staff. 

 

Consideration

11.   Approval of Alta Planning + Design consultant services agreement: bicycle and pedestrian master plan, report.  a) Agreement.  Overview and Summary proposals:  b) Alta. Alternative c) TJKM.

12.   Adopted budget funding amendment, 2018-19: North County Fire Authority fire engine, report, Resolution. a) Formal Proposal: 1 engine $602,083.05.

13.  Designate a City Council voting delegate (and an alternative, up to two) to attend the League of California Cities annual conference: Long Beach, September 12-14, 2018 report.  a) Voting delegate designation and procedural information form.

Adjourn.    Note photograph by Andrew Boone from Streets Blog SF, 4/1/14, "Spectacular new Devil's Slide trail difficult to reach without a car."

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Sister District ("Blue Wave") Project, Democrats meeting, this Saturday July 21, 2018

The monthly meeting of the Pacifica-Daly City Democrats Club is this Saturday, July 21st. Gaby Goldstein and Lisa Diaz Nash, representatives from the Sister District Project, will tell us about their grassroots organization, formed after the November 2016 elections to mend America’s seriously flawed democratic system and promote equal governmental representation. 

We promise a spirited discussion on a number of topics, including Justice Kennedy’s successor to the Supreme Court, partisan gerrymandering, “District-flipping” and Sister District’s efforts to bring about a Big Blue Wave this fall.

The Club’s July 21st meeting will begin at 9:30am in the rear banquet room at the Sharp Park Golf Course Restaurant.  A full breakfast is available at $12, a continental breakfast at $6 or just coffee for $3, although no purchase is necessary. This meeting is open to the general public. You need not be a member of the Club to attend, although we welcome your membership. 

  

Submitted by Connie Menefee, President of the Pacifica-Daly City Democrats Club

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Reference, Sister District Project, website.  ":....  Sister District aims to ensure that all Americans have equal representation and our government works for all people, not just the minority in power. We organize volunteers into local teams based on where they live, and "sister" this deep blue energy with swing districts across the country to support strategic state races that matter. We are open to volunteers and candidates of all genders."  Facebook.  Ballotpedia: from the 527 group, "..... In 1976, 527 groups were established in the wake of the Buckley v. Valeo U.S. Supreme Court decision, in which it was ruled that the First Amendment protected individuals' right to spend unlimited amounts on political speech. ..."  Note graphic: face page to Join the Sister District Project,  "One Thing You Can Do... Join the Sister District Project ", 4/5/18. "...  an effort to help elect or defend Democrats in races across the country."

Posted by Kathy Meeh