Deadline: December 24th - email a letter on the Draft Environmental Impact Report to the County Planning Dept.

The Pillar Point Marsh wetland/Fitzgerald Marine Reserve (Critical Coastal Area #29 and an Area of Special Biological Significance) in San Mateo County is the target of a huge office park development. The project is in the CEQA review period now and the deadline for comment on the DEIR is December 24th.

If approved the office park would double the amount of commercial real estate on the San Mateo County coastside.

In the past the owners of the property destroyed wetlands under the guise of agriculture and now the property owners/developers are planning a 225,000 square foot Office Park on the site.

DEIR by segments

The deadline for commenting on the Draft Environmental Impact Report is December 24th.

       Big Wave project site: March 23, 2009

Over 90% of the State’s wetlands have been lost. The wetlands at the proposed Big Wave Project site should be restored not developed into a Office Park.

Sample DEIR Letter: email the letter to the County Planning Dept.

San Mateo Co.Planning Dept.

Attn: Camille Leung, Planner

455 County Center, 2^nd Floor

Redwood City, CA 94063

cleung@co.sanmateo.ca.us

Re:  Big Wave Project Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR)

 

While I support the needs of the developmentally disabled, I have the following concerns about the adequacy of the DEIR for the Big Wave Project:

·       Visual Impacts:  Without story poles showing the potential visual impacts of the project, it is impossible to determine the project’s impacts on scenic views.  Four 50-foot tall office buildings would be grossly out of scale with the surrounding natural setting and nearby buildings.

·       Traffic: The DEIR defers any traffic mitigations caused by the project’s 2,123 daily trips to some time after full occupancy.

·       Water and Sewer: There is no guaranteed source of water and no guaranteed disposal of sewage, even though the site is served by public water and sewer agencies.

·       Geology:  The DEIR defers analysis of potentially significant impacts of violent shaking during earthquakes, liquefaction, and differential settlement under the buildings until future studies.

·       Hazards: The housing for developmentally disabled people would be located in a Marine Industrial zone, where all but the most hazardous chemicals are allowed.  Additional hazards from flooding, tsunami inundation, and adjacent airport operations make this a problematic site for an at risk population.

·       Affordability and Economic Viability: There are no enforceable income or affordability restrictions on purchase of housing co-op shares or condos.  The project relies on shaky financial assumptions to support the “affordable” housing.

·       Phased Development: The Office Park’s estimated construction period of 30-36 months in the DEIR is not realistic, given the developer’s intent to phase each building’s construction after rental or sale of each previously constructed building.  Wetlands restoration would not be done until after all construction is complete, which would allow stormwater runoff to carry sediment and other pollutants into the Pillar Point Marsh.

·       Isolation and Employment: Wellness Center residents would be isolated from community resources with reduced opportunities to mingle with the community at large.  Many of the Big Wave programs such as raising organic crops do not depend upon this site being developed.

·       Wetlands destruction: The owners of the property have destroyed wetlands under the guise of agriculture. Over 90% of the State’s wetlands have been lost.  The wetlands at Big Wave should be restored.

Avoid new development in tsunami areas

Tsunami risk can be mitigated most effectively by avoiding or minimizing the exposure of people and property through land use planning. Development should be prevented in high-hazard areas wherever possible. Where development cannot be prevented, land use intensity, building value, and occupancy should be kept to a minimum.
page 15 Seven Principles for Planning and Designing for Tsunami Hazards

4) Review and Update Existing Land Use Element and Other Plans

The existing land use element, other comprehensive plan elements, and special plans should be reviewed to determine what changes are needed to address the tsunami hazard, and be updated as necessary. Land use policies and programs should address tsunami hazards as part of a comprehensive tsunami mitigation program.

Such an update should focus on the location and vulnerability to damage of existing and planned land uses in the community, including the following:

• residential
• commercial/visitor-serving
• industrial (general)
• industrial (hazardous materials)
• public facilities (transportation and water systems)
• critical facilities and systems (communication, emergency response, electrical power, water supply, and natural gas systems)

5) Review and Update Existing Zoning, Subdivision, and Other Regulations

Existing zoning, subdivision, and other regulations should be reviewed and updated with an eye toward mitigating future tsunami losses. Requirements for consistency between the comprehensive plan and zoning and subdivision regulations vary among the states. In California, for example, the zoning code is considered part of the local coastal program (LCP) for coastal communities and is required to be consistent with the general plan.
page 16-17 Seven Principles for Planning and Designing for Tsunami Hazards

Specific Land Use Planning Strategies to Reduce Tsunami Risk  The following are specific recommended land use planning strategies that a community can use to reduce tsunami risk.

Strategy 1: Designate Tsunami Hazard Areas for Open-Space Uses

The designation and zoning of tsunami hazard areas for such open-space uses as agriculture, parks and recreation, or natural hazard areas is recommended as the first land use planning strategy to consider. This strategy is designed to keep development at a minimum in hazard areas. It is particularly effective in areas that have not yet experienced development pressure. It is obviously more difficult in areas that are already partially developed or that have strong development pressures.

Strategy 2: Acquire Tsunami Hazard Areas for Open-Space Uses

A second strategy is to acquire tsunami hazard areas for open-space uses. Open-space acquisition has several advantages over strictly regulatory approaches such as zoning. Acquisition ensures that the land will be controlled by a public agency or nonprofit entity, and it removes any question about a regulatory taking. The primary disadvantage to acquisition is cost.

There are multiple approaches to acquisition. Since land ownership is in effect a bundle of rights, including the rights to sell, lease, and develop the property, some of these rights, such as the right to develop, can be sold separately from the rest of the property.

For example, a purchase of development rights (PDR) program is based on purchasing the right to develop land from the bundle of rights associated with the land. A PDR program involves the purchase of the development rights to a property, generally through the granting of a conservation, open-space, or scenic easement that restricts the uses to which the property owner may put the land. A PDR program can also be constructed to purchase a fee- simple interest in a property and then to resell the property with an easement restricting future development. A similar result can be obtained through purchasing a fee-simple interest and then leasing the property with restrictions on use. PDR programs are more effective in preserving land from development where development pressure has not yet driven up land prices.

Strategy 3: Restrict Development through Land Use Regulations

In areas where it is not feasible to restrict land to open-space uses, other land use planning measures can be used. These include strategically controlling the type of development and uses allowed in hazard areas, and avoiding high-value and high-occupancy uses to the greatest degree possible.

For example, plan designations and zoning districts can use density restrictions or large-lot zoning (e.g., 10-acre minimum) to ensure that only very low- density residential uses are allowed in hazard areas. Another technique is to require clustering of develop- ment on site areas where risks are the lowest.

Strategy 4: Support Land Use Planning through Capital Improvement Planning and Budgeting

The capital improvement planning and budgeting process can be used to reinforce land use planning policies. A major factor in determining future development patterns is where a local jurisdiction chooses to extend sewer and water lines, roads, and other public facilities and services. Decisions can either discourage or encourage development in tsunami and other hazard areas.

Natural hazard risk mitigation should be integrated into infrastructure policy. Infrastructure policies by themselves will not preclude development in certain areas, but they can reinforce land use plans, and they can shape market forces to encourage development in less hazardous areas by not subsidizing infrastruc- ture that serves a higher-risk hazardous area.
page 18-19 Seven Principles for Planning and Designing for Tsunami Hazards

Strategy 5: Adapt Other Programs and Requirements

The safety element of a comprehensive plan and the zoning, subdivision, and other programs designed to implement the comprehensive plan may contain regulations that are applicable to tsunami risk mitigation even if tsunami hazards are not men- tioned explicitly. Many of these programs and regulations can be adapted relatively easily to address tsunami hazards. For example, existing floodplain restrictions, hillside and landslide controls, and environmental, scenic, recreational, and wildlife- protection requirements can help address tsunami hazards and should be modified for that purpose.
page 20 Seven Principles for Planning and Designing for Tsunami Hazards

Seven Principles for Planning and Designing for Tsunami Hazards

Principle 1: Know your community’s tsunami risk: hazard, vulnerability, and exposure

Principle 2: Avoid new development in tsunami run-up areas to minimize future tsunami losses

Principle 3: Locate and configure new development that occurs in tsunami run-up areas to minimize future tsunami losses

Principle 4: Design and construct new buildings to minimize tsunami damage

Principle 5: Protect existing development from tsunami losses through redevelopment, retrofit, and land reuse plans and projects

Principle 6: Take special precautions in locating and designing infrastructure and critical facilities to minimize tsunami damage

Principle 7: Plan for evacuation

  
A multi-state mitigation project of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program

  

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 
• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 
• National Science Foundation (NSF)
• State of Alaska 
• State of California 
• State of Hawaii 
• State of Oregon 
• State of Washington

Big Wave Project time frame uncertain "15-year range"

HMB Review  by: Greg Thomas  Wednesday, Nov 25, 2009

Last week, San Mateo County planners posted appraisal reports on the county Web page indicating that the proposed Big Wave project could take as many as 15 years to fully develop.

That’s a far cry from an estimate in the county’s draft Environmental Impact Report for the project, which suggests the wellness center and office park could be complete within three years.

Big Wave Group spokeswoman Nicole DeMartini said developers want to build the wellness center “as soon as possible.” The office park would be built “as demand arises,” she said.

Developers say their proposed four-building, 225,000-square-foot office park represents the maximum amount of potential office space, and that they would pair down the size of the park to meet demand from potential tenants as the project unfolds.

As designed, many of the job opportunities for the 50 residents at the Big Wave wellness center hinge on the size and occupancy of the adjacent office park. Both of those components have yet to be worked out. DeMartini said the wellness center could function in some capacity without the office park, but that the park ensures the center’s long-term financial stability.

DeMartini said the Big Wave Group is kicking off discussion of a development agreement with county planners this week. Such agreements allow developers to build their projects in phases.

“No one has a crystal ball. … We want to make sure we’re going to build something that would actually be utilized by local residents,” DeMartini said.

County Planning and Building Director of Community Development Lisa Grote said development agreements are common in cases where building projects are phased to take between 10 and 25 years to complete.
  
“They’re mostly in the 10- to 15-year range,” she said.

Big Wave: Dead Wrong on the Tsunami Inundation Zone

2.9 Environmental Sustainability

  

"Design the project so that the 200 year tsunami event does not impact the project."

"Design the project so that the impacts of 100 year global warming do not impact the project."
  
                                                          -  Big Wave Facilities Plan: Draft #2

The project site is currently in the San Mateo County tsunami inundation zone and in an area that will be under water is 100 years if sea level rise projections are correct.

Would $500,000. cover the cost to operate the Big Wave Sanatorium for 1 Year?

2.6 Financial Sustainability

  

"One of the major keys to the long-term viability of Big Wave Wellness Center is its financial sustainability.

  

Will funds be there to care for the residents as time and inflation grind on? What steps is Big Wave taking to insure that in 30 years, after the project founders and the residents’ caregivers may have gone, there will be sufficient recurring revenue to maintain the level of service that the residents will need?

A goal will be to develop the Big Wave Office Park in a manner that it provides a long term source of income and a market for the jobs and materials that the Wellness Center has to offer.

  

Demonstrate financial sustainability of the Office Park. Develop the Office Park so that it generates between $500,000 and $1,000,000 per year for the operation of the Wellness Center."
  
 -  Big Wave Facilities Plan: Draft #2

Big Wave: Reserves the Right to Discriminate?

"Big Wave intends to select individuals regardless of their economic and racial backgrounds but reserves the right to discriminate based on the type of services available as well as the personalities and abilities of the applicants."
                                                                  -  Big Wave Facilities Plan: Draft #2