San Mateo County is postponing a Planning Commission meeting that could put the controversial Big Wave project in motion. The meeting, at which commissioners can stamp the Environmental Impact Report and green light the project, was set for March 10, but it’s being delayed indefinitely.
“There is no tentative date,” said County Planner Camille Leung. She said the meeting may take place in April, “possibly.” “It’s very tentative at this point.”
The proposed Princeton development calls for a 225,000-square-foot, three-story office park paired with a cooperative-style wellness center for developmentally disabled people on Airport Street, between Half Moon Bay Airport and Pillar Point Air Force Station. As the project trudges through the county review process, it’s become a lightning rod for controversy, drawing scrutiny from Midcoast residents, advocacy groups and a few regulatory agencies as well.
Authors of the draft Environmental Impact Report for the project are busy sifting through more than 300 comments submitted during the public review period, which ended in December. The sheer volume makes a meeting date tough to set in stone, Leung said.
“It’s taking much longer than we thought. … The schedule is completely up in the air right now,” she said.
Planning commissioners are, however, sticking to a March 8 site visit to inspect the physical stature of the proposed development via story poles, Leung said. The poles aren’t up yet, and they’re not required to be in place until 10 days prior to the Planning Commission meeting. Putting off the March 10 meeting “takes the heat off the story poles a bit” in terms of the county’s time requirements, Leung said. But the delay isn’t having any bearing on the site visit, which could prompt the poles sooner.
“The applicant is aware that the Planning Commission wants to the see the story poles,” Leung said.
Big Wave spokeswoman Nicole DeMartini said putting the story poles together has "turned out to be quite the project," but added that the group plans to have them in place before the site visit.
"We'll have them up in time for the March 8 hearing, of course," DeMartini said.
