Vallemar Bluffs is the last remaining undeveloped blufftop in the Midcoast area of Moss Beach. In addition to its sweeping coastal views, rocky cliffs and erodible bluffs, the site supports environmentally sensitive Coastal Prairie Grasslands where four rare plants are found, including the endangered Coast Yellow Leptosiphon. There is an informal trail along the blufftops...
Tag: coast
Dunes Beach Makes a Splash
As the Half Moon Bay City Council gathered for its first meeting of 2019, council chambers began to fill… and kept filling. Residents opposing Dunes Beach arrived by the dozen, many carrying homemade signs featuring the snowy plover. The spherical bird has been an emblem for the campaign against hotel and RV park development adjacent...
What You Don’t See on the Coast
When Committee for Green Foothills was formed in 1962, land speculators, Chambers of Commerce, and eager elected officials had already set their sights squarely on the San Mateo coast. Spurred by California’s post-World War II building boom, and in keeping with the commonly held notion that development was inevitable, San Mateo County planners had created...
Helen’s LTE on Offshore Oil Drilling
Editor, Thank you for the recent op-ed, “Expanded offshore drilling terrible for state,” from Supervisors Don Horsley and David Canepa (in the Jan. 24 edition of the Daily Journal) on the county ban on all offshore oil and gas drilling, fracking and other well stimulation in federal and state waters off of San Mateo County...
Tell Governor Brown to Sign SB 42 to Protect Martin’s Beach Access
Update: On October 8, 2017 Governor Brown vetoed SB 42. We are no longer asking people to email him about this issue. The California state legislature has passed a bill, SB 42, that provides the funding mechanism needed to restore public access to Martin’s Beach. Write Governor Jerry Brown TODAY in support of SB 42...
Vinod Khosla Continues Effort to Destroy California’s Coastal Program
By Mark Massara On Thursday, June 15, a three justice panel of the California Court of Appeals became the sixth California court to hear lawyers for Vinod Khosla complain that having to apply for a permit amounts to government “takings” of private property along California’s coast. Based on the Court’s questions and skepticism expressed during...
Speak Up For the Coast by August 14!
As you may have heard, new coastal marine sanctuaries and monuments (designated or expanded in the past 10 years) are currently under review by the federal government in an effort to expand offshore oil and gas drilling. Please join me in speaking up for our coast by August 14. What You Can Do 1. Tell...
Undoing Decades of Coastal Protection?
“The coast is never saved. It is always being saved.” – Peter Douglas, past Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission WHAT’S HAPPENING? Threats to the California coast are nothing new. For over 40 years, California’s 1976 Coastal Act has held back a steady stream of development threats – successfully preserving sweeping coastlines, protecting sensitive...
Half Moon Bay Coastal Plan Falls Short
By Lennie Roberts, Legislative Advocate It’s been almost three years since Half Moon Bay began an ambitious update of its General Plan, Local Coastal Program, and Zoning Ordinance. The city has now released the First Public Review Draft of its Local Coastal Program Land Use Plan. Unfortunately, the Draft Plan’s policies regarding protection of sensitive...
Protecting Our Coast
by Lennie Roberts, Legislative Advocate “THE COAST IS NEVER SAVED, IT IS ALWAYS BEING SAVED.” – Peter Douglas Former Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission, 1942-2012 It seems that every few years it’s necessary to “save” the California coast — over and over again. With astonishing effectiveness, the people of this great state have...