Voice of the Coast

Three of the six candidates running for the Half Moon Bay City Council have a public record on development and the environment in our city: Mike Ferreira, Jim Grady, and Naomi Patridge.

Mike and Jim are running as incumbents, but neither has spent nearly as much time on the council as Naomi Patridge. Mr Ferreira and Mr Grady are currently seeking their second term; Ms Patridge served four terms on the HMB city council, from 1985 to 2001. Keeping in mind that it takes more than one council member to render a decision, and that the complexity of some of the issues deserves a thorough discussion, I thought it might be interesting to summarize some of the key actions of the city council and its staff during the tenures of Ms Patridge, Mr Ferreira, and Mr Grady.

1. Approval of the Pacific Ridge Development for 213 homes ...............................Patridge
2. Legal agreement reducing Pacific Ridge to 63 homes ......................Grady & Ferreira
3. Approval of the Beachwood development for 85 homes ....................................Patridge
4. Denial of the Beachwood Development on environmental grounds ..Grady & Ferreira
5. Approval of Glen Cree development for 46 homes .............................................Patridge
6. Denial of the Glen Cree Development on environmental grounds ....Grady & Ferreira
7. Approval of original Wavecrest project for 750 homes .......................................Patridge
8. Approval of a 279-home Wavecrest project .......................................................Patridge
9. Reduction of Wavecrest from 279 to 217 homes .............................Grady & Ferreira
10. Cessation of ditch maintenance by the city.......................................................Patridge
11. Purchase of land for City Park for $1.5 million below appraisal .....Grady & Ferreira

All told, the number residential units in new developments went from a total of 1,094 approved during Ms Patridge’s tenure to the current figure of 280.

In 1995 the people of HMB voted to reduce the size of the initial Wavecrest project, and subsequently, Council members Grady and Ferreira led the negotiation of a further reduction from 623 to 280.

Given that current projections of the city’s expenditure for the average single family home over a ten year period is over $9,000 (“Fiscal Analysis of New Residential Development” by Doug Svensson, Applied Development Economics, 6 Nov 2003, available on city website), the reduction of 814 homes saved us all a great deal of money.

Lani Ream
Half Moon Bay