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| Burnham Strip fire station? By Jim Welte--Half Moon Bay Review Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 2:25 PM PST Nary a subject has sparked as much contentious Coastside debate as the future of the Burnham Strip. And although the issue has died down in the past year, a recent presentation by San Mateo County Harbor District General Manager Peter Grenell could change that. At the Dec. 11 meeting of the Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District Board, Grenell made a proposal that would call for a brand new El Granada fire station on the northwest corner of the strip, allowing the harbor district to take control of the current fire station and likely lease it out to a commercial entity. "The question is, is it politically feasible?" Grenell said. At issue is a six-acre portion of the 26-acre strip between El Granada homes and Highway 1, from the light at the harbor to the new light at Coronado. Most of the strip contains privately owned parcels, but the district owns six acres to the west of the current fire station, and the fire station itself. The fire district has leased the building for years, and its current lease is set to run out in three years. Grenell said that the fire district would be ensured of a long-term lease if it made the swap, but also noted that his board would be willing to accommodate whatever the fire district board decided to do. That would include a decision to remain in the current building and negotiate a longer-term lease, he said. Several fire board members and Fire Chief Jim Asche have said the current El Granada fire station is in a state of disrepair, but they are wary of the potential opposition to Grenell's proposal. "We've had a lot of negative comments about the strip from citizens in the area," Director Frances Navin said. "Do you think that they would change their minds?" "My observation is that the bulk of the concern if not outright opposition comes from a very narrow segment of the population," Grenell replied. "If we were able to provide the bulk of the property for open space, a new fire house and a meeting room, the broader community will rally behind it." Granada Sanitary District board member and El Granada resident Leonard Woren, a vocal opponent of past development proposals on the strip, said the proposal was a desperate attempt by the harbor district. "Most of the community would be vehemently opposed to that," he said. "This is just nothing but a scheme to get a building for free. It's so transparent that that is what's going on here." But Grenell may have garnered the backing of a vital supporter in Supervisor Rich Gordon. In his proposal, Grenell noted that the harbor district would likely allow the remaining five acres of its piece of the strip to be dedicated as open space once if the firehouse deal occurred. To Gordon, who chairs the Midcoast Parks & Recreation Task Force assigned to eventually create a parks district for the region, said the possibility of having the bulk of the six acres kept as open space into perpetuity was quite interesting to him. "It's a very, very intriguing proposal," he said. "It's a very attractive proposition to keep the balance of it as open space." Gordon noted that he still had several remaining questions about the proposal, including whether a fire station was an allowed use for the land. Both Woren and longtime strip preservationist Leni Schultz, who created the well known "Save the Strip" sign and positioned it in her yard directly across from the strip for years until recently, said the use would not be permitted under county land use law. But Grenell said he has received assurances from county officials in both the planning and environmental services departments that such a use would be permitted. |