There's just so much wrong here. Where to begin?
First, the Strip is zoned Community Open Space Conservation (COSC), the purpose of which "is to protect areas designated for general open space in adopted Community Plans... which preserves, to the greatest degree possible, the visual and open characteristics of the land" (county zoning rules).
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COSC zoning provides for "one story not to exceed 16 feet in height," allowing 10 percent parcel coverage. Among allowed "institutional uses," fire stations do not appear.
Then, COSC is rural designated land inside the urban/rural boundary, which cannot be serviced by at least some utilities. How can they build a fire station with these restrictions?
At the Candidate's Forum (Sept. 29), every Half Moon Bay Fire District board candidate present, two of whom now sit on the board, said the Strip was not appropriate for a new fire station.
The other new board member, Bert Silva, was endorsed by the League for Coastside Protection, and I assume he holds a similar position. Citizens for the Preservation of El Granada (CPEG) and the ad hoc Burnham Strip Committee will hold these Board members publicly accountable for their campaign positions.
Grenell claims "the bulk of concern if not outright opposition comes from a very narrow segment of the population."
Wrong.
I have personally spoken to and petitioned El Granadans about development of the Strip; not a single person I met - not one! - thought it acceptable to build there.
Community opposition is massive and, from my experience, virtually unanimous. As for Grenell's assertion that "the broader community will rally behind" providing open space by building on it, he knows not of which he speaks.
Matthew Clark lives in El Granada. He is a recently elected board member of the Granada Sanitary District.
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