Question: How will a proposal to prohibit single-family homes in areas designated Coastside Open Space Conservation affect the Burnham Strip?
Name: McEachen family
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Background: From her living room window, Jamie McEachen's view is a framed portrait of blue and green.
On sunny days, the Pacific Ocean sparkles in the distance. Closer to home, children and dogs romp through wild grass across the street on the other side of Avenue Alhambra.
The idyllic scene is possible due to a lack of development in that grassy area, known as the Burnham Strip.
A bone of contention for decades, the narrow stretch of open space buffers the town of El Granada from bustling Highway 1 and is designated as Coastside Open Space Conservation.
As part of an ongoing effort to update the local land use plan, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors is considering a recommendation to prohibit single-family homes in COSC districts, such as the Burnham Strip. Residences are one of the few types of low-intensity development currently permitted there. Under the county proposal, agriculture, nurseries and recreational uses will still be allowed.
The San Mateo County Association of Realtors along with some landowners and property-rights activists oppose the move. They, along with numerous others, speaking both for and against the proposal, made their case Tuesday at a hearing in front of the Board of Supervisors.
David Byers, an attorney representing Robert Russi, who owns a small .83-acre parcel on the strip, was there. He said his client is displeased with the county proposal.
Russi and business partner Wayne Impink had for years been trying to develop a residence on the property. The project, now dormant, was appealed at every turn.
If the county proposal passes, "it's going to affect them dramatically," Byers said. "It would make the land valueless."
Across from McEachen's home on Palma Street, a similar project involving creation of a single-family home on the Burnham Strip, has been proposed.
The Board of Supervisors, which is reviewing the numerous changes to the Midcoast Local Program, may add a provision to grandfather in existing projects, allowing them to be built if they ultimately meet county standards. A grandfather clause is not mandatory, however.
For McEachen, the most important reason to preserve the area is not the view but the recreational opportunities presented there in such close proximity to the town - "the idea of having open space that's available to everybody," she explained.
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