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| Battle over Burnham continues By Marc Longpre--[ marc@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 2:01 PM PDT When San Mateo County Supervisors made a last-minute change to the section of the Local Coastal Program dealing with a precious sliver of land in El Granada, locals were cautiously optimistic. Ever since influential architect Daniel Burnham designed the coastal town in 1906, the eventual use of the piece of property he designated as the focal point for the community's unusual layout has been an unanswered question. The future of the Burnham Strip, as locals know it, has been one of the most hotly debated issues as the county grapples with a new community development plan that will serve as guidance to land use in unincorporated areas of the coast for decades to come. When supervisors changed the wording of the section of the LCP dealing with the strip they removed single-family residences as an acceptable development on the land. They also renamed the zoning of the area, to the El Granada Open Space District. "What it does is it signals to the owners of those parcels that the long-range goal here is low-intensity use or no use," said Rich Gordon, the supervisor who represents the Midcoast. "We want to embrace Daniel Burnham's vision that this is the platform behind which El Granada would be built." A group of residents dedicated to preserving the land for use as recreation space or open space has revitalized a group called the Burnham Strip Committee, part of the umbrella Midcoast Park Lands, and is attempting to raise money in order to purchase the first parcel on the strip - a parcel that is currently up for sale. "On paper it's good," said Leni Schultz, one of the leaders of the Save the Strip movement. "But we still have about six months to a year window within which the old rules apply." Supervisors also added the possibility that the land could be used to house an underground storm water storage facility, likely run by the Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside. The number of landowners complicates the fate of the 14-acre Burnham Strip. The San Mateo County Harbor District owns half of the property, while the other half is split into seven privately owned parcels. "We are disturbed by the decision," said Peter Grenell, the district's general manager. "We're disturbed because effectively what that does is devalue the property. We do not necessarily want to put a house on that property. We want to recover the value that a house represents." Grenell has asserted at various public hearings that the supervisors should take into account what would represent the best interest for the Coastside, including the public entities serving the community. He cited recent grand jury findings and the LAFCo service review, both recommending the district raise revenue, and complained that the county is essentially preventing a major source of that revenue. He also disputed the notion that Daniel Burnham's plan called for complete open space preserve. "The idea it was all open space is fiction," said Grenell. "Daniel Burnham's plan had a big fat casino sitting right in the middle of the median strip. There was a pier to be built. So the original plan was not for 100 percent open space. There is a lot of misinformation about that." Whatever Burnham's intention, the tide seems to be shifting to favor open space. The supervisors will vote to finalize the LCP on Nov. 14, at which point it will head to the California Coastal Commission for review. Meanwhile, Schultz and company have raised more than $10,000 toward the purchase of the parcel owned by Wayne Impink. According to county tax records, the land is appraised at $287,874. "It's a high learning curve, because people think it's already protected," Schultz said of the committee's efforts. "As of right now we need to buy the only parcel that has come up for sale, but our goal is to acquire the entire strip." |