Half Moon Bay Planning Commission Special Meeting - April 6, 2022

The Half Moon Bay Planning Commission held a special meeting on April 6, 2022, at 7:00 PM via teleconference. The primary agenda item was the City Corporation Yard Upgrade Project, including consideration of an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration, Coastal Development Permit, Architectural and Site Design Review, and Tree Removal Permit. The commission also approved the minutes from the March 22, 2022 meeting and received a director's report on upcoming items. After public testimony and extensive deliberation, the commission voted unanimously (5-0) to approve the project with specific modifications to the wildlife corridor and a corrective amendment to a mitigation condition.

Consent Calendar

• Approval of minutes from the March 22, 2022, meeting: motion by Commissioner Benjamin, second by Commissioner Gossett. All present commissioners voted yes (Commissioners Gorn and Ruddock abstaining as they were absent for that meeting). The motion carried.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Mike Ferrera addressed the commission, expressing concern about the proposed road realignment. He argued that rerouting the access road would cut off a piece of flat ground that currently has no habitat value and could be used for future city purposes such as affordable housing or community gardens. He recommended retaining the existing road alignment to preserve a larger contiguous parcel for future evaluation.

Discussion Items

• City Corporation Yard Upgrade Project (PDP-21-053): Senior Planner Doug Garrison presented the project, along with Public Works Director Todd and other consultants. The project involves upgrading the existing corporation yard at 880 Stone Pine Road, including construction of a 6,750-square-foot tension fabric building, a solar array, a trash enclosure, parking lot improvements, and a wildlife corridor with a tunnel under the access road for San Francisco garter snakes and California red-legged frogs. The project also requires removal of 16 trees (three of which are heritage native trees) and will replace them at a 10:1 ratio for natives (30 trees) plus additional mitigation trees funded by PG&E.
• The presentation included a response to comments from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Caltrans, and clarified that the project does not preclude future use of the western portion of the site for affordable housing (which is being studied separately).
• Commissioners asked questions about the wildlife corridor, the pond buffer, the road alignment, tree planting locations, and the feasibility of future affordable housing. Consultant Dr. Mark Jennings and Jessica Henderson McBean (SWCA) provided expert input on biological resources. Dr. Jennings confirmed that the expanded corridor (moving the fence line to the access road) would be beneficial and would likely be viewed favorably by CDFW. He also addressed concerns about the tunnel creating an attractive nuisance for predators, stating the low frog population minimizes that risk.
• The commission discussed modifying the wildlife corridor from the original 50-foot wide corridor (shown in green) to an expanded corridor along the access road alignment (shown in a new blue line on the supplemental staff report attachment). Staff and the public works director indicated flexibility to adopt the expanded corridor.
• Commissioner Benjamin noted a minor error in mitigation condition Bio-2, where subpart H incorrectly referred to parts H and I instead of I and J; staff confirmed the correction.

Key Outcomes

• The commission moved and seconded (Commissioner Benjamin motion, Vice Chair Hernandez second) to adopt the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration, approve the Coastal Development Permit, Architectural and Site Design Review, and Tree Removal Permit, with the following modifications:
  1. Adoption of the expanded wildlife corridor as shown in the attachment to the supplemental staff report (March 29, 2022 version).
  2. Amendment of mitigation condition Bio-2, subpart H, to correctly reference subparts I and J.
• The motion passed unanimously (5-0): Commissioners Ruddock, Gossett, Benjamin, Vice Chair Hernandez, and Chair Gorn all voted yes.
• The project timeline is tight: loan proceeds must be drawn by August 22, 2022, and construction completed by end of July 2022 to meet lender obligations. The project will proceed subject to appeal periods and bidding.