Deadline nears for open space plan protest Deadline nears for open space plan protest (June 09, 2004)

By Marion Softky
Almanac Staff Writer

Things are getting nasty on San Mateo County's Coastside, as competing groups seek to influence the future of its hills, forests and farms before a Friday deadline.

Opponents of the proposed expansion of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to include 140,000 acres of the Coastside, from Pacifica to the Santa Cruz County line, have until Friday, June 11, to gather enough signatures on petitions to force a vote -- or to kill the district's Coastal Expansion Program.

At that time the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo), an obscure county agency charged with ruling on changes in government boundaries, will hold a "protest hearing" to receive written protests of the annexation.

The protest hearing will start at 3:30 p.m. at the Ted Adcock Community Center, 535 Kelly Ave., in Half Moon Bay. If 25 percent of the 16,077 voters in the annexation area sign, there will be an election. If 50 percent sign, the expansion is defeated.

Opponents, who have been fighting the district's expansion since it was first proposed more than six years ago, have launched a "Got Vote?" campaign. They are asking people to sign the petitions in order to vote on the proposed annexation.

Supporters accuse opponents of seeking to kill the district by gaining a 50 percent vote. They are posting "Decline to Sign" posters around the Coastside, and offer forms to withdraw signatures. They complain of harassment, vandalism, and paid signature gatherers.

Both sides complain of lies and misinformation from the other.

The protest hearing culminates a legal process initiated last fall when the district -- called MidPen on the coast -- filed an application with LAFCo to annex the Coastside in order to be able to buy and manage land for open space, agriculture, and low-intensity recreation. After four packed hearings with almost 200 speakers, LAFCo approved the district's Coastal Expansion Program on April 7 on a 6-1 vote.

Under California law, opponents have 60 days to gather enough signatures to force a vote or kill the project.

Meanwhile, an attempt by opponents to persuade LAFCo to reconsider its decision fizzled June 2.

After hearing two requests for reconsideration and 25 speakers, the commission voted 7-0 that no new or different information had been presented.

LAFCo member Marguerite Kaufman of the Skyline County Water District, who cast the only vote against the annexation and signed a letter from Citizens for Responsible Open Space opposing the annexation, joined the other six commissioners in denying reconsideration.

If the petitioners fail to gather some 8,000 signatures needed to kill the annexation, it may face another lawsuit. Coastside activist Oscar Braun, one of those seeking reconsideration, promised to sue. He has already lost one lawsuit against MidPen seeking to block its program.

"The process is corrupt and bankrupt," he charged. "I'll see you in court. I suggest you follow the law."

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