A deal to transfer to the state parks department undeveloped land now owned by the California Department of Transportation made significant headway last week.
Senate Bill 792 was considered by the Assembly Committee on Appropriations and readied for a vote on the floor later this week.
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Caltrans originally purchased the land in the 1970s for a bypass project that would have led Highway 1 over Montara Mountain (bypassing the treacherous Devil's Slide), but after decades of opposition and a voter referendum Caltrans dropped those plans and moved toward the tunnel project currently being pursued.
The county Board of Supervisors signed off on the project permits last month, only to later see the process stalled by two commissioners on the Coastal Commission. The commissioners maintain that a necessary phase of the project is to transfer those 185 acres to state parks to insure it will be protected as open space.
Assembly Speaker Pro Tem
Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, who sits on the appropriations committee was instrumental in getting the proposed legislation taken off suspension after explaining to many state legislators the importance of this deal and its impact on the tunnel project.
On the surface, assembly members generally frown upon giving up land, Yee said, but this deal is different because it will transfer the land from one state agency to another. Furthermore, the land currently owned by Caltrans is already protected by vast surrounding open space and there is no development potential or value attached to the land, which is only 200 feet wide in most parts.
"It is so critical to put together a roadway that's going to allow people to move along the coast and not be in danger," Yee said.
"I am proud to have played a role in moving this project forward and helping to protect the San Mateo coast from what could have been the paving over of pristine coastal land," Yee said in a press release.
"I'm going to do all that I can," he added.
"Good for Yee! He's taking a deeper interest in the Coastside," Half Moon Bay Mayor Mike Ferreira said.
Supervisor Rich Gordon said the tunnel project's future is reliant on the pending legislation, unless the Coastal Commission changes its course of action.
"It makes the legislation critical," he said. "Yee fully stepped up to the plate.
"The tunnel is absolutely critical for safe transportation on the coast," Gordon said, adding that the commission has implied it will no longer have concerns with the project once the legislation passes.
The bill is scheduled to be taken up on the Assembly floor this week and will have to go back to the Senate for its vote by the end of the month.
All bills are required to be on Gov. Schwarzenegger's desk by the end of August, but he still has 30 days in September to sign the legislation. If it takes that long, the legislation won't meet the deadline for the commission's appeal to be heard.
The appeal is currently scheduled for the Coastal Commission's next meeting Sept. 8 through 10 in Eureka.
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