LIVE HARBOR SAMCAM

MCC necessary to counter supervisors' vision

Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, Jan 30, 2008 - 12:56:09 pm PST

Dear editor:

Last week's opinion by Supervisor Rich Gordon suggested that the Midcoast Community Council might have "outlived it usefulness." The piece was disturbing on a couple levels.

First, according to Gordon, "there remains a significant portion of Midcoast residents who feel they are not being adequately represented by the MCC." But the MCC elections were just held in November. Voters elected three new council members. Maybe the problem is that Gordon's personal political views "are not being adequately represented by the MCC."

Second, the timing of Gordon's suggestion raises questions. In early March, the California Coastal Commission will hold a hearing in Monterey to consider a major revision to the Midcoast Local Coastal Program. The revised LCP will determine the rules for growth and land use for the next 30 years. The LCP revision submitted by Gordon and his fellow supervisors seeks to cram another 3,400 houses into an area where the infrastructure (roads, schools, water and sewer) is already overburdened.

In preparing their LCP revision, the supervisors ignored input from the county Planning Commission, which had worked closely with the MCC to solicit residents' views at local hearings. Now, more than ever, a strong MCC is needed to prevent the supervisors' pro-development vision from becoming a reality.

Kevin J. Lansing

Half Moon Bay

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