The deal would provide up to $10 million in Proposition 1C funds, set aside for suburban and rural parks, to help meet the $18 million obligation due developer Charles Keenan in the event AB 1991 fails to pass. That bill, authored by Assemblyman Gene Mullin, is stalled in the state Senate's Rules Committee and sources say it appears doomed.
Environmentalists have been vocal in their opposition to AB 1991, which would allow Keenan to build 129 houses on Beachwood and an adjacent tract in exchange for his claim stemming from a federal court decision earlier this year. Keenan was awarded more than $40 million because the court ruled the city effectively took his land due to a botched drainage project that rendered portions of the land wetlands.
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Yee has been painted as the villain by some in Half Moon Bay due to his opposition to AB 1991.
"This was one of the most difficult situations I have faced as a legislator," said Yee in a prepared statement. "As someone who has fought for many of the environmental protections that AB 1991 sought to exempt, I could not support the precedent that would have been set by such legislation. I also don't want to see the residents of Half Moon Bay suffer as result of these circumstances."
Yee's communications director, Adam Keigwin, said late Friday that all of the environmental opposition would be mollified by the deal and that it was now in the hands of Half Moon Bay City Manager Marcia Raines.
"We commend Sen. Yee for his leadership on this issue and commitment to protecting California's environment," said Paul Mason, Deputy Director of Sierra Club California. "Yee's legislative proposal balances the interests of Half Moon Bay residents with state and local environmental protection."
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