In its draft General Plan Update, the City of Pacifica has proposed to change to the land use of the field from its current Commercial Recreational designation (which promotes non-intensive unpaved recreational use of the site, retaining most of the site as open space) to a newly created designation of Coastal Residential Mixed Use (CRMU).

 

For decades, the Pedro Point Community Association (PPCA) has made extensive efforts to collect residents’ input to inform city planners about our community’s preferences for land use and development, and the value that is placed on maintaining our community’s environmental assets and natural aesthetics to ensure harmony with the scale and character of existing neighborhood conditions.

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The vast majority of Pedro Point residents have consistently registered strong preference for maintaining the existing open space of the Pedro Point field and opposition to any residential development -regardless of the number of units.

 

The PPCA has worked on behalf of the community to engage legal counsel and coastal environmental experts to comment on the proposed changes to the Field’s Land Use designation, which citied deficiencies in the City's General Plan Update and draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR).

 

In its current existing state, the field is an open space with seasonal wetlands. Reasonably foreseeable development to change the land use designation of the Pedro Point field to any form of residential use would:

 

1. Diminish the aesthetic quality of the neighborhood—Natural environmental beauty is an integral part of the existing visual character of our small coastal Pedro Point community. Generations of residents have treasured the scenic environment of the field which affords unique views of the surrounding hillsides and provides an open space that serves as a park-like setting for residents and visitors.

2. Diminish an environmentally sensitive wildlife habitat—Neighbors have long-enjoyed sightings of many species of birds, animals and reptiles that inhabit the field, including documented photos of endangered species such as the California Red-Legged Frog. The opportunities for wildlife encounters with diverse species found in and around the field have become an essential part of our neighborhood identity.

3. Increase vehicular traffic—with San Pedro Avenue serving as the one single-lane road in and out of Pedro Point, the traffic volume generated by residential development in the field would make this main thoroughfare un-navigable and present hazards for emergency access.

4. Increase street parking congestion—Pedro Point’s narrow streets are already choked with parked cars from increased commercial, residential and beach tourism parking demands. Increased parking generated by scores of residential units and visitors would overwhelm our already overburdened neighborhood.

5. Increase pedestrian safety hazards. Increased street parking and vehicular traffic along San Pedro Avenue where there are no sidewalks or crosswalks would obstruct the only pedestrian routes, creating severe safety hazards and put residents (and pets) increasingly at risk.

6. Increase flooding—In its undeveloped state, the field serves as a natural catch basin for street run off from the surrounding the community and hillsides, and has historically been subject to flooding, occurring as recently as the 2021-2022 rainy season. Residential development adding more impervious surfaces would put businesses and homes along San Pedro Avenue at risk for even greater flooding and safety hazards.

 

Comment letters submitted by the PPCA’s environmental and legal experts (see left column) provide additional specific details to cite how a proposed change of the existing land use of the Pedro Point field to CRMU is reasonably likely to cause direct and indirect significant negative impacts and is in conflict with CEQA and Coastal Act Policy.

 

The simplest solution to address these deficiencies - and to be in compliance with CEQA and Coastal Act policies—would be to change the land use designation for the Pedro Point field to Low-Intensity Visitor-Serving Commercial or Conservation (C). Vision >