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Coastsider will be at the Chili and Chowder Cook-Off on September 12, serving up Grandma Craner’s Long Island Clam Chowder. This also be Coastsider’s first public event, after a summer of promoting the site by word of mouth.

The Chili and Chowder Cook-Off is a fundraiser for Coastside Family Medical Center. CFMC treats insured, underinsured and uninsured patients up and down the Coastside.

This year, the cookoff is being held in conjunction with the Coastside Infant Toddler Center’s Half Marathon and 3K Fun Run. As I’ve mentioned here before, our daughter attends CITC and it’s a cause I strongly support. The half marathon and the 3K Fun Run start at the American Legion in Princeton Harbor and follow the Coastal Trail along the ocean in Half Moon Bay.

The Chili and Chowder Cook-Off will be 11am to 5pm at Pillar Point Harbor.  In addition to the competitive cook-off, CFMC will host a Music Festival featuring newgrass greats, The Waybacks, country rock artists and local favorites California Cowboys, The Cowlicks and Lane & The Badass Chickenbones plus additional live entertainment, kid’s activities and more. There will be plenty of great non-chili-or-chowder food.  Admission is $10.00, kids 12 and under free. Parking is free.

The CITC Half Marathon and 3K Fun Run start at the American Legion in Princeton Harbor at 8am and follow the beautiful Coastal Trail along the ocean in Half Moon Bay. Half Marathon is $30. Fun Run is $15.

Another motorcyclist, the fourth since April, was killed on Highway 84 Sunday, when two motorcyclists collided with a truck attempting to turn across the highway. The second cyclist suffered major injuries and the driver of the pickup was taken to the hospital. This year there have already been 20 motorcycle accidents, three of them fatal, in and near the small town of La Honda – one of the most popular motorcycle areas in the Bay area.

This happened just one week before an event planned to reduce motorcycling accidents. There will be a motorcycle skills and safety event Sunday, August 29, from 10am to 4pm, at the junction of Highway 35 and Highway 84 (Skyline Blvd. and La Honda Road). Motorcycle experts, firefighters and paramedics will be making presentations on riding skills, safety equipment and what to do when things go wrong.

Over the last three years, hundreds of motorcycle riders from all over the Bay Area have stopped to get their bikes safety-checked and to listen to outdoor workshops by experts on motorcycle riding. This year will be the same type of program designed for bikers who want to stop for an hour or two then continue with their ride.

The Coastal Commission removed Wavecrest from its September agenda on Monday afternoon. This was the result of a letter US Fish and Wildlife Service sent Friday to the Coastal Commission saying that building Wavecrest as planned will result in a “taking” of an endangered species, according to Chris Kern, District Manager of the CCC.

This is a result of the discovery by the FWS of California red-legged frog habitat at the site.

Wavecrest will have to get the permission of the Fish and Wildlife Service to develop the land.  “The process could result in potentially significant changes to the project,” Kern told me.

This finding by FWS sets into motion some fairly complicated machinery. Either a federal agency, such as the US Army Corps of Engineers, has to assert authority over the site and work with the FWS to develop a “biological opinion” or a habitat conservation plan must be developed in consultation with the FWS and the CCC. It’s too early to say what comes next.

No one is willing to say how long this process could take, and may only delay the development. However, it puts into limbo Cabrillo Unified School District’s agreement with Wavecrest, which required approval of the development at the September Coastal Commission hearing. According to the agreement, either party can proceed on its own if Wavecrest doesn’t obtain final approval of the development from the Coastal Commission and the period for all challenges and appeals before the CCC have expired before October 31.

Unless CUSD and Wavecrest rewrite the agreement, the site of the middle school will be the most important issue in yet another CUSD board election.

The Peninsula Open Space Trust has bought the 119 acres of Pillar Point Bluff on Monday. It’s located immediately north of Pillar Point and across from the Half Moon Bay Airport, just south of the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, and features view of of tidal pools, seals, and Mavericks. It used to be the site of a dairy farm and was clearly a prime spot for development. The Trust paid $2.7 million. POST said the appraised value is $3.8 million. The Coastal Conservancy contributed $1 million to the purchase.

The land will eventually become part of the California Coastal Trail. The Coastal Conservancy is contributing $85,000 to the planning and design of a nearly 1-mile section of the trail on the site.  Ultimately, POST hopes to transfer the property to the San Mateo County Parks system.

Harley Farms in Pescadero is producing award-winning goat cheese with “daringly old-school methods”, according to Santa Cruz Metro.

Subversive farmstead practices abound—pasture-fed goats, hand-sewn cheesecloth, farm-raised edible flowers and award-winning fresh cheese that, from udder to package, is ready for market in just 2 1/2 days.

Although dairy was the largest part of San Mateo’s agriculture in the thirties and forties, Harley Farms is the only coastal dairy from Sebastopol to Monterey.

Judge Carl Holm has delayed the decision on those dilatory MROSD petitions for yet another week, says the San Mateo Times. Two weeks ago, the judge ordered the county to organize the insufficient petitions. Those were delivered yestered and he’s now reviewing them. He has asked the plaintiffs for an analysis of the process, and the MROSD and LAFCO for a response to that analysis. He’s expected to deliver a decision at the end of next week.  It’s getting late. I reported two weeks ago: 

Although today was the formal deadline for adding measures to the November ballot, Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum said his office could still add the MROSD annexation to the ballot if the judge orders it. But it’s getting really late. The county must print and mail sample ballots next month.

I’ve added a link to Coastsider’s left-hand navigation bar which you can use to get a sample ballot and information about the candidates on the ballot from the League of Women Voters. Most of the candidates’ information is missing or wrong at this stage, but this should improve as we get closer to the election. Try it out.

People who live in high-sprawl communities weigh more, according to a new study by Smart Growth America.

People who live in sprawling counties walk less and bike less.  They have higher weights and are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure. These results are true after controlling for factors such as age, education, gender, and race and ethnicity.

The study defines sprawling counties as “spread-out areas where homes are far from any other destination, and often the only route between the two may be on a busy high-speed arterial road that is unpleasant or even unsafe for biking or walking. People who live in these areas may find that driving is the most convenient way to get everything done, and they are less likely to have easy opportunities to walk, bicycle, or take transit as part of their daily routine.”

Among other issues, the study notes that 18% of children walk or bike to school, versus 71% of adults who walked or biked to school. Now, think about the impact of moving the middle school from the middle of town to a development on the edge of town.

I first noticed the big earth movers at the Harbor Village site on Monday. I stopped by today to take some pictures. If you don’t pass by the Harbor every day, you may not even know this is happening. The pictures don’t begin to convey scale of the project, nor can you get it from driving by.  Only after I got out of my car and walked around the lot did I begin to get an idea of how big this project is.

It’s hard to get close to it right now because Capistrano is closed for resurfacing, but this site is definitely worth a visit. In the meantime, take a look at the pictures.  You can get a larger view in a separate window by clicking on the pictures. Plans of the project are also available on Coastsider.

The project’s opponents have protested the the county that the developer does not plan to honor his development agreement, and the county has informed the developer that the whole project, including the hotel, must be completed by next June.

One bizarre aspect of this struggle is that the project’s opponents are insisting that the entire thing (including the hotel) be built, instead of a scaled-back version that includes only retail, with the idea that the developer can’t deliver.

Click on the “read more” link to see more, closer, pictures of the site.