COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

 

ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES AGENCY

 
 

DATE:

September 14, 2005

BOARD MEETING DATE:

October 4, 2005

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

10 days, within 300 feet

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

 
 

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

 

FROM:

Marcia Raines, Director of Environmental Services

 

SUBJECT:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Consideration of a Coastal Development Permit to allow the reconstruction of a sewage pump station located at the end of Niagara Avenue in the unincorporated Montara area of San Mateo County. This project is appealable to the California Coastal Commission. (Appeal from decision of the Planning Commission approving the Coastal Development Permit)

 

RECOMMENDATION

Deny the appeal and uphold the Planning Commission’s decision to approve the Coastal Development Permit.

 

VISION ALIGNMENT

Commitment: Number 9, the proposed project keeps the commitment of “Responsive, Effective, and Collaborative Government.”

 

Goal: Number 20: “Government decisions are based on careful consideration of future impact, rather than temporary relief or immediate gain.”

 

The Planning Commission, in reaching its decision on this project, considered the staff report prepared by the Planning Division staff and found that the proposed project improves the general health and safety of the community by improving a vital piece of the public infrastructure. The Planning Commission determined that this project would have minimal impacts upon surrounding parcels and that such impacts could be mitigated through the conditions of approval, which have been carried over to this report.

 

BACKGROUND

Proposal: The applicant is proposing to reconstruct/reconfigure an existing sewage pump station located at the end of Niagara Avenue in Montara. The pump station will be re-configured with underground bypass connections and a new control panel. The control panel will be mounted on a new concrete slab with wing walls that will be excavated out of the bank in which the pump station is buried. The height of the back wall of this enclosure will be approximately 3.5 feet.

 

Planning Commission Action: On March 23, 2005, the Planning Commission voted 5-0 to approve the project. In doing so, the Commission adopted the recommended findings and conditions of approval as presented by the Planning Division.

 

DISCUSSION

The Planning Commission has determined that the project, as conditioned, complies with the County’s Local Coastal Program. The applicant, Montara Sanitary District, wishes to abandon the existing sewer main in order to reduce the likelihood of future failure of this critical piece of public infrastructure. Sewage will be routed to the Montara pump station via a different existing route. The sewage pumping station is underground as are the pipes that feed it. No new pipes are necessary for this project. There will be minimal external changes to the structure, primarily the construction of a small, open sided vault for a control cabinet. The Planning Commission and staff have reviewed the project and found that the District is proposing standard repair and erosion control measures that will comply with the County’s Local Coastal Program. The visual impacts generated by this project will be negligible, if any. The Planning Commission and staff do not believe there will be any measurable impact upon biotic resources as a result of the construction and use of this project.

 

The appellant’s assertion is that the proposed open sided vault will encroach into the roadway of the Strand, thus causing this roadway to shift towards the nearby coastal bluff. A review of the plans and the project site does not, in staff’s opinion, support this assertion. Further, staff does not believe that there is a rational nexus to require the applicant to construct cliff protection measures, as the appellant desires.

 

FISCAL IMPACT

No fiscal impact.