COUNTY OF SAN MATEO Inter-Departmental Correspondence
ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES AGENCY
DATE:			February 14, 2005
BOARD MEETING DATE:			March 8, 2005
SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:			10 day notice
VOTE REQUIRED:			Majority
TO:		Honorable Board of Supervisors
FROM:		Marcia Raines, Director of Environmental Services
SUBJECT:		EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Consideration of Midcoast Local Coastal Program (LCP) Update Project
RECOMMENDATION
Take tentative action on the LCP and zoning amendments for the topics described in the main staff report.
VISION ALIGNMENT
Commitment: Redesign our urban environment to increase vitality and reduce congestion. Preserve and provide access to our natural environment.
Goals: (12) Land use decisions consider transportation, infrastructure demand and environmental impacts. (13) The boundary between open space and development is fixed to protect the quality of the natural environment.
The proposal contributes to these commitments and goals, by (1) lowering the Midcoast growth rate limit, (2) initiating comprehensive lot merger to preserve the community’s planned buildout, (3) ensuring that small houses are built on small parcels, (4) protecting neighborhood commercial opportunities, (5) promoting open space and recreation uses for an obsolete roadway alignment, and (6) strengthening water runoff limits to reduce environmental degradation.
BACKGROUND
The intent of the Midcoast LCP Update Project is to update and revise land use policy affecting the unincorporated Midcoast with the aim of averting development permit appeals and improving Coastal Act consistency. The project has included numerous community workshops, followed by 15 Planning Commission hearings to review and refine project proposals.
On January 25, 2005, your Board approved a project review process that includes a study session followed by four public hearings. The second public hearing will occur on March 8.
On February 15, 2005, your Board tentatively approved some of the topics being considered, and deferred action on the others pending additional staff research. A more detailed discussion is included in the main report.
For the March 8, 2005 meeting, your Board will consider the following topics:
h	Residential uses in non-residential districts
h	Midcoast commercial and employment opportunities
h	Airport Overlay (AO) zoning district
h	Nonconforming parcel development controls
h	Development controls in Midcoast rural zoning districts
h	Rural Residential area boundary
h	Lot merger in Midcoast rural areas
SUMMARY
The Planning Commission recommended amendments being discussed at the March 8, 2005, meeting include:
1.	Reduce the house floor area limit for nonconforming parcels from 48% of the parcel size to a formula incorporating the more restrictive “Proportionality Rule,” whereby house size is reduced proportionate to the amount of parcel nonconformity.
2.	Limit residential use in the C-1 (Neighborhood Commercial) zoning district to above the first floor, with residential floor area not to exceed commercial floor area.
3.	Prohibit single-family residences in the COSC (Coastside Open Space Conservation) zoning district.
4.	Increase the number of caretaker’s quarters permitted in the W (Waterfront) zoning district from 20% to 27.5% of the developed parcels.
5.	Prohibit timber harvesting, surface mining, oil and gas exploration and solid waste facilities in Midcoast areas zoned PAD (Planned Agriculture) and RM-CZ (Resource Management).
6.	Redesignate two areas near Montara that are not served by water distribution lines from Rural Residential to Rural.
7.	As allowed by law, comprehensively merge applicable lots/parcels designated Rural Residential or Open Space, with the goal of merging up to 5 acres.
FISCAL IMPACTS
Merging applicable lots/parcels may require additional staff resources for a limited time. Otherwise, there would be no additional cost to the County to implement the proposals discussed in the main report.