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Announcement Speech May 2, 2006
"Honorable Councilmembers, my name is Charles Gardner, and I'm from Montara. I serve as a School Board Trustee, but tonight I'm speaking as a founding director and president of Coastside Community First, a newly-formed public benefit group.
It is our intention to provide educational information via web based access, and conduct various public outreach endeavors which will address public education, transportation, emergency preparedness, economic sustainability, and environmental sensitivity as these issues directly relate to our Coastside.
At our first meetings we talked about all the different community issues we could explore first, and then the Slide fell in - a month ago today - and it quickly became clear that we should look at roadway and traffic issues first. We believe -as you do - that Caltrans should do as permanent a repair of the slide roadway as possible, with all deliberate speed. We applaud this Council's efforts to take concrete actions to mitigate the road closure's impact on our lives.
The road closure has also shown an unfavorable light on the overburdened Highway 1/Main Street/Highway 92 nexus, what we call in the discussion outline before you the "Bottleneck." This 3-page outline, which we hope members of the public will also study, asks some basic questions: First, Is it in the best long-term interests of our community that drivers have a way around the Bottleneck? Second, Is a roadway along the once-considered Foothill Boulevard/Bayview Drive route a viable alternative to funneling all traffic into the Bottleneck? And third, If not Foothill, are there other ways to bypass the Bottleneck?
The outline briefly describes nine longstanding issues that could benefit from a Foothill bypass. These include, most obviously, relief of peak hour weekday commuter and weekend visitor traffic. Foothill would give the high school a much-needed second entrance, while giving the new Community Park on 92 a better access plan. Costly, destructive legal disputes with two developers, Beachwood and Ailanto, could be satisfactorily resolved. A Boys' & Girls' Club at the Lutheran Church site would need a stoplight, which Beachwood could provide. The Highway 92/Main Street improvements would deliver their maximum benefit if integrated with Foothill at 92, which could provide secondary access to Downtown, benefiting Main Street businesses.
There, I think that's nine areas of benefit, and probably about three minutes of talk. Thank you for your attention."
Coastside Community First, founded by concerned Coastsiders committed to ensure that the best long-term interests of our community are always at the forefront of public decision making.
Coastside Community First stands for a high-quality infrastructure sensitive to the environment; with transparent and responsive local government; and with all-inclusive, moderate political solutions that balance the various interests of our diverse community.
Once again, our founding principle: that the Coastside community's long-term best interests should always be squarely at the forefront of public decision making. We hope to have a long and productive relationship with this Council, and with all other public bodies and officials whose decisions affect the Coastside.It is our intention to provide educational information via web based access, and conduct various public outreach endeavors which will address public education, transportation, emergency preparedness, economic sustainability, and environmental sensitivity as these issues directly relate to our Coastside.
At our first meetings we talked about all the different community issues we could explore first, and then the Slide fell in - a month ago today - and it quickly became clear that we should look at roadway and traffic issues first. We believe -as you do - that Caltrans should do as permanent a repair of the slide roadway as possible, with all deliberate speed. We applaud this Council's efforts to take concrete actions to mitigate the road closure's impact on our lives.
The road closure has also shown an unfavorable light on the overburdened Highway 1/Main Street/Highway 92 nexus, what we call in the discussion outline before you the "Bottleneck." This 3-page outline, which we hope members of the public will also study, asks some basic questions: First, Is it in the best long-term interests of our community that drivers have a way around the Bottleneck? Second, Is a roadway along the once-considered Foothill Boulevard/Bayview Drive route a viable alternative to funneling all traffic into the Bottleneck? And third, If not Foothill, are there other ways to bypass the Bottleneck?
The outline briefly describes nine longstanding issues that could benefit from a Foothill bypass. These include, most obviously, relief of peak hour weekday commuter and weekend visitor traffic. Foothill would give the high school a much-needed second entrance, while giving the new Community Park on 92 a better access plan. Costly, destructive legal disputes with two developers, Beachwood and Ailanto, could be satisfactorily resolved. A Boys' & Girls' Club at the Lutheran Church site would need a stoplight, which Beachwood could provide. The Highway 92/Main Street improvements would deliver their maximum benefit if integrated with Foothill at 92, which could provide secondary access to Downtown, benefiting Main Street businesses.
There, I think that's nine areas of benefit, and probably about three minutes of talk. Thank you for your attention."