a n d p e s c a d e r o p e b b l e

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Volume ı ı2 Number 6 | 75 cents Serving the entire San Mateo Coastside since ı898 www.hmbreview.com

Editorial a 4A | Weather & Tides a 5A | Police Log a 5A | A&E a 2B | Sports a 5B | Real Estate a 1C | Classifi eds a 3C

a n d p e s c a d e r o p e b b l ea n d p e s c a d e r o p e b b l e

HMB

BILL MURRAY

THE ANNUAL GREEN ISSUE

REUSE IT!FREETREE

If you fi nd a tree on your doorstep it might be the work of a plant loving, Pescadero family ... p.14

Thrift stores offer unique

selection, a tax benefi t and a

way to keep treasures from

ending up as trash ... p.24

HALF MOON BAY REVIEW

MAGAZINEJUNE 2010

{ }Q&AfWITH DON BALDWIN : RECLAIMING OLD LUMBER

BILL MURRAY

REUSE IT!Thrift stores offer unique

selection, a tax benefi t and a

way to keep treasures from

ending up as trash ... p.24

Q&AQ&AffWITH DON BALDWIN : HMB MAGAZINE

Spreading trees, reclaiming lumber, thrifty shopping and more > Green Issue: FREE INSIDE

a n d p e s c a d e r o p e b b l ea n d p e s c a d e r o p e b b l e

| 75 cents Serving the entire San Mateo Coastside since ı898 www.hmbreview.com

DIESEL SPILL CONTAINED AT HARBOR

From staff reportsThe “Gypsy” has arisen

from her watery grave and is no longer fouling the waters of Pillar Point Harbor. Now the beached houseboat is lit-tle more than an expensive curiosity — and much of that curiosity centers around just who will be stuck with the bill for cleaning up the diesel and righting a ship that went wrong weeks ago.

Sid Walton, the boat’s own-er, watched much of the day on Friday as the U.S. Coast Guard and its contracting salvage company worked to contain a smelly, oily sheen that harbor offi cials quickly determined was the result of the Gypsy springing a leak.

The boat sank near the out-er breakwater about six weeks ago.

“I came down here and checked the boat on a Friday or Saturday, then it was sunk

when I came back here after the weekend,” said the vessel’s owner, Sid Walton, who has had a slip at the harbor since spring 2005.

The report of an oily leak not far from federally protected waters brought quick response from a host of federal, state and local agencies. The San Mateo County Harbormaster responded and turned over the

“I came down here and checked the boat on a Friday or Saturday, then it was sunk when I came back here after the weekend.”

Sid Walton, boat owner

SUNKEN HOUSEBOAT MAKES MESS

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Lily Bixler / Review

Sid Walton, left, talks with an unidentifi ed U.S. Coast Guard crew member Friday as they watch efforts to staunch a diesel spill from Walton’s boat.

County considers LCP extension

SUPERVISORS HOPE TO GET IT DONE THIS

SUMMERBy Lily Bixler

[ lily@hmbreview.com ]

Like it or not, the Local Coastal Program is back in the news.

The LCP is a longtime coast-al document compiled by counties up and down the Cal-ifornia coast; the Coastal Com-mission uses the LCP when making decisions about coast-al policy. This encompasses city and county policy revolv-ing around general plans, in-frastructure, water access and growth rate.

The LCP was born out of the Coastal Act, which Cali-fornia voters passed in 1976 to designate the coastal zone, which includes much of the San Mateo County Coastside. As part of the act, the Califor-nia Coastal Commission was formed to work in partnership

with coastal counties and cities to plan and regulate the use of land and water.

In the early 1980s, sever-al years after Californians passed the act, San Mateo County Coastside adopted its own, specifi c LCP. A lot has changed since then and the county — with input from the Coastal Commission — is in the process of revising the LCP to bring it up to speed.

Why should Coastsiders care about the LCP? “(It) es-tablishes the standard of re-view for any development pro-posed on the Coastside,” said County Planning Interim Dep-uty Director Steve Monowitz. “Whether or not you’re a prop-erty owner who wants to build something or if you’re a com-munity member who is con-cerned with growth and devel-opment, then the LCP plays a key role in determining the type, location and intensity of development allowed.”

A planning process through-out the early 2000s brought a preliminarily updated LCP

HMB High School celebrates 100 years

County makes way for poultry

FAMILIES REMINISCE ON SCHOOL PRIDE

By Mark Noack[ mark@hmbreview.com ]

Next week 225 seniors are set to graduate from Half Moon Bay High School, but they aren’t the only ones celebrating a major milestone.

The ceremony also marks the 100th class to graduate from the Coastside’s largest campus. The high school has served as the edu-cational bedrock for generations of Coastsiders — and the centennial anniversary has led many longtime families to reminisce.

“I cried at my graduation because I knew it was the best four years of my life,” said City Councilwoman Naomi Patridge, class of 1958, who plans to watch her grandniece re-ceive her diploma this year. “I had a lot of good friends, and it was like family … and now at graduation you

always get that feeling of nostalgia.”Half Moon Bay High School start-

ed in 1909 as a two-story school-house that even old school docu-

ments refer to as “modest.” During its fi rst year, the school celebrated an original class of seven graduating students, according to the school’s fi rst yearbook.

Now recognizable as the “B” and “C” buildings at Cunha Intermedi-ate School, the fi rst permanent high school campus was built in 1939 with the help of government fund-ing under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program. In 1964, school offi cials built the cur-rent high school campus at the end of Lewis Foster Drive to handle the growing population on the Coast-side.

For many local families, grand-parents, parents and the younger generation each shared similar ex-periences at the high school.

Sitting in the family room at his Miramar home, high school senior Trevor Ormande traded some sto-ries of Cougar pride with his par-

ORDINANCE ALLOWS CHICKENS

IN UNINCORPORATED COUNTY By Lily Bixler

[ lily@hmbreview.com ]

As it stands now, the wandering chick-en can’t peck too far out of Half Moon Bay city limits because domestic poultry isn’t allowed in the surrounding unincor-porated county. But that would change with a new ordinance the San Mateo County Planning Commission is propos-ing. It would permit backyard chickens and ducks in the unincorporated county.

The proposal would allow six chick-ens in single-family residential proper-ties 2,500- to 7,500-square-feet and 10 for plots 7,500-square-feet and larger, ac-

[ c o u n t y ]

Review fi le photo

Some on the Coastside have taken to raising their own chickens, and the practice has gotten the attention of lawmakers in Redwood City.

[ c e n t e n n i a l ]

See SPILL a 8A

Lars Howlett / Review

Jerome Valladao refl ects on his life as a student at Half Moon Bay High School, from which he graduated in 1951. His mother attended the school, as did his wife and daughter. His grandson, Trevor Ormonde, graduates from Half Moon Bay High later this month.

Photo courtesy Valladao family

Genevieve Deeney Valladao graduated with fi ve other students in 1919.

See CHICKENS a 8A

See HIGH SCHOOL a 8A

EMMY WINNER

See LCP a 8A

Moss Beach resident takes musical trip on ‘Middle Path to Happiness’ > 1B