Tunitas Creek Beach project gets approval from San Mateo County Planning Commission

The Board of Supervisors had already granted the project its seal of approval in February of 2021, touting the project as a “great asset” to the community and greater Bay Area and a substantial improvement from its current condition which board President Don Horsley called “sort of a disaster area” at the time.

But additional approvals have been necessary to push the project through the development timeline including the granting of a Coastal Development Permit from the county’s Planning Commission.

The question of whether to grant the permit came before the commission Oct. 12 but commissioners agreed to push off the decision after noting supporting files with additional details about the project were missing.

When taking up the issue again last Wednesday, commissioners and a handful of public commenters raised concerns for the amount of lighting the Parks Department was planning to install in the area.

As proposed, the park would install small LED floor lights along the path from the beach to the parking lot that would turn on when the day grew darker, turn brighter when motion was sensed and turn off an hour after closing. Additional “security lighting” would be installed on a ranger home built at the top of the bluff.

“The intent of the lighting as mentioned is purely visitor and staff safety in those low light situations,” park ranger Mario Nastari said. “Park staff works anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour after closing time, emptying trash cans, getting the restroom ready for the next day, securing the parking lots. So those safety concerns are what we’re contemplating with lighting.”

But many of those details were missing from the proposal when presented to the commission, Commissioner Lisa Ketchum noted. Without those details written down within the plan documents, Commissioner Fred Hansson shared concerns the commission could “be burned” as has happened in the past, he asserted.

Ketchum was the strongest member against the lighting, suggesting the fixtures would create an unwanted precedent of installing lights in the county’s more wildlife-focused parks and beaches. The department also requires park visitors to leave at dusk or before the park gets dark, eliminating the need for guiding lights, she said.

“I am unaware of any other coastal park over here up and down the coast and in rural areas with lighting. They close at dusk and there is no lighting whether it’s county, state or federal. This, as far as I know, is the first that this is being proposed as necessary for safety,” Ketchum said. “So these other parks, which don’t even have an ADA-secure path, are unlighted and is this opening a can of worms?”

Park staff argued the lights are a necessary feature for deterring crime and assisting visitors with existing, particularly seniors and those with disabilities. Pathway lights would also be less impactful to the environment than commissioners were envisioning, staff said, suggesting they would not be visible from the beach given that they would be directed toward the ground like theater lights.

The 58-acre site, purchased by the Peninsula Open Space Trust in 2017, has been known for being the location of unauthorized gatherings but officials are hoping the improvements will keep parties at bay while also providing greater protection for sensitive wildlife in the area.

The beach is a nesting ground for the federally protected western snowy plovers, a small pale bird often disturbed by human beach activity, hindering the species’ ability to nest. Interested in protecting the birds, the Parks Department has proposed installing a boardwalk around the nesting site that would allow visitors to observe from a safe distance while leaving the habitat undisturbed.

Community Development Director Steve Monowitz informed the commission it was not within its authority to remove elements of a project before approval without agreement from the applicant. Assistant Parks Director Hannah Ormshaw said staff would be willing to return with additional details for the commission before installing the lighting if it approved the project.

“We’re very eager to move forward with many aspects of the project and the lighting component would not come until a later phase of the project,” Ormshaw said.

Satisfied with the response, commissioners voted unanimously to grant the permit with the condition that park staff return with additional details of the types of light fixtures that will be used and how they will be used before being installed.

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