Letters to the Editor

I wish to protest any change in the height and density of developments in San Mateo such as the Railway Corridor/Bay Meadows development. We worked hard for a reasonable, well thought-out plan to preserve our suburban way of life. We walked house-to-house, collected signatures and donated money to support and pass Measure H. Now developers want to plunk down a "city within a city" in our midst. The voting public of San Mateo passed Measure H - doesn't that count or are the developers trying to wear us down? The Railway Corridor/Bay Meadows project as planned is too tall, too dense and too big.

I was born in San Mateo and have grandchildren who are fifth-generation San Mateans. When I was a child, downtown San Mateo could have fit in the Bay Meadows/Corridor project. I am not anti-growth, because growth will come like it or not, but I am anti-overkill on building projects that take away the quality of life that we already have. Once it is gone, it will be gone forever.

I have read that build-out of the race track project will take perhaps 20 years. Given my present age, I am sure that I won't be around to see the finish and if the height and density is not held to Measure H limits, I can't say that I will be sorry.

Betty Bader Houston

San Mateo

Protect the

coastal way of life

Editor,

There is a lot of misinformation circulating about the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District's proposed "Coastside Protection Program." Please let me take a moment to set the record straight.

Those who oppose this important program may be vocal, but they are a minority who oppose the program either for their own selfish reasons (i.e., commercial land development) or because they misunderstand the facts and their implications. The true majority of Coastsiders, myself included, want to protect our coastal way of life.

The facts are:

1.) The district developed the Coastside Protection Program (CPP) in direct response to concerns by San Mateo County's own residents;

2.) They worked with community members for more than six years to make sure the CPP addresses the concerns of everyone involved;

3.) The CPP will protect the natural beauty and agricultural heritage of the coastside;

4.) It will bring firefighting and other emergency services to the area without increasing our taxes; and

5.) Most importantly, land will be purchased from willing sellers only.

Anyone who tells you otherwise is the real wolf in sheep's clothing.

Edmundo Larenas

Chair, Surfrider Foundation

San Mateo County Chapter

Connecting the dots between care and cuts

Editor,

Are there any dots to be connected between our overburdened health care system and San Mateo County employers who expect their workers to go on the dole like we found out Wal-Mart does?

I'd be interested in knowing how many families of immigrant/migrant farm laborers, for example, are in the human services system.

I'm an African American woman, now disabled. My life now depends on receiving services from San Mateo County. My family has contributed a lot to this area's growth as business owners. I taught at the university level for many years until I experienced a major health crisis while working on a PhD.

How can we solve problems if we don't have all the facts?

Penny Williams

Belmont

Rethinking our priorities

Editor,

Our neighborhood homeowners' association recently had a visit from a representative of the Edgewood County Park and Natural Preserve, Interpretive Center Project. She told us that the new interpretive center would be funded entirely by private and public contributions. If you can think of some other kind of funding, I am sure that we would all like to know about it. The color brochure she passed out said that their goal was $1.5 million and the plans called for a 1,200 square foot building to be built and manned by docent volunteers.

This figures out to more than $1,000 per square foot. My house was built for $60 per square foot and is now insured for replacement value at about twice that amount including furniture. Many cities on the Peninsula are unable to find enough money to keep all the fire trucks running. I think we need to congratulate San Mateo County on finding this large amount of money for such a small building that will not even be expected to provide a few minimum wage jobs. But maybe we need to rethink our priorities, since about 45 percent of our commercial buildings are just standing vacant while over-taxed businesses move to Nevada.

R.M. Parkhurst

Redwood City

Let your voices be heard

Editor,

Your opportunity to comment on the Bay Meadows and Transportation Corridor Plan is extended to April 16. Comments should be sent to the Planning Department, 330 West 20th Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94403. Environmental reports are available for review at City Hall Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the temporary library at 1100 Park Place (near Whole Foods, where the practice track used to be) or at www.cityofsanmateo.org.

The demolition of Bay Meadows race track represents the loss of more than 700 jobs, significant loss of revenue to the state, county and city - the loss of irreplaceable local and national history.

The Transportation Corridor Plan would re-zone 600+ acres of San Mateo - from the Belmont line to the old Kmart - Hayward Park Train Station to a tall building, high urban density landscape. We believe the concept of transportation corridors - building higher density near public transportation - is good. However, the environmental report calls for no commitment from the developer or the city toward improving public transportation and creating the needed transit networks to get people out of their autos. Instead, its repeated reference to San Mateo as an urban landscape assumes that auto-dependent suburban San Mateo County already has a mass transit system capable of getting many folks to work on time. We believe that building to encourage the use of public transportation is too important a concept to use as a smoke screen to build taller, more densely packed structures. We encourage all San Mateans whatever your opinions are on these important, community changing projects, to let your voices be heard.

Linda Schinkel

San Mateo