Critical Decision for Pillar Point Bluff’s Wildlife at Planning Commission on Wednesday; Midcoast Community Council Calls for Protection and Safe Access for All

Coastal Prairie, Pillar Point Bluff Photo credit: Lisa Ketchum

Thank you to the more than 100 people who submitted emails or spoke up at the January 26 Midcoast Community Council meeting on behalf of wildlife at Pillar Point Bluff. We are heartened by the Council’s 5-2 vote to recommend to the County Planning Commission that on-leash dogs only be allowed at this sensitive location.

This Wednesday, February 9, the County Planning Commission will make the critical decision on the Coastal Development Permit (CDP) for the proposed 12-month Off-Leash Dog Pilot Program. Please email the Planning Commission by 5 p.m., Tuesday, February 8, and ask them to deny the CDP for Pillar Point Bluff as risks to wildlife and public safety are simply too great.

What’s Happening

The Planning Commission will be deciding whether the Off-Leash Dog Pilot Program at Pillar Point Bluff complies with the County Local Coastal Program (LCP) and Coastal Act policies protecting sensitive habitats and public access for all. As the Midcoast Community Council’s letter to the Commission points out, Pillar Point Bluff is a rare environmental and geological resource, and opening the park to off-leash dogs would force many people to go somewhere safer.

The letter also notes over 100 reported occurrences of use by special status species there including Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, Burrowing Owl, San Francisco garter snake, and California red-legged frog. In addition, there are documented violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act by off-leash dogs including the killing of a harbor seal pup.

Why it Matters

The LCP only allows resource-dependent uses within and adjacent to sensitive habits. Rare coastal prairie grasslands, seasonal wetlands, and coastal scrub at this Local Biological Hotspot are protected under the County LCP and Coastal Act.

The Coastal Act requires maximum public access for all people consistent with public safety. And public access for all people to enjoy oceanfront sites such as Pillar Point Bluff is mandated as well by the Environmental Justice Policy of the Coastal Commission.

Off-leash dogs can be a threat to many wildlife species and their habitats as well as other dogs and people. Allowing off-leash dogs will impact sensitive habitats and cause recreational displacement of many people, including the elderly, the disabled, families with young children, and people who seek a more contemplative experience in nature.

Nearby Quarry Park, also proposed for the Off-Leash Dog Pilot Program, is far more suitable as it’s in a former quarry and eucalyptus forest.

What You Can Do

Please email the Planning Commission using the form below, by 5 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, February 8, and ask them to deny the CDP for off-leash dogs at Pillar Point Bluff. Off-leash dogs do not meet the LCP and Coastal Act fundamental policies of protecting sensitive habitats and public access for all.

Thanks for once again speaking up for the protection of wildlife, sensitive habitats, and the environmental justice policies of the County and Coastal Commission. The coast belongs to everyone!

P.S.: Please see our letter to the Planning Commission for further details on the pilot program’s non-compliance with LCP policies. Also see the letter from ecologist James Lee which argues for access for all at Pillar Point Bluff in order to redress the pervasive racial disparities in access to parks, including in San Mateo County.

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