Half Moon Bay Commits to $16.4 Million in Bonds With No Vote of the People. City officials in Half Moon Bay announced July 14 that they have signed off on $16.4 million in municipal bonds to help pay off an $18 million settlement with a developer who prevailed over the city in a property-rights lawsuit in 2007. The city will pay the remainder with insurance settlement funds related to the lawsuit.
Principal and interest payments of $1.1 million per year over the next 30 years will set the city back $33.75 million, according to city officials. (Cal-Tax: Why didn't the residents have an opportunity to vote on this bond, which will be repaid with their tax dollars?)
As part of the settlement, the city will become the owner of the 24-acre Beachwood property. Although the city previously fought to keep the developer from building on the land because of environmental restrictions over wetlands, the city now hopes to "repackage" the land and sell it to developers. Mayor John Muller said he also hopes to ease the environmental regulations to reduce the required buffer zone around wetlands from 100 feet to 25 feet.
Half Moon Bay officials attempted last year and this year to pass three bills in Sacramento, but none got out of the Assembly. One of the bills would have allowed the developer to build 129 homes on his Beachwood property, despite wetland restrictions. Another bill would have given the city a no-interest state loan of $10 million, and would have converted Beachwood into a neighborhood park.
Mayor Muller said: "We sold the bonds. It's a gratifying, sad experience. It's been a long three years of this thing. Sacramento was never going to be on our side, I don't think. It's just a mess up there." (Sources: Half Moon Bay Review, July 16; San Mateo County Times, July 18.)
Cal-Taxletter, July 24, 2009
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