Pete's Harbor: Much Ado...

I've been watching with trepidation the public debate starting to rise over Pete's Harbor.  I've been reluctant to say anything because I have great respect for Paula Uccelli and it seems that just mentioning my name in reference to anything related to development is a great way to get dumped on.  But there has been SO MUCH misinformation passed about that I gotta say something.

First, almost every opponent has said the same thing: It's a city treasure.  Look, I like Pete's Harbor.  I generally take visitors out to Harbor House because it is just so funky.  I point out the collection of boats.  And there was a time that there wasn't any other place to tie up your boat to, other than Pete's Harbor.  But that time has come and gone.  There are five other marinas in Redwood City now.  One, Docktown, is actually dedicated to live-aboard lifestyles.  Pete's Harbor was never intended for that.  It was for recreational sailors and a place where they could stop for a short visit, have lunch and then move on.  It was never meant to be a place for people to live.  And of all the marinas in Redwood City, it isn't the nicest place to stay.  

Paula Uccelli never intended for this to be her life's work but she does care about it.  So did her late husband, Pete. She wants to see the vision that Pete had come true, but she lacks what is needed.  That's why she's been looking for a developer to make it happen... and actually turn it into a CITY TREASURE!.

Second, every opponent makes the claim that we are going to lose the marina.  Apparently they are not looking at the plans, just reacting to the fact that a developer is involved.  If you look at the plan, there is to be a NEW marina built.  But that can't be done until the current marina is emptied.

Third, several (not all) of the opponents are saying that 500 people are going to lose their homes.  The reality is that there are less than 50 people affected and not a one of them is losing their home.  Their home is their boat.  They keep the boat.  They just have to finda new slip.... at one of the five other marina's in Redwood City or one of the 40 others in the mid bay area.  

This is where the anti-development people kinda lose their gravitas.  It's like the Redwood City Citizens United who fought against the Saltworks develpment because they said we needed infill development along the El Camino transit corridor... and then when a developer decided to do that on Finger Avenue, they fought that (they lost by the way).  The Pete's Harbor area is already developed.  It has been properly zoned for residential development.  It meets all the requirements set by the anti-development forces from the last time the Uccelli's tried to develop it.  And the intention to develop has bene in the works for 10 years.  At any time in those 10 years, someone who wanted to keep Pete's Harbor in its "pristine" condition could have come forward and made a fair offer.  None did.  They are still offering no alternative other than that Paula damn well better keep it exactly as is or there will be hell to pay.  

Sorry folks, just sounds like a lot of "sound and fury, signifiying nothing."

In other news, some of the anonymous development opponents like to make the claim that anyone who might agree with my position is but a fictitious creation on my part.  One of the people they claim to be fictitious is Barb Valley, a member of the city's library board.  Photo is attached (another example of how the anti-development people don't know what they are talking about).