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It's time to level the playing field
What I found particularly infuriating in Bob Brodey's letter last week,
(the ironic headline: "Everyone Wins") is his complete lack of sympathy
and understanding for the ordeal he and his "friends" generated for both
seller and buyer of the Gypsy Hill five acre site. Mr. Brodey is
identified as the Secretary of the "Friends of Gypsy Hill." With such
friends, who needs enemies?
Mr. Brodey and his associates risked nothing. Perhaps because of this,
they had no compunctions about arguing against the property owner, Mrs.
Campagna, and the prospective owners of the wonderful single home planned
for the spacious property. Brodey's group made sure those with the most to
lose were made to jump through hoops. Time is money. The so-called
"Friends of Gypsy Hill" made sure plenty of time and nervous tension would
be frittered away satisfying their ridiculous quibbles.
Red tape is useful if you're trying to stifle someone else's legitimate
goals. Andy Oddstad was able to build 40 Linda Mar Ranch homes, totaling
more than 57,000 square feet of houses and garages, spread over each five
acres of the land he subdivided in Pedro Valley. The Coptic Church folks
wanted to create ONE magnificent home on five acres, concentrated on ONE
modest footprint on Gypsy Hill. The so-called "friends" live some distance
from the property, most so far away they'd probably need a powerful
telescope to decipher the brand of car being driven to the house.
If they'd lost their argument completely, as they should have, they'd
still have suffered no loss, either financial or aesthetic. I suppose when
you know in advance you risk nothing, you're free to demand as much as you
can get away with. If the house in question had precisely followed the
original plans, avoiding the time consuming, painful, extensive and
expensive process of that ridiculous environmental impact report, in five
years those so intent on harassing the owners would have been proudly
pointing out the home to visitors as a wonderful addition to our city.
I've never had reason to point out Mr. Brodey's home on Brighton Road to
anyone. I probably never will. Probably few of his neighbors do so either.
Hundreds of times during my residency in Pacifica I've proudly pointed out
Henry Harrison McCloskey's unique and spacious Castle on the hill to
visitors. I've told them its history. I've told them how the late Sam
Mazza made it a showpiece inside as well as out.
Unfortunately when in the future I'm finally able to point out the home
built for the Coptic Pope, I'll also have to mention how Mr. Brodey's
shortsighted group of citizens were able to frustrate its full
realization. I guess if you yourself can't live in a showplace, you can at
least force others to compromise and homogenize. Carmel became what it is
because a few artists followed their vision freely before there was such a
thing as a Town Council, a planning commission or a "Friends of Carmel "
group to dash cold water on any originality.
If the "Friends of Gypsy Hill" had been forced to come up with $100 each
before being allowed to object to the plans, it's likely none would have
risked the cash. Their objections cost them absolutely nothing except the
minimal effort needed to whine to the council, but were very costly to
Mrs. Campagna. I suspect if Mr. Brodey's group had had to come up with
cash out of pocket to fight the project it might have stopped them cold.
But they risked nothing except futile criticism from a frustrated
newspaper columnist. So much for level playing fields.
Paul Azevedo, "The Reactor", has been expressing his own opinions in the Pacifica Tribune since 1975. Sometimes even his wife
agrees with him. (Or not!). His e mail address is Paul@thereactor.net.
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