March 24, 1999

Thanks for all those cards and letters

I would like to thank Lionel Emde for accepting my estimate of the amount of open space in Pacifica. Thanks, Jerry Davis, for your input. Thanks to Bruce Hotchkiss for his response to my comments. And thanks, Jackson Barrows, for agreeing with me. I would like to thank them all (except Bruce) for spelling my name right in last weekıs letters to the editor. Three out of four ainıt bad.

Professor Davis is both absolutely right and terribly wrong when he calls my comment, ³Itıs almost impossible for either Pacificans or visitors to get to the top of Sweeney Ridge² blatantly false. First of all, how can you follow the path of Portolá if you have to go through the back door?

Whatıs more, restoring and improving the historic road to the top of Sweeney Ridge from Fassler Avenue is all Iım suggesting. Renewing the road over which Carl McCarthy drove thousands of people to show them the Discovery Site (in a plain vanilla automobile) and adding a protective layer of asphalt is surely not too much to ask.

Back in the seventies, Carl opened my eyes to a beautiful vista only a couple of miles from my home. Following the path of Gaspar de Portolá, he drove me up Fassler, through the gate, past the water tank of the NCCWD, and on to the site that mesmerized the 63 Europeans who, on Nov. 4, 1769, learned for the first time of this vast inland sea. Because of Carlıs vision, I cheered when Sweeney Ridgeıs 1000-plus acres became part of the GGNRA in May 1984. I thought tens or hundreds of thousands of people from the Bay Area and throughout the world would be able to enjoy this magnificent 360 degree view.

That hasnıt happened. Sweeney Ridge 99 days out of every 100 is a lonely place. Itıs not what Jack London called Pacifica in 1883, "the bleak, sad coast." But except for a few well-muscled, young, intrepid hikers and lonely park rangers, few enjoy the view from this magnificent viewshed.

Itıs true enough professors of geography like Jerry Davis, men on a first name basis with GGNRA administrators and rangers, find little difficulty getting up to Sweeney Ridge. Itıs even possible Mr. Davis has a key to the gate near the San Francisco County Jail. But having to call ahead, arranging to pick up keys at some distant office, driving in by the back gate, etc. is not ease of access. How many people would have the time and energy to visit Yosemite if they had to go in to the valley via the Leevining grade and the Tioga Road after picking up a key in Mariposa or Merced? Or if they had to hike in from El Portal?

Bruce Hotchkiss points out thereıs no magic formula for determining the "right" amount of open space. If there was a formula I would invoke it. But if such a formula existed, Bruce would likely not be pleased. Formula ingredients would include maximum benefit to residents and visitors, prioritizing fragile and irreplaceable parcels, assessing the damage to the lives of city residents from the loss of tax income when land is taken off the tax rolls, damage to property owners from inverse condemnation, and other considerations. The result would probably be a lot less open space, a lot more development, and howls of pain from those who refuse to recognize we need balance to succeed as a city.

Paul Azevedoıs e-mail address is Paul@thereactor.net