After much thought and analysis, including meetings and many conversations with Quarry owner/developer R. Donahue Peebles, Pacificans for Sustainable Development (PSD) steering committee has decided to oppose Measure L.

The "blank check" Measure L on the November ballot is a wonderful example of putting the cart before the horse.

Voting on a housing initiative before there is a concrete plan makes perfect sense from Mr. Peebles' point of view. He doesn't want to spend 2 years doing the hard work of preparing a detailed project plan, getting it approved by the City, and convincing Pacificans it was good for the City, only to have the voters turn it down.

South Florida developer Roy Donahue Peebles has said on several public occasions and in print that his "vision" for "the future of Pacifica" is Pebble Beach.

Pebble Beach has no City Council, no representatives, and no democracy. Pebble Beach is a private corporation. It has no public government at all; it is a wholly-owned private fiefdom. Pebble Beach has no citizens, only homeowner's association members and employees.

As expected, the City has confirmed that there is no plan, there is no project, there are no tangible benefits to the City nor to us, its citizens, in this ballot measure, nor any way to determine prior to the November 7th election what damage 355 houses in the Quarry would cause to our traffic or our environment.

I left the May 18th "Charrette" cautiously optimistic about Mr. Peebles and his designs for the Quarry. It sounded too good to be true, so I began doing some "due diligence" on Mr. Peebles, his architect, "Charrettes", and some of the environmental, regulatory, and economic issues with the Quarry property. I collected web links and notes. I started asking around. Peebles seemed to be patient; I expected this would take years to come to a ballot.

During March 2005 Melissa Hippard, Lennie Roberts, & myself met with R. Donahue Peebles of the Peebles Atlantic Corporation at the Conservation Center in Palo Alto. The subject of the meeting was a proposed development by Mr. Peebles of the landmark quarry in Rockaway Beach; the quarry is adjacent to the Pacific Ocean & SR 1.

Come on, kids, repeat after me — "355, 355, 355." That's what Pacificans will be voting on — 355 residential units. Forget all those goodies talked about in the charrette charade. They are a mirage.