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The Spectrum . Redwood City's Monthly Magazine
The Battle for Emerald Hills
Hundreds Protest
Emerald Hills Plan
Approximately 600 Emerald Hills residents protested proposed zoning laws
and design guidelines that threaten to regulate everything from new landscaping
to the color of one’s home. “There was a lot of screaming, emotion
and a lot of applause,” said 32-year Emerald Hills resident Robert Parkhurst.
The community showed up at Clifford School to express its frustrations with the
Emerald Hills Homeowners Association, claiming that the small group is attempting
to control a community of more than 1,700 homes. For more than a year, the
Emerald Hills Homeowners Association in unincorporated Redwood City has
worked to develop new zoning laws for approval by the San Mateo County Board
of Supervisors. The zoning laws govern things like height and square-footage limits.
The 32 pages of design guidelines touch on everything from types of plants to
acceptable exterior colors.
Members of the association claim the new zoning requirements and guidelines will
help new residents and those looking to add on know what is acceptable in the
community. Opponents calling themselves the Emerald Hills Community
Coalition claim the association is a group of about 20 residents trying to turn the
diverse neighborhood into a tightly regulated, exclusive community. “It confirms a
lot of what I’ve thought for the six or seven years I’ve lived here, that the association
represents a small minority of people,” said Emerald Hills resident Mark
Botto.
Only about 30 people at the meeting were in favor of the changes. The zoning
requirements build upon the ones created in 1989 and are not unique. They are
modeled after a similar midcoast plan previously approved by the county. The
design guidelines are much more restrictive and dictate the color and landscape a
new house or addition should use. Many at the meeting wanted to make changes
to the association, with some arguing for a complete dissolution of the board.
Members of the board are quick to point out that it held meetings and sent out a
poll to residents. The poll had received a majority of respondents in favor of the
changes, according to the association’s Web site. However, those opposed to the
association call it a push-poll that was phrased in such a way to get positive reactions
from people.
The San Mateo County Planning Commission will have the ultimate say over the
plan later this summer. Some hope it will never get that far. “I think we need to
think about tolerance and freedom in our neighborhood. That matters more than
the color of my neighbor’s home,” said Parkhurst.
Editor’s note: This article appeared first in the Daily Journal newspaper.
Keep Emerald Hills a
Wonderful Place to
Live
By the Emerald Hills Homeowners Association Board
Emerald Hills is a wonderful place to live. A diverse demographic lives here,
and we are surrounded by a natural environment that is rare in the Bay Area
today. These are two key reasons people cite as their primary attraction to
the area.
It is important that the Emerald Hills community understand the facts and not
just the emotion that has been driving some recent concerns. One concern is that
a vocal group feels excluded from the decisions and events taken on by the
Emerald Hills Homeowners Association. The EHHA does not pretend to speak for
everyone — that is not realistic or possible. Our objective is to represent the majority
sentiment of those who choose to participate with the association. We provide
many mechanisms for participation: community input meetings, e-mails/letters to
the board, online forums, annual meetings, votes on proposals and elected officers,
etc. We have always made our best effort to solicit community involvement and
continue to work to ensure everyone receives adequate notice of all activities.
The term “style police” has been associated with the proposed design standards
and the limitations imposed on the residents. The truth is that for the most part
these design standards have been in place for 16 years! It has been incorrectly positioned
that these are all new regulations, when in fact they have been guidelines
used for every new house built or remodeled since 1990. The intent was to make
a single document that homeowners, neighbors, builders, architects, design review
and county entities can all use equally. Unlike the existing ordinances in hard to
read “government language,” it is well organized, with the standards clearly written
and filled with illustrations and examples. It is based on the Midcoast (Half
Moon Bay) Design Standards that have already been approved by that community
and the county.
Another concern is preserving diversity. This diversity seems important to all. No
one is trying to take that away. The design standards are a guideline to help maintain
the existing neighborhood’s character. No one wants a cookie-cutter community
here, but uncontrolled development will create one. Property rights must be
honored, but individual rights end when they limit the rights of others. We are a
community, and we all need to respect our neighbors and their rights as well.
The EHHA has been an advocate for the area for several decades. In the ’70s it
worked with the county to develop a community plan to move from septic to sewer
system. With this came the intensive pace and scope of new home development
and the lack of enforceable regulations. Many homeowners felt this uncontrolled
growth was detrimental to Emerald Hills. In the late ’80s existing regulations were
developed and adopted, which has contributed to a higher quality of housing.
While there may not have been perfect execution of these guidelines in the eyes of
some, we need to work together to make it better for all of us.
The EHHA has also worked with other community concerns such as preserving
Edgewood Park as an open space, stopping the county from widening all the roads
and adding sidewalks (which would have substantially infringed on people’s properties),
reducing our water rates, distributing over 2,000 free trees to homeowners
and, recently, working with the Department of Public Works on dangerous traffic
locations. It has not, however, been involved in placing speed bumps on
Cordilleras or establishing the “no left turn” policy off Edgewood.
Emerald Hills is a wonderful place to live. We all need to get on the same page to
keep the character, diversity and beauty of Emerald Hills alive. This has somehow
been positioned as an “us against them” battle. First of all, there’s no need to fight.
We need to have civil, facilitated meetings where all sides can be heard without
fear of intimidation. Second, we all want the same thing; let’s figure out how to do
it together.
The Emerald Hills Homeowners Association was founded by residents in the late
1950s to fight attempts by the state to site Interstate 280 through the residential
areas of Emerald Hills.
Sleeping Giant Wakes
in Emerald Hills
By Michael Mangini
Asleeping giant has been awakened in San Mateo County. The 3,000-plus residents
of the unincorporated area known as Emerald Hills have been awakened
to the threat to their property rights and personal freedoms posed by
the new zoning codes being considered by county government on behalf of a small
lobbying group calling themselves the Emerald Hills Homeowners Association.
In the early 1990s, the EHHA, with an active membership of no more than 50
people, convinced county officials to enact a system of development and design
guidelines that recommend limitations on everything from house size and design
style to exterior color and fencing materials. At the time, most residents were
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