Have you heard something related to the City around town, on social media, or in the newspaper, and want to know if it's true? The City of Pacifica's "For the Record" Page is dedicated to providing residents the facts about varying issues and concerns of broad interest within the Pacifica community.

When misinformation about important City projects or programs is widely disseminated in the community, the City will respond with available information and post it here under "Current Buzz." To see past posts, please check out "The Last Word" below.

Current Buzz

Climate Actions Implemented by the City - February 27, 2023

The recent February 14th Pacifica Tribune front-page article “Group presses City for progress on climate plan” makes the important point that the City should revisit and update its outdated Climate Action Plan.  However, the article does not mention two important points related to this topic.

First, the City Council currently does have the Climate Action Plan Update on its priority workplan.  Reengaging that effort is scheduled to begin this spring.  Second, while the article mentions a few actions the City should be taking, it does not mention the many actions the City already has undertaken over the last several years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help make Pacifica sustainable.  
Setting goals and measuring progress certainly is important.  However, implementing actions to make progress is critical, and that’s where the City’s limited resources have been focused in recent years.

For example, here are a number of tangible actions that all play a part in addressing climate change locally:

• Adopting Reach Codes to promote electrification instead of gas;
• Implementing California’s new Organics Recycling law to promote composting;
• Completing a heritage tree ordinance update to protect and preserve more trees;
• Developing an Electric Vehicle Charging Station strategy to support grant applications for more EV infrastructure;
• Completing a 2040 General Plan Update that prioritizes in-fill, mixed-use development and discourages auto-dependent development on the periphery of Pacifica;
• Replacing old City fleet vehicles with hybrid or more fuel-efficient vehicles;
• Creating more bike lanes and sidewalk improvements pursuant to an updated Bike/Ped Master Plan to help promote walking and biking;
• Planning for solar power at the Community Center, renovated Civic Center, and Calera Creek Water Recycling Plant;
• Partnering with Peninsula Clean Energy and opting in all accounts (public and private) for their renewable energy portfolio;
• Implementing hybrid remote work schedules for employees, helping to reduce commute emissions;
• Incorporating energy efficiency measures into the new Civic Center project, e.g., electric water heaters instead of gas, not to mention that renovating the structures is more sustainable than demolishing and building new structures.

Updating the Climate Action Plan to set goals, identify feasible actions, take credit for actions the City has recently implemented, and measure progress into the future is an important priority for the City Council.  In the meantime, the City continues to keep environmental sustainability as a major priority and continues to implement actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make Pacifica sustainable.

Impacts from December through January Bomb Cyclones, Atmospheric Rivers and Pineapple Express Storm Events and Summary of City of Pacifica Emergency Response - January 24, 2023

The City of Pacifica experienced significant impacts from the recent series of Bomb Cyclones, Atmospheric Rivers, and Pineapple Express events that started at the end of December 2022 and continued through mid-January 2023.  From the start of rain on December 26th through mid-January, when the rains stopped, Pacifica received over 20 inches of rain.  These storm events caused major damage throughout the Bay Area, including Pacifica. 

On January 4, 2023, City Manager Kevin Woodhouse, acting as the Emergency Services Director, declared a state of local emergency, which was ratified by the City Council at their January 9th Council meeting.  North County Fire Authority (NCFA), serving Pacifica, Brisbane, and Daly City, activated its Emergency Command Center (ECC) at NCFA Headquarters on January 1, 2023 and operated in this mode throughout the weather emergency to ensure coordinated response between NCFA and Pacifica Police and Public Works Departments and in accordance with NCFA’s Incident Action Plan.  The NCFA Incident Command Team is responsible for implementing the strategy/tactics identified in the IAP and for advanced planning and coordination of the emergency incident/events for the NCFA cities.

In addition to NCFA actions, the Pacifica Police and Public Works Departments responded to the severe storm events that caused flooding, downed electrical wires, road closures, downed trees, mud slides, bank erosion, infrastructure and home damage throughout Pacifica and created the largest flow in history to the City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant.  Along with the significant rains, high tides, and storm surge, coupled with large swells, caused damage to the City during the first week in January 2023.  It is generally estimated that private home damage may reach $800,000 and damage to City infrastructure $1,570,000.  The cost for City emergency workers during this time, which include Police, NCFA and Public Works staff, will likely be close to a half-million dollars or higher.  All departments were over-staffed during the storm events and were working on emergency protective measures such as providing traffic control for blocked roadways and other safety control, placing and maintaining barricades, providing sand bags (30,000 bags, 120 yds sand), placing and operating emergency pumps, and responding to the hundreds of emergency calls for service that were received during storms.  NCFA received 107 calls for service, the Police Department received 195 calls for service, and Public Works logged 250 QAlert requests for service coming from various communications.

Below is a summary of some of the storm impacts that have been assessed and the City’s action to date.  This is not intended to be a complete listing of incidents responded to by NCFA, Police, or Public Works:

Tree and Debris Removal and Downed Powerlines:  7 downed City and private trees that were blocking roadways or access were removed (including one that hit an occupied vehicle with the driver treated for minor injuries) along with various tree debris throughout the City that in some cases blocked roadways.  In addition, crews removed rocks, mud, damaged infrastructure and miscellaneous materials that were blocking road access and clogging inlets and drainage channels. The storm surge and large swells deposited sand more than 6” along Beach Boulevard and adjacent roads and parking lots. It also toppled and damaged benches and trash cans in the area.  Public Works (PW) staff continue to work on the sand cleanup along Beach Blvd.  Downed electrical wires were identified at various locations, including Manor Drive, Palmetto Terra Nova Blvd, requiring Police and NCFA to coordinate with PG&E to deenergize and remove the lines.

Highway Impacts: Police and Public Works responded to flooding on Skyline Blvd. (SR-35) at Sharp Park Road that resulted in closure for several hours.  A tree came down on Highway 1 near the SR-35 interchange, closing the roadway for several hours that was subsequently cleared by Caltrans.  Highway 1 north of Monterey Rd. onramp closed one lane for 24 hours until Caltrans could clear the slide.  Closure of SR-92 resulted in increased traffic on Highway 1 and this is ongoing.

Mudslide and Bank Erosion:  Mudslides were reported near Idlewild, Rockaway Beach, Belfast and Brookhaven.  PW Engineering’s on-call geotechnical firm has assessed the slides and PW staff is moving forward with geotechnical engineering recommendations for these areas.  Erosion on San Pedro creek caused damage to the pedestrian pathway on the west side of Highway 1 and the area has been cordoned off for safety.

Roadway Pavement Damage: Numerous potholes and areas of pavement damage have been reported throughout the City.  PW staff continues to work to address the damage and this work is expected to be on-going.

Wastewater System: The Calera Creek Water Recycling Plant received the highest amount of sewer flow in the history of the Plant at 22.5 million gallons/day (MGD) on December 31st.  Moreover, the Plant continued to receive higher than normal flows on January 1st at 8.6 MG totaling 31.1 MG in 48 hours. The storm brought significant flows to the Plant that were beyond the Plant’s capacity to fully treat, resulting in about 9.3 MG bypassing some of the treatment process but still receiving disinfection through the Plants ultraviolet disinfection system.  There were three documented Sanitary System Overflows (SSOs) on Anza, Oceana and the Linda Mar Pump Station for a total of 100,000 gallons (with the largest SSO at the Linda Mar Pump Station).  All bypassed effluent and SSO’s have been reported to the State Water Board.  When releases occur, County Health protocols are followed and beaches closed.  Beaches were reopened after several days following County test results showing beaches were safe to use.  As is typical during large rain events, the flow to the Plant and in the collection system is approximately 80%-90% rainwater due to high rainwater intrusion (I/I) into the system. The City Council recently approved projects to address I/I in the City’s sewer collection system as part of the recent 3.5% per year over 5-years sewer rate increase. 

Stormwater System: During the storm, staff responded to numerous calls about flooding because of the amount and intensity of the rain.  Flooding was reported in lower Linda Mar, West Sharp Park, along Milagra Creek, Rockaway, and in the Pedro Point areas.  The area of flooding in lower Linda Mar is identified as a FEMA Special Flood Zone area and also sections of Beach Boulevard in West Sharp Park.  High water flows from both the rain and tide surges entered garages and homes along Beach Boulevard, Clarendon, Palmetto and Elder.  In addition, garage or home flooding was reported on Brookhaven and Stanley.  The high flows damaged the City’s storm drain system on Stanley, Sharp Park Road, Manor, Amapola and Clarendon.  Also, a key hydro-pump at the Linda Mar Pump Station failed, contributing to flooding in lower Linda Mar on December 31st.  Following that pump failure incident, Staff set up emergency pump systems during the storm to manage excess flows and utilized these to minimize flooding within the City. The City Council recently adopted a Storm Drain Master Plan, which identified improvements that could help flooding in the lower Linda Mar, West Sharp Park, and Milagra Creek areas (as well as other areas of the City) should these be constructed in the future.

Public Works staff will continue with storm cleanup for the next several weeks.  Damaged infrastructure will need to be assessed and repair options determined.  Repairs may take 6 months or longer, depending on assessment of the damage.

Lower Linda Mar Roadway Flooding Issues – December 23, 2021

Recently, the lower Linda Mar area experienced two documented roadway flooding issues including an area where water levels came up over the curb to just past the back of sidewalk at Anza and Arguello. The highest water level documented during the storms was at 2 feet in height in the roadway gutter. This area and some other locations of lower Linda Mar are part of a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Special Flood Zone and have experienced past flooding issues. Many homes in this area employ sump pumps that pump high groundwater to the street from under their homes and this area requires homeowners to carry special flood insurance. The City continually works to minimize flooding in this area including employing storm water pumps at the Linda Mar and Anza pump stations and keeping storm drain inlets and pipes clear of debris. Although the Linda Mar pump station is fully automated, fire damage to the Anza pump station in March of 2020 required replacement of the equipment with a temporary system that is manually operated. Staff has been working closely with the California Coastal Commission on permitting that would allow for a permanent automated system to be installed and has recently issued a request to the Commission to be allowed to move forward on an emergency basis.

The most recent roadway flooding occurred late on December 23, 2021. At this time, both the Anza and Linda Mar pump stations were operating and managing storm water appropriately. The roadway flooding occurred following an intense rain downpour. The City’s pipe sensor showed that during the downpour the pipe had additional capacity, however, the intensity of the downpour caused roadway water to back up at the inlet due to large water flows down the street.

The City is in the process of a Storm Drain Master Plan update and is continuing to document this roadway flooding issue, as well as others, for the storm drain consultant to assess with the study. The study is anticipated to be complete by summer of 2022.

View information regarding the City’s Storm Drain Master Plan.

The webpage provides an e-mail for residents to provide information regarding flooding issues. This is stormdrainplan@pacifica.gov. Additionally, the City’s project manager, Lawrence Henriquez, for the Master Plan can be contacted at lhenriquez@pacifica.gov.

The City’s crews work diligently and around the clock to address drainage and flooding issues during rain events. Recently, members of the public interfered with one of our first responders addressing storm water issues. Please do not interfere or distract employees during a storm response as this may slow down their ability to respond to the emergency.

Sincerely,
Lisa Petersen
Public Works Director

Court Order Regarding Oversized Vehicle Parking Lists and Map - July 21, 2021

Oversized Vehicle Ordinance Factsheet, updated July 23, 2021

The City of Pacifica has installed OSV (Oversized Vehicle) parking restriction signs throughout the City based on an engineering safety review, which determined where OSVs could park in the City without impacting the safety of roadway users. These signs are located at roadway entrances into the City, entrances to specific neighborhoods and along stretches of specific City roadway. Many streets where OSVs cannot park without impacting driver safety have sign restrictions in place; however, not every prohibited street has signage.

The list of where OSVs cannot park is viewable here: Streets prohibited for OSV parking. In addition, pursuant to a court order, the City is required to make a map and a list of where OSVs can legally park available to the public in a specified manner. The list of streets available for OSV parking is viewable here: Streets allowable for OSV parking. The map showing the streets where OSVs can park is viewable here: Map of streets allowable for OSV parking. The City has also made the lists and a link to the map to be made available upon request at the Pacifica-Sharp Park Library, the Pacifica-Sanchez Library, and at City Hall. Please contact those Libraries and the City for any access limitations put in place due to COVID-19.

There are other ordinances, laws, or codes governing parking, such as restrictions on OSVs parking within one hundred (100) feet of an uncontrolled intersection on a public street [Pacifica Muni. Code Sec. 4-7.1205(a)(2)], 72 hour parking restrictions [Pacifica Muni. Code Sec. 5-2.01 et seq.], blocking driveways [Cal. Vehicle Code Sec. 22500(e)], parking in front of fire hydrants [Cal. Vehicle Code Sec. 22514], bus zones [Pacifica Muni. Code Sec. 4-7.1306], loading zones [Pacifica Muni. Code Sec. 4-7.1302], etc. that also may apply to parking on the City streets that are not specifically identified on the lists or map. There may also be sections within the allowable street segments that the Traffic Engineer has determined are unsafe for OSV parking and has posted no parking signs. Further, these lists and the map may be updated as changes are made to the City’s roadways by resolution of the City Council or pursuant to a finding of the Traffic Engineer identified by signage that may make the area either safe or unsafe for OSVs to park on. [Pacifica Muni. Code Sec. 4-7.1204(b); Sec. 4-7.1205(a)]

The below bullet points offer more information regarding OSV parking in the City:

Due to traffic safety concerns, the City of Pacifica passed ordinance updates to section 4-7.1204 & 4-7.1205 of the City’s Municipal Code.

Effectively, outside of loading and unloading for less than 8 hours pursuant to 4-7.1205b, over sized vehicles as defined by the above code sections (22' Long or 7' wide or 8' high) are not allowed to park on a number of roads within the City’s limits.

Should you have any questions regarding parking your oversized vehicle you may call the Pacifica Police Department at 650-738-7314.

Here are Frequently Asked Questions regarding OSVs.

The Last Word

Here are the real facts, for the record, to some of the more common city business related questions you may have heard around town.