The Daly City Dunes

Threat of Subdivision and Development - what is planned...

Although not contiguous, much of the remaining San Bruno Mountain dune system in Daly City is publicly owned (in yellow text). As the map below shows (click map to enlarge), only four properties (in blue text), amounting to about 4 acres, remain in private hands. San Bruno Mountain Watch would like to see these privately owned parcels transferred to public ownership so that this rare geologic and botanical resource can be preserved intact and unfragmented. Naturally, we believe the present owners should be adequately compensated.

Unfortunately, the owner of two of the properties has gone ahead with plans to develop. In an application filed in November, 2011 with the Daly City Planning Commission (download pdf document),  the owner proposes to subdivide 2 parcels into 9 lots and build 8 homes (parcels 003-404-030 and 003-404-040). Since there is no infrastructure on the site now - no roads, no water, no gas, no electricity and no sewage lines - all of that will have to be built as part of the project.  Thiers Street will be extended to the east and connect to two new streets that will provide access to the 9 lots through current open space.

This is a big construction project right in the middle of a unique dune system - the last of its kind on the San Francisco Peninsula (see Dune Geology). The above map shows the planned subdivision and its location relative to what is now a diversified inland dune plant community containing rare and endangered plants. San Bruno Mountain Watch has been aware of the importance of this area and been seeking to protect it for many years. We have GPS mapped the areas containing significant populations of the federally endangered San Francisco Lessingia (Lessingia germanorum - green, shaded areas with dashed borders on above map). Development will further fragment this important area. It might also lead to the development of parcels 003-404-070 and 003-460-280, which have a sizeable population of lessingia. The entire area is important to the survival and recovery of this rare plant.

In addition, building large single family homes far from any public transportation is no longer environmentally sustainable. It will result in more energy use and more greenhouse gases - at a time when the planet has serious issues with climate change. This type of development is not in line with Daly City's new General Plan which calls for higher density, infill housing of mixed affordability - built along transit corridors. Further, the parcels are on a steep hillside, and the hill is composed of sand. How stable will those new houses be? How safe will the houses be downhill on Bonnie Street?

There are sure to be questions raised during the upcoming review of this application, and we encourage people to participate in that review.

We will be posting documents and updating the schedule of public hearings associated with this development at Saving the Dunes - so check back frequently. For further information, be sure to visit our Daly City Dunes pages on Dune Geology and the Dune Plants.

We will be notifying people by e-mail as hearings and other events are scheduled. If you want to be added to our mailing list, complete the sign-up form.