President’s Memo: March 2012

 

LOCK UP! LOOK OUT!

There were two residential burglaries in the Shores this past month, and in both it was a neighbor who called police because “something didn’t look right.” In one RWC Police arrested a suspect still in the home, in the other the neighbor took a photo of the suspect’s vehicle which directly led to another arrest.

Please LOCK UP! Lock your cars, lock your homes, and don’t encourage a break in by leaving valuables in plain sight.

And LOOK OUT for your neighbors. If it doesn’t look right, call the police — 369-3333 — and let them check it out.

If you SEE something, SAY something! Don’t hesitate to call and let the police check out anything that looks suspicious or out of the ordinary.

Interesting…

The rains came, the crows went… at least in my neighborhood. The common American crow is considered by wildlife officials a “species of least concern”, that is, not in any way threatened or in need of protection. Crows and ravens seem to be showing up all over the Bay Area, and as best I can tell, there’s not a thing we can do about them, EXCEPT:

Keep your yard clean, and keep garbage where they can’t get to it.

… and Unbelievable !

A man was spotted walking in the Shores on New Year’s Eve with what appeared to be a rifle or shotgun. Several RWC Police cars & officers responded immediately, and among those who responded was our new Chief of Police.

The next day the Chief received a complaint from a Shores resident about “too many police here on New Year’s Eve.”

You have got to be kidding…

Door-to-door Solicitations?

Many areas of the Shores are posted for no door-to-door solicitations, but we still seem to be getting (these mostly young) people going from home to home with one sales pitch or another. With only a few religious or charitable exceptions, anyone going door to door should have a Solicitation Permit issued by Redwood City.

Remember, knocking on doors is one way to find out if anyone is home or if the home might be empty.

If a solicitor shows up at your front door, ask to see their Permit and identification. If they can’t provide those two items, call RWC Police immediately. Even if their purposes turns out to be legitimate, RWC Police want the chance to check on these people.

Finally ?

Keep an eye on our web site, RSCA.org, for at least a preliminary document regarding things we can begin to do to deal with our Canada goose problem here in the Shores. [EDITOR’S NOTE: The Redwood City Goose Control Document is available now, and can be found by clicking here.]

The City Attorney, Pamela Thompson, and her staff have been diligent in helping to resolve some small technical issues involving actions on private vs. public properties, and I want to thank Ms. Thompson and the City Attorney’s office for their help in advising on what might have been some minor “gotcha’s” and for proposing changes to an old City ordinance that conflicted with state & federal wildlife regulations and recommendations.

While we had hoped to have every aspect covered, I suspect there are going to be some small details that we’ll need to resolve as we go through this year.

RSCA: What We Do

The primary purpose of the Redwood Shores Community Association (RSCA) is to be THE advocate on issues that affect the quality of life in the Shores.

The mission of the Association is to represent the interests of both residents and businesses in Redwood Shores. RSCA is an inclusive organization that recognizes and celebrates the diversity of our community.

RSCA endeavors to:

  1. Provide a forum for united community action by all groups within the Shores, and to assist homeowners and maintenance organizations in achieving common goals.
  2. Disseminate, by newsletter and other means, information of significance to the Shores utilizing the PILOT (a mothly newsletter), the internet, and our roadway signboards.
  3. Encourage and promote a safe and healthful environment for family life.
  4. Present social, cultural, and other events for the Shores community.
  5. Advocate fairness in taxation of property in the Shores.
  6. Encourage responsible growth of property development in the Shores.
  7. Carry on any business in furtherance of any of the above activities, or any other activities which the Association shall deem to be in the community interest.
  8. Implement the CC&Rs of Redwood Shores Subdivisions No. 1 and No. 2, Marlin Subdivisions No. 1 through and including No. 6, and Dolphin Subdivisions No. 1 and No. 2, to appoint members of the Architectural Design Review Boards to those Subdivisions, and to coordinate the enforcement of the CC&Rs of Redwood Shores Subdivisions No. 1 and No. 2 Marlin Subdivisions No. 1 through and including No. 6 and Dolphin Subdivisions No. 1 and No. 2 with the City of Redwood City.

 


Join Our Email List

With over 5,400 residents and 700 business in the Shores, we use our email list to keep you informed about our community events during the year. If you would like to be on our email list, simply click on the “Join Our Email List” button in the Feedback section of RSCA.org to sign up.

Our Privacy Policy:

Your information is for use only by Redwood Shores Community Association in contacting you. We do not share, sell, or provide our contact list to any other person or organization.

— Harris Rogers, RSCA President

Canada Goose Control in the Shores

RSCA has been working for nearly a year with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the CA Dept. of Fish & Game, and Redwood City to determine what we can (and can not) do about the over-population of Canada geese in the Shores. Below is an introduction to the Canada Goose Mitigation report.

Recommendations for Redwood Shores are now available in a preliminary document available as a PDF file which can be downloaded using the link at the bottom of the page.

We suggest that you bookmark this page and check occasionally for updates on additional issues or questions.


Canada Goose Mitigation: Recommendations for Redwood Shores

All information provided has been reviewed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife and CA Dept. of Fish & Game and is presented in cooperation with the City of Redwood City.

SUMMARY

Individual homeowners and most commercial tenants will likely not need to take any actions. Most of what is needed will fall to commercial property managers, especially along the Twin Dolphin corridor, Home Owners Associations in the Shores, and Redwood City’s Dept. of Parks & Recreation.

Businesses & Shores HOAs: You are encouraged to provide copies of this document to your business tenants & their employees and to your local HOA residents. We want everyone to understand the problem and the actions being suggested to keep the Shores a GREAT place to live and work.

Here is a brief overview:

  1. Large numbers of Canada geese have ceased seasonal migration and have become a “resident” species in almost all of the lower 48 states.
  2. Current urban & suburban landscaping techniques have created a “preferred habitat” with no natural predators for these geese.
  3. Canada geese were a threatened species in the early 1900s, but the population of “resident” geese in the U.S. has quadrupled in just the past 20 years.

    Chart & data from Federal Aviation Administration
  4. Resident Canada geese crowd out and compete with native & migrating species for habitat and resources.
  5. Resident Canada geese are now designated as a “nuisance” species. (For much more information simply search “nuisance Canada geese” or “resident Canada geese” on the web.)
  6. The increasing population of resident Canada geese and the dropping they leave on our sidewalks, parks, and other open spaces here in Redwood Shores is having a negative impact on the quality of life for both Shores residents and businesses.
  7. This has also become an economic issue with the costs of constant property clean up for businesses, HOAs, and the City.
  8. There is no 100% solution, but there are some simple and humane control methods available to both the City and private property owners — approved by both US Fish & Wildlife and CA Dept. of Fish & Game —that can:
    • Help control the location of our resident Canada geese in the Shores;
    • Help control the movement of resident Canada geese from the waterways onto our lawns, sidewalks, parks, and other open space areas;
    • Provide methods to begin to reduce the local population.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PRELIMINARY DOCUMENT

 


For further information on Canada Goose Mitigation policy & practices, please read the new Additional Questions document addressing frequently-asked questions about these developments.

CLICK HERE FOR THE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS UPDATE

(Updated Saturday, March 24, 2012)
(Check this page occasionally for additional questions and issues that may come up.)

Redwood Shores Levee Project: Construction to Resume in July

Redwood City has some good news about the schedule for resuming the Levee Improvement Project: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has granted permission for the City to resume work in July, 2010, instead of waiting until September.

As reported in the March issue of the Pilot, levee improvement work around Redwood Shores was halted after January 1, 2010 due to the start of the California Clapper Rail nesting season, as directed by the USFWS. At that time, we were informed that levee work could not resume until after September 1, 2010, the conclusion of the nesting season.

The City directed its environmental consultant to conduct a clapper rail survey, and clapper rails were not detected around the levee construction area. The result of that survey, as well as a request to resume levee construction work prior to September, was submitted to the USFWS for consideration. Authorization to resume levee construction work was granted on June 14, 2010, and the City’s contractor will most likely be able to mobilize in early to mid July.

The levee work will consist mainly of levee path restoration along Steinberger Slough, installation of sheet piles (hard, vinyl “siding” on the levee) around the wastewater treatment plant, and project site clean-up and restoration. This work is anticipated to continue through August.

In regards to levee certification, the draft certification package has been submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for review. The County of San Mateo and the City of San Carlos have received certification packages prepared by the City to bring to their respective Board and Council for adoption in August, to include in the final submittal to FEMA. Levee certification is on track and completion is expected this fall.

Thank you again for your continuing patience as the City continues working on this project on behalf of the Redwood Shores community.