Planning Commission approves coastal development permit for Fitzgerald Marine Reserve gateway improvements

The San Mateo County Planning Commission on July 9 approved a coastal development permit (County file PLN2025000202) for site improvements at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve entrance in Moss Beach, a 0.79-acre county park.

San Mateo County Parks, represented by Sam Herzberg, sought the permit to formalize an ADA-accessible picnic gateway and interpretive area. Project elements described by project planner Sonal Agarwal and the applicant include a new roughly 130-foot wooden railing, a base-rock pathway connecting California Avenue to the ranger station and existing parking, two low sitting walls (about 17–19 inches high) surrounding an existing whale skeleton exhibit, three memorial benches, three wooden picnic tables, three interpretive aluminum panels, relocation of an existing concrete ADA table onto a new concrete pad, replacement of an existing water fountain with a fountain and foot wash, installation of late native landscaping along California Avenue and North Lake Street including 12 landscape rocks, and approximately 150 cubic yards of grading. The project is appealable to the California Coastal Commission.

Planner Agarwal recommended approval and stated the parks department filed a Notice of Exemption on Jan. 2, 2025, asserting the project is categorically exempt from CEQA under Guidelines §15303(e) for small structures. During questions commissioners asked whether the whale skeleton exhibit is covered or treated (applicant said it would not be altered) and whether the site would remain open during construction; the applicant said construction would be limited during grading and the work would be completed quickly, with park staff mobilizing after the appeal period and work expected by early fall.

Sam Herzberg said the project advances interpretation and docent-led education at the reserve and that funding is in place. Herzberg said the parks department had conducted outreach with the Midcoast Community Council, Friends of Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and the public. Commissioner questions focused on maintenance of the whale skeleton and construction timing; the applicant and planner addressed those queries.

The commission voted 4-0 to approve the coastal development permit, adopting the findings and conditions in the staff report and determining a categorical exemption under CEQA Guidelines §15303(e).