Tag Archives: geese

President’s Memo: May 2012

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Why Advertise in The PILOT ?

  1. The PILOT is the only magazine delivered to all 5,400 residential households in Redwood Shores (by USPS mail), total population of ~15,000 (includes ZIP Code 94065 plus the Belmont Shores neighborhood).
  2. The PILOT has been published monthly for over 40 years.
  3. As the only publication dedicated to the Shores community and its unique issues, The PILOT is a very “high-interest” publication for Shores residents.
  4. The Shores is a geographically distinct “island” community, surrounded on three sides by water and Hwy.101 on the fourth.
  5. The Shores is a high net-income community, with an estimated average household income of over $120,000. (2010 Census data is not yet available; 2000 census data showed average household income between $105,000–$120,000.)
  6. Demography of the Shores by Age:
    • a. Under 18: ~4,700
    • b. 18 – 34: ~2,000
    • c. 35 – 49: ~3,800
    • d. 50 – 64: ~2,600
    • e. 65 & over: ~1,600
  7. Demography of the Shores by Housing:
    • a. Total Residential Units: ~5,400
    • b. Owner occupied: ~3,900
    • c. Renter occupied: ~1,500
    • (930 apartments in 5 complexes, 500+ single-family units)
  8. The PILOT also goes to most of the 700 Businesses in the Shores, ranging from some of the largest on the Peninsula (Oracle & Electronic Arts) to many small retail shops & business offices.
  9. San Carlos, Belmont, Foster City, San Mateo, and downtown Redwood City business districts are all within 3-5 miles of the Redwood Shores community.

The PILOT connects you with every one of our residential households in Redwood Shores.

The PILOT is a great choice – is THE choice – if you want to reach every potential customers in the Shores community.

 

Shores History Now at the Library

For our 40th Anniversary Celebration back in 2010, RSCA put together a “history” of Redwood Shores in many pictures and newspaper articles dating back to the 1960s.

That history will again be on display for the next few months at the Redwood Shores Library. If you missed it in 2010, you should take some time to visit the library and browse through the history of our special community.

Originally “unwanted and unloved”, the Shores is now one of the brightest & best places to live and work on the Peninsula! See how it happened and the work that went into transforming this wonderful community we call home.

 

“No Feeding” Signs Going Up

On a separate page of this month’s PILOT you will find a draft of the City’s new “no feeding” signs that will be going up in our parks and public areas. Shortly after that you should start seeing similar signs on many private properties around the Shores.

Just a reminder that under California law, feeding wildlife is a punishable offense without regard to whether you are on public or private property.

And feeding by humans can cause unintended harm to ANY of our local or migratory waterfowl or wildlife. Feeding by humans can lead to under-nourishment by replacing the natural diet and lead to the spread of disease among the very animals you think you are “helping”. Feeding by humans can change natural behavior and migratory patterns and lead to local overcrowding. Feeding by humans can lead to more aggressive behavior toward adults AND children.

PLEASE… let’s do our part to keep wildlife wild!

 

HELP (always) WANTED !

RSCA is entirely a volunteer organization. The list of things that we “could” be doing – things we would like to be doing – continues to grow.

If you have a specific interest in something in the Shores that YOU would like to see improved, and you have 1-2 hours a week to work with RSCA, let’s talk about how we might work together. RSCA can provide support and a platform for action that you might not have as a single individual. You’ll also meet a lot of nice people who share your interest in keep the Shores a GREAT place to live and raise a family.

 

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

President’s Memo: April 2012

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LOCK UP! LOOK OUT!

SEE CRIME? CALL 369-3333

If you SEE Something, SAY Something!

Please note that the number above goes directly to the Redwood City Police Department dispatch center. The response will be quicker than 911. If you see something suspicious, don’t hesitate to call it in.

Lock your cars, and lock your doors & windows. Look out for your neighbors.

 

FINALLY !

On March 1st we posted the preliminary document detailing what we can do about the overpopulation of resident Canada geese in Redwood Shores. That document can be found at RSCA.org.

Also look for the ‘Additional Questions’ at the bottom of that page, and check that page frequently for updates. I suspect there are going to be some small details that we’ll need to resolve as we go through this year.

I did receive one email asking why we wanted to kill the geese. Well, we have never suggested that as a solution. Everything we’ve learned shows that even if we were to find a way to get rid of our existing local population, we would have a new group of settlers within a few months. The things that people enjoy about the Shores also makes our community attractive to Canada geese, and they and the other waterfowl are going to be a permanent part of the ambiance of Redwood Shores.

Anything that kills or even harms the existing geese is strongly prohibited by federal, state, and local laws, and RSCA was the first to call CA Dept. of Fish & Game when we discovered indications just before Thanksgiving that someone had been taking geese from the lagoon (possibly for a Holiday feast?)

We have been working not only to find out what we can do within federal and state laws and regulations, but also to find out what seems to work and what doesn’t. Please take time to read this short document, then work with your local HOA or business property manager on these simple suggestions.

There is no 100% solution, and you won’t see results overnight. But at least we have some guidelines that both the City and private property managers can use in trying to reduce the amount of goose feces left on our walkways and in our parks and open-space green areas.

 

Do NOT Feed Wildlife !

As I’ve mentioned previously, the #1 recommendation of both state and federal wildlife officials was to quit feeding the geese. One thing that surprised us — and an indication of how seriously this is considered — is the severity of the penalty for feeding ANY wildlife:

You can be fined up to $1,000 and sentenced up to six (6) months in jail for each violation!

It doesn’t matter whether you are on public or private property. The law applies to feeding wildlife anywhere in California.

We don’t want this to become an issue of legal enforcement. We are encouraging each HOA and private property manager to deal with this by posting ‘no feeding’ signs prominently and by informing their residents, tenants, or employees about the law. We would also hope that Shores residents will respect the law and recommendations of the U.S. FWS and CA DFG.

 

The Crows…

One thing you can do to reduce the problems with the crows is to keep the lid closed on your garbage containers.

The crows appear to be going after open or overfilled containers on garbage collections days. They will rip open any exposed plastic or paper bags to get at the contents, and they can make a big mess for you and your neighbors.

 

HOAs & ‘non-HOA’ Areas of the Shores

The Shores was from the beginning a planned community. As a planned community, every residential area is governed by a set of Covenants, Codes & Restrictions (CC&Rs).

Those CC&Rs vary between areas, but ALL properties have restrictions as to the type of building, colors & styles, landscaping, and other exterior features allowed within that area. The CC&Rs also define for each area the governing body that approves changes and oversees compliance.

State legislation was passed in 1985 called the ‘Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act’ that allowed the formation of new entities called ‘home owners associations’ (HOAs) within existing city boundaries. These local HOAs are responsible not only for the CC&Rs but also for maintenance of ‘common areas’ within that HOA’s limits. These common areas are property jointly owned by all of the homeowners in a given association.

East of Shell Blvd and the other areas that were developed after 1985 were all incorporated as ‘home owners associations’. Almost 80% of residences in the Shores are in our 20+ individual HOAs.

But much of Redwood Shores west of Shell Blvd was built before 1985 so was unable to take advantage of the Davis-Stirling Act and organize into HOAs. But even non-HOA areas west of Shell are governed by a set of CC&Rs.

If you own a home in the Shores and did not receive a copy of the CC&Rs, contact the realtor from whom you bought your home. It is the responsibility of the selling realtor that a set of CC&Rs be given to each homeowner when that home is purchased.

CC&R’s ensure that each homeowner keeps their home and landscaping attractive and in good condition. This is just another of the many things that makes the Shores such a beautiful and GREAT place to live!

 

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

President’s Memo: March 2012

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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

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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.)

President’s Memo: February 2012

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Support Our Shores Business Neighbors

I wanted to take a moment as we begin this New Year 2012 to recognize the important contributions that our local businesses make to the high quality of life we enjoy here in Redwood Shores. Redwood City has for many years worked hard to create a great business climate, and we are fortunate to have many great business neighbors here in the Shores.

We have large companies like EA and Oracle with their global headquarters here, and satellite offices of several multi-nationals, but we also have many smaller businesses which provide important services to our local community.

Many of these smaller businesses, with their advertising sponsorship, support RSCA’s communications outreach to the Shores. This includes the (significant) cost of printing & mailing these issues of The PILOT every month to every household and most businesses in the Shores at no cost to you.

Please look carefully through this issue and take special note of those local businesses which support RSCA in The PILOT.

Make an effort to patronize these local businesses whenever possible.

If it ain’t one thing…

We were making every effort to begin to disseminate the information we’ve gathered about the Canada goose situation in late January, but, as Rosanne Rosannadanna used to say, “If it ain’t one thing, it’s another.” (If you’re not old enough to understand the reference, google it.)

The Redwood City Attorney’s office, in their review of the information we had compiled so far, discovered that there is an old City ordinance that contradicts the very recommendations of the CA Dept of Fish & Game and US Fish & Wildlife service. The City, though, has already started the process of amending that ordinance to bring it in alignment with state and federal wildlife policies. The first reading of the amendment is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 6, so that’s our next target date.

The information and recommendations we provide will be mostly applicable to the property managers for our local HOAs and commercial business properties and to Redwood City for the park areas, especially those on the waterways. But we’ll also provide information on the national scope of the problem caused by these “no longer migrating” birds.

As I’d said time and again: we have been working closely with federal and state wildlife officials on what we can and can NOT do to help mitigate the problem of the increasing amount of goose feces left in our parks and on our walkways and open lawns. We are following their recommendations closely and working closely with the City on solutions for our parks and other public areas.

… it’s another — now Crows ?

Yes, both RSCA and the City are aware of the flocks of crows that seemed to have recently descended upon several neighborhoods in the Shores. They’ve recently decided to peck away at the skylight in my office when I’m trying to work. I found it interesting that a flock of crows is also called a “murder”, and I don’t think the derivation of that term was in any way meant to be humorous.

We do know that 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. You would think that would make finding a solution easy, wouldn’t you?

Lock Up!

Again, we have recent “property crimes” that can’t be called “break-ins” because doors were left unlocked with valuable items in plain sight. Please, please…

  • LOCK your cars, even in your driveway.
  • LOCK your home (front AND back doors), even if you only step out for a few minutes.
  • Don’t leave valuables like cell phones, laptops/iPads, and GPS units in plain sight, either in your car or at home.

Be safe, be smart. Let’s not make it so easy.

Let’s Be Careful Out There

The winter rains are finally here. Our streets are wet and slick, but we are still seeing speeds of 45-50 mph on the main roadways in the residential areas east of Bridge Pky. This is just way too fast in our residential neighborhoods. Take a few extra seconds to get where you’re going and slow down on your way in or out of the Shores.

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

President’s Memo: January 2012

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Join Our Email List (please?)

Why do we keep asking for your email address? It’s all about MONEY!

It costs RSCA a minimum of about 45¢ just to send a postcard, and almost triple that to send a letter. An email takes less time to prepare, and there are no printing or postage costs. Each email costs just fractions of a penny. So we can send information much more frequently than we do postcards or letters, and…

Each email address you provide saves RSCA more than $2.00 each year!

That’s money the we can use for events like our Eggstravaganza egg hunt, the Summer Concerts, Halloween Walk for our children, and Santa Comes to the Shores. With over 5,300 residences and 700 business in the Shores, we use our email list to keep more people informed about our community and events during the year. If you would like to be on our email list, simply go to RSCA.org and under “Feedback”, click on the “Join our email list” button to sign up.

HERE’S OUR PRIVACY POLICY:

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

Once More on Our “Resident” Canada Geese

In addition to emails, I’ve had several people approach me at Nob Hill and at our recent Santa event with criticism that our December PILOT gave the impression that opinions in the Shores regarding our “Canada Goose problem” were fairly evenly divided. That criticism was justified. In an attempt to provide a forum for differing opinions, we over-compensated.

Let me say again, as I have said several times before, that when we polled Shores resident last winter well over 80% ranked the issue of goose feces as one of the highest issues affecting the quality of life in the Shores. The only issue that ranked higher was public safety, e.g., police and fire protection.

We have been working closely with federal and state wildlife officials since last spring to find out what we can and can NOT do to help mitigate the problem of the increasing amount of goose feces left in our parks and on our walkways and open lawns.

I think that even some of those who presently “disagree” with what we are trying to do will be surprised at some of the simple things we can do around our open areas that should make a big difference to the cleanliness of our parks, walkways and lawn areas.

We are making every effort to begin to disseminate the information we’ve gathered later in January. This information will be mostly applicable to property managers for our local HOAs and business properties, and to Redwood City for the park areas, especially those on the waterways. But we’ll also provide information on the national scope of the problem caused by these “no longer migrating” birds.

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