Thoughts on "The Purpose Driven Life"

August 17, 2008

The news of the day centers on a mega church icon’s interviews with Obama and McCain about their leadership principles and moral character, not to mention their religious views. They agreed to these interviews in pursuit of the evangelical vote. What I’m interested in is the icon’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, because I’ve developed an aversion to this kind of “driven life,” believing that it leads to an ends justifying the means kind of thinking and the consequences thereof, seldom pleasant.

Here’s an example. Enter some Planning Department staffers who tend to have purpose driven lives around the ideal of “preserving coastal resources ,” an ideal we can all get behind. For one property owner, it worked out this way though. First, believe that Irish Beachers, including me and of course the Concerned Citizens mentioned previously, are dedicated environmentalists. This is not about that, exactly.

In May, I made an appointment to meet with a lead planner in Ukiah to review permits and projects we wanted to implement at Irish Beach. To make a point, he told the following story about a couple who had bought a lot at Irish Beach. It was a bluff lot directly above the ocean, about a half acre, that descended from Navarro Way all the way to the rocks below. There were two lovely rather substantial homes on either side of it. I did not tell this gentleman, whose politics usually line up with mine, as he launched into his tale, that I was the one who had sold the couple the lot in question.

It had been a complicated sale, because we have a little critter at Irish Beach that is on the endangered species list called the Point Arena Mountain Beaver (PAMB). This is a kind of gopher that enjoys the vegetation growing on the bluffs above the ocean and along drainage easements, particularly in the Point Arena area. John Hunter from The US Department of Fish and Wildlife headquartered in Humboldt came down two or three times to survey the lot and other areas of Irish Beach for the PAMB, and he staked their habitat on the lot accordingly. The area was surveyed and mapped, and submitted to the Planning Department office in Fort Bragg for approval prior to the close of escrow. The Planning staff indicated they were satisfied. We all were. Balance had been achieved. The PAMB habitat was preserved and a building envelope established. Escrow closed, and $475,000 changed hands. Then the buyers submitted their building plans to the Planning Department. You can guess what happened next.

My staffer friend began his story by profiling the couple who had bought the lot. First he described the husband’s hairdo, which is a rather long ponytail. He mentioned that he and his wife came from Silicon Valley. Computer “nerd” with money was heavily implied, and so was a certain prejudice. He proudly told me that in the name of “preserving coastal resources,” in this case the Point Arena Mountain Beaver, (never mind US Department of Fish and Wildlife findings), the new owners were not allowed to build their house on the designated and mapped building envelope, but instead would have to build higher on the lot, thereby blocking views from the lots across the street, something the CC&R’s would prevent. There were also geotechnical issues which had been dispelled by a reputable engineer prior to the close of escrow but which were also now in dispute. The houses on either side of the newly purchased lot by the way are exactly parallel to the building envelope for this lot. Not to prolong the story, I’ll just say that the new lot owners were forced to hire an attorney and appeal the Planning Department’s negative permit decision to the County Board of Supervisors, where they won. The Planning Department then appealed to the Coastal Commission. Irish Beach was an approved subdivision before the Coastal Commission Act was passed, so in order to deny permits, they pretty much have to rely on health and safety issues. That excluded the PAMB habitat debate but not the geotechnical issues. You’d have to see the slope of the lot to be convinced that when I tell you that it is not steep and is easy to build on you’d believe me. Into the PAMB habitat and beyond, the lot drops off more steeply, but not above it. When I asked the Planner about the possibility of the owners losing their $475,000, he shrugged it off as someone else’s problem. Indeed. Presently matters are still with the Coastal Commission pending further geotechnical studies, but the person I was meeting with was satisfied that he had successfully preserved a coastal resource, defined by what at this point I didn’t know.

So that’s one of my local “higher purpose” stories. There are more of course, and in the wider world there are thousands, (my brother, about whom you’ll hear more coming up), religious ideologues, politically conservative ideologues and secular crusaders of one kind or another, often misogynist in nature. (No birth control for you young lady, and no information about it either, etc. etc.) All crazy making stuff.

Until next time, be well, and watch your step out there. Meanness abounds, especially when sourced in a purpose driven life.