A reader wanted to know, “What’s up with that mystery set of buildings on the right side of Canyon Del Rey going toward Del Monte?” The spot sits across the street from Embassy Suites and is technically on Amador Avenue. Senior Planner Rick Medina of the Seaside Planning Department reports landowner-developer Larry Scholink built it to attract business. Medina soon expects a call to schedule an inspection to OK the exterior and paint, but has received no word on tenants. “The building is a shell only,” at this point, Medina says. “It’s unfinished, but we’re hoping someone can go in there.” Scholink did not return calls seeking comment.
OVERHEARD
“You need a brown shirt for that.”
– A protester talking to Salinas City Councilman Jose Castañeda about his black T-shirt with the text “Brown Lives Matter” at a vigil for Carlos Mejia, whom police killed one year ago.
GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK
GOOD:
Two weeks after Monterey City Council balked at spending nearly $700,000 of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant money to fix streets and parks, city staff came back May 19 with a plan that instead helps the homeless. The staff’s new recommendation includes $450,000 to rehabilitate two run-down duplexes owned byVeteran’s Transition Center in Marina. Each duplex can house up to four homeless families, with a preference given to Monterey veterans. Another new recommendation was using $62,500 for refurbish a space at Safe Place, a Monterey resource for runaway and homeless youth, that will allow the facility to add six emergency shelter beds. The staff recommendation passed 4-1, with only $155,000 going to fix streets.BAD:
Pacific Grove has been a bit of a shit show since the Weekly revealed the city accidentally overcharged residents more than $600,000 in sewer fees. Awkwardly, officials discovered the overcharge while trying to legally raise P.G.’s sewer fee. Even though there’s already some $10 million in P.G.’s sewer fund, an analysis found the system is so old and leaky the city needs more revenue to make repairs over the next decade. As if to illustrate the point, on May 18, a bust pump station valve sent 100,000 gallons of raw sewage into Monterey Bay, closing P.G.’s iconic beaches for days. The next day, Monterey Peninsula Taxpayers Association politely hinted at a lawsuit if officials don’t quickly refund the sewer-fee overcharge. Talk about the sewage hitting the fan.
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