Board of Supervisors punts again on Harper Canyon housing project vote.

What's another four weeks to weigh a housing development when the project proposal has been in the pipeline for 24 years? 

On Tuesday, May 20, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted for the second time this spring to delay an up or down vote on a proposed 17-lot subdivision along Highway 68 proposed by Harper Canyon Realty LLC. The developer first proposed the project in 2001. 

The board had previously approved the project in 2015. The County and the developer then faced a series of lawsuits, leading eventually to a 2021 Court of Appeal decision requiring the County to revisit wildlife impacts specifically. At issue now is whether a new, supplemental piece of the environmental impact report addressing wildlife corridors is sufficient. 

Two members of the board indicated on Tuesday that they were comfortable with the updated version. 

"I am leaning right now towards approval," said Supervisor Chris Lopez. 

Supervisor Luis Alejo said, "We could keep kicking the can, but we’re going to have to make a decision soon on a narrow scope of issues that are remaining. I’m ready to make a decision today."

However, despite updates reflected in a 114-page supplemental environmental impact report, several parties—including the California Department of Fish and Wildlife—expressed continued concerns that even with increased buffer zones and provisions to minimize lighting and other impacts, that a sensitive wildlife corridor would be harmed. 

“The corridor is an essential linkage," said Jeremy Pohlman, a senior environmental scientist for CDFW. "The proposed project would further degrade that linkage.”

He and regional CDFW biologist Zach Mills spoke about the issue of habitat fragmentation on isolating wildlife, leading to potentially negative impacts on species, including genetic isolation and inbreeding. (The project area is along Highway 68 and connects Fort Ord National Monument to Toro County Park and, more broadly, the Santa Lucia Mountains.) 

In addition, Mills said, the proposed project is likely to increase human-wildlife conflict, specifically as it pertains to mountain lions, and could therefore lead to more depredation of lions. 

"Ultimately, the measures proposed do not adequately mitigate for the landscape-level impacts or acknowledge the extent of preservation needed to mitigate for the long-term effects of the project," Pohlman told the board. 

Rachel Saunders of the Big Sur Land Trust echoed those concerns in her remarks. Big Sur Land Trust owns the nearby Marks Ranch property, and is engaging in an effort to permanently conserve the adjacent 870-acre Ferrini Ranch site, which had previously been slated to become a similar housing development. 

The three other county supervisors expressed continued misgivings about whether the project updates adequately protected wildlife corridors. Wendy Root Askew said she hoped they could get it right ahead of approving a project, referencing other efforts throughout the state to add wildlife crossings to remedy habitat fragmentation: "Taxpayers are later coming back to fund connection points as an afterthought. [If] it’s a bridge over a freeway, these are very expensive to put in place as an afterthought," she said.

County of Monterey housing staff agreed to continue a dialogue with CDFW officials about additional requirements to incorporate into the supplemental EIR. Some factors described—like impacts on wildlife of sound (such as barking dogs or kids playing basketball), lights at night, and livestock such as chickens—are impossible to eliminate in a rural neighborhood, but certain requirements like wider buffer zones or outdoor lighting height limits may potentially offer a compromise path forward. 

The supervisors will revisit the proposal on Tuesday, June 17.