Coastal Commission approves MST SURF! busway in 7-1 vote.

In a 7-1 vote with two commissioners recusing on Thursday, Sept. 12, the California Coastal Commission approved Monterey-Salinas Transit’s controversial SURF! Busway project, an off-highway busway that is planned to span from Marina to Sand City west of Highway 1. 

The commission, by the same margin, upheld the City of Marina’s approval of the project within its borders that was appealed by Keep Fort Ord Wild and Margaret Davis.

As approved by the Coastal Commission, the road will travel within the Monterey Branch Line rail corridor owned by the Transportation Agency for Monterey County, at some times crossing over the existing tracks.  

The approval came after a report from Coastal Commission staff in July that recommended denying the project, only to reverse course a month later, after an intervention by state Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, with a new report that recommended approval for a new alignment that would impact less environmentally sensitive habitat. 

The seats in the ballroom where the meeting was held at Portola Plaza Hotel in Monterey were mostly filled, but not packed, with many SURF! supporters—including MST staff—wearing “I love SURF!” t-shirts MST was giving out to attendees (the “love” was a heart emoji). 

Starting just after lunch, the hearing lasted nearly four hours, as more than 50 people had signed up for public comment (though some didn’t ultimately phone in). 

Numerous local politicians came to show their support, most notably Laird, who brokered the approved plan. County supervisors Wendy Root Askew and Luis Alejo also urged the commissioners to approve it, as did District 5 supervisor-elect Kate Daniels, and various council members from around the county, most who serve on the MST board. 

The public comment was pretty evenly divided with those who support and those opposed, with the latter almost entirely Marina residents. (During a short recess, Root Askew, whose District 4 encompasses the project footprint, told the Weekly she felt its coverage left an inaccurate impression that most Marina residents oppose it; she believes the majority support it.) 

When it finally came time for the commissioners to speak just after 3pm, only a handful asked questions, and among the most substantive were about why the viable alternatives to put the busway down the Highway 1 corridor, even possibly through the median, weren’t explored further. Commission staff responded by saying that, even though the staff told MST five years ago it wasn’t going to be approvable to put a busway through one of the largest dune habitats in the state, MST forged ahead anyway and the realignment was the best it could do to minimize the impact on habitat, and that MST’s grant funding deadlines now precluded the other alternatives. 

When it came for a vote, only Commissioner Dayna Bochco voted no, after having expressed concerns about the habitat and cost. But both Justin Cummings and Caryl Hart expressed their displeasure that this was coming to the commissioners at such a late hour, forcing them into a corner. 

“This is not the way to do business with the commission,” she said. 

After the SURF! hearing ended, various Coastal Commission staff gathered on the patio at Peter B’s Brewpub during a break, visibly relieved to have put it behind them—the politicians, commissioners and supporters all lavished praise for their hard work during their comments. 

Asked he how felt to have SURF! in the rearview mirror, Deputy Director Dan Carl said, “It’s water under the bridge at this point.” As to whether the Coastal Commission gets sued over it, he said that happens all the time, but he noted that MST could get sued too. As for Coastal Commission staff, he felt they made “lemonade out of lemons.” 

MST General Manager Carl Sedoryk, speaking today after meeting with federal officials regarding the up to $35 million grant for the project, says MST has to have all the permits in place by Sept. 15 in order for the federal government to process it in time so that MST can enter into a contract with the U.S. Department of Transportation before a new administration comes in next January, as change could bring a risk in losing it. 

“I’d like to get it done so I can have [Transportation] Secretary Pete [Buttigieg] come out with a big check,” Sedoryk says, adding that he’s told the project has “visibility at the highest levels within the [DOT].”

He adds there will be a special MST board meeting in the next few weeks to get authorization to proceed with planning the realignment. 

As for how the project will be impacted in the face of lawsuits, he says, “I don’t know.”