County of Monterey Planning Commission deadlocks on Pajaro farmworker housing project.

A shorthanded County of Monterey Planning Commission was split on its decision over a proposed farmworker housing project in Pajaro on Wednesday, April 10. The 3-3 tie denies the proposal, which allows the developer to appeal the decision to the Board of Supervisors.

The commission was four members short when it took its vote at 5pm, about eight hours after the meeting had started, as the majority of the meeting had earlier been taken up over discussions on the East Garrison Specific Plan. Commissioner Paul Getzelman was absent from the beginning of the meeting, while Commissioners Kate Daniels and Ramon Gomez had to leave later in the meeting due to other commitments.

Commissioner Christine Shaw recused herself, as she lives a block over from the Gonda Street project. Shaw was also one of the group of neighbors who sued the county in January 2023 following the Board of Supervisors’ approval of another farmworker housing project on Susan Street, adjacent to the current project under discussion, saying a thorough environmental review should have been required. A Superior Court judge rejected the suit.

Proposed by property owner Anthony Nicola, Inc. of Prunedale, the plans call for two three-story buildings to house up to 250 farmworkers on a 1.3-acre site at 124 Gonda St. The workers are expected to be housed at the site during the planting and harvesting season from March through November.

Recently completed next door on Susan Street is another project expected to house 360 seasonal farmworkers.

Both projects sit next to the Pajaro River Levee, which breached a couple of miles east in March 2023 and flooded the town of Pajaro, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate. A $599 million project to rebuild the levee is expected to begin in the summer.

Among the concerns from the commissioners who voted against the project—Martha Diehl, Etna Monsalve and Amy Roberts—was traffic, a levee with a history of breaching and the overall impact for those who live in the area, many of which fought against the previous Susan Street project that was approved.

Those who voted in favor—Ernesto Gonzalez, Francisco Mendoza and Ben Work—said, among other things, that it is needed housing that will help open up other housing stock for full-time residents.