Nearly a quarter-century later, a housing development moves forward on the Highway 68 corridor.

Katie Rodriguez here, thinking about the passage of time. I was 9 years old when Harper Canyon Realty LLC began pursuing a large residential project on the Highway 68 corridor in 2001. While I was learning how to add and subtract fractions in fourth grade, plans for a 344-acre subdivision were already being conceptualized and set in motion.

A year after I finished my undergraduate degree in 2015, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors approved the project, and was soon followed by a series of lawsuits related to traffic, noise, biological impacts and groundwater issues.

A decade later, on June 17, as a Weekly writer listening to a County Board of Supervisors meeting chock-full of events (like approving the county budget for FY 2025-26)—I learned the Harper Canyon project had reached a turning point: The board approved, unanimously moving it forward by certifying the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report.

Since I started at the Weekly in September, the project has bounced back and forth before the board, postponed from February to April, then to May, and now June. The residential project—a 344-acre subdivision with 17 lots ranging from five to more than 23 acres—is proposed for the Highway 68 corridor off San Benancio Road, bordered by Toro County Park and less than a mile south of Fort Ord National Monument.

Lingering concerns focused on the supplemental EIR, which led Craig Spencer from the county’s Housing and Community Development Department to work with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to adjust language aimed at mitigating impacts to known wildlife corridors.

Many questions remain unresolved—including a lack of clarity about the precise location of those wildlife corridors, as well as growing concern about wildfire risk and how future residents will meet fire safety requirements.

“Lots of animals have been determined there,” Supervisor Glenn Church said. “This is one of those things that I don’t even know if you can find perfect—or close to perfect.”

Supervisor Chris Lopez added, “We’ve been backed into a corner by a decision made about a decade ago and at the end of the day there’s questions that are going to rise as a part of this process.”

When it comes to breaking ground on those next homes, more reports and assessments will need to be done, final maps will need to be drawn. For now, the Harper Canyon project moves forward.