Sand City, population 325, is required by the state to plan for 260 more housing units over the next five years, expecting to more than double the population.
On any given day, Sand City triples in population with shoppers coming from throughout the region. But after they buy their hot dogs from Costco, they leave for home, once again reducing the population to a quarter of the capacity of Golden State Theatre in Monterey.
City leaders say having the equivalent of daily shoppers as permanent residents would cripple city services. So, billing it as a fiscally responsible move, the Sand City City Council voted today, April 1 to split the city in half to accommodate the influx of new residents expected to flock to the warehouse destination.
Each division would each have its own police departments and city councils, assigned by districts that amount to half a block in size.
Residents are voting on names for the new cities, with Muralville and Greater Seaside being the early leaders. But contention surrounds the draft map of city limits. One map splits Costco in half, in an attempt for cities to share sales tax revenue from the retail behemoth.
One resident pointed out that Sand City 1 gets the portion of the big box store where the bakery and clothes are located, while Sand City 2 gets the meat aisles and toilet paper stacks. They mentioned that it’s not fair that 1 gets sales tax revenue from $9.99 chocolate muffin sales, while 2 gets the big-time revenues from $26.99 meat and toilet paper that approaches $40.
In response, another resident said that the meat department also includes $4.99 rotisserie chicken, the cheapest item in the store, balancing things out.
The draft maps will next go to the Local Agency Formation Commission of Monterey County (LAFCO) for approval, where there is no controversy expected.