After 24 years, a controversial Harper Canyon subdivision comes back for a vote.

How many years does it take to build a subdivision? A quarter-century after one large residential project on the Highway 68 corridor was approved, it’s back for another vote.

Harper Canyon Realty LLC has been pursuing the project since 2001. It would divide a 344-acre parcel into two: one 164-acre area with 17 lots ranging in size from 5 to over 23 acres, and a separate 180-acre remainder parcel.

On Tuesday, April 15, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will consider whether the project now meets specific environmental requirements outlined by the Sixth District Court of Appeal in 2021.

Following the board’s approval of the project in 2015, the County and the developer faced a series of lawsuits alleging the project did not adequately address concerns over the impacts of traffic, noise, biological and aesthetic impacts, and issues related to groundwater resources. The reports had stated the project was in the El Toro Groundwater Basin, which Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wills found does not exist.

While the courts mostly sided with the County, they said that Harper had to redo its environmental impact report and provide more information about the project’s groundwater impacts, which started years of appeals and back-and-forths.

In 2021, the Sixth District Court of Appeal found the County’s analysis of groundwater resources adequate, but set aside the project approval due to the failure to address wildlife corridors. Before any more work could be done, the court ordered that another environmental impact report be completed to adequately assess the impact on wildlife.

The County hired Denise Duffy & Associates to prepare a supplemental EIR focusing on the impacts of the project on wildlife corridors, which was then released for public comment in March and April of 2024. According to a wildlife camera-trapping study conducted in November 2023, 21 species – including bobcats, foxes, coyotes and mountain lions – were found utilizing this corridor, as well as a number of animals that were near El Toro Creek.

While the report states that impacts to wildlife can be mitigated, a variety of agencies and local environmental and community groups disagree.

In a letter, Julia Vance from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife wrote, “It is unclear whether the mitigation measure described will be enforceable or sufficient in reducing impacts to a level that is less than significant.” Other letters submitted in response to the study include those from Pathways for Wildlife, the Meyer Community Group – a group of homeowners in the area – and the Big Sur Land Trust.

Richard Rosenthal, an attorney for the Meyer Community Group, says, “This project is going to have a lot of difficulty building out without impacting the corridor.”

Attorneys representing Harper Canyon Realty LLC did not respond to requests for comment by the Weekly’s deadline.