Developer Gerry Kehoe, whose company Berkley, Inc. owns four vacant properties in Oldtown Salinas, has made clear to city officials that he very much wants to get his projects moving forward as quickly as possible.
And according to documents obtained via a Public Records Act request by the Monterey County Weekly, he’s also made something else clear: He wants the city to refund some or all of the money he’s dished out in development fees and costly retrofits, a request he says is consistent with the city’s economic incentive development policy – and that the city has stalled in addressing.
Kehoe met with city officials on Sept. 30 and then again on Oct. 23 to discuss the issues. In a written summary of the first meeting, Kehoe says City Manager Ray Corpuz acknowledges Kehoe’s four projects are expected to create 320 new jobs and generate $14.5 million in wages and tips, $6.75 million in tax revenue and an estimated $15 million in revenue for surrounding merchants annually.
Kehoe writes, “It is agreed by all parties… the projects are fundamental to the city’s increased quality of life.”
But then the summary comes to Kehoe’s sticking point: resolving agreements he says were made between 2008-2013, but never implemented.
The first thing Kehoe wants is City Council approval for “50 percent of future sales tax revenue, plus all bedroom taxes generated by these projects, to be reimbursed to Berkley to cover all planning and impact fees and extraordinary costs, like excessive seismic costs to 201 Main St.,” the historic Wells Fargo Bank building. He also wants help paying for the Western Flyer, the 72-foot fishing boat that once carried John Steinbeck and Doc Ricketts to the Sea of Cortez. Kehoe bought the boat, and it has since sank at least once while moored in Puget Sound. He plans to install it in the former Bruhn building at Main and Alisal streets.
Kehoe also wants exemptions from some or all of the traffic impact fees relating to the Wells Fargo and Bruhn buildings. He says the Wells Fargo building, which is being converted into a restaurant, nightclub and banquet space, rates a reduction because most functions there will occur on weekends.
Kehoe also asks for “code application flexibilities” and property tax reductions of 50 percent until those costs are repaid because the properties are historic.
In a phone interview with the Weekly, Kehoe says city officials were “more proactive, less reactive” post-meetings.
“We’ve had the discussions since 2008 that cover fee reimbursements,” he says. “The definition of what is included in those fees is probably the only key issue.”
Salinas City Engineer Rob Russell says revising traffic impact fees is only possible if a developer hires an outside traffic engineer to produce a report that could be analyzed by the city. “Our ordinance is very strict,” Russell says.
As for Kehoe’s other requests, Salinas Community Development Director Alan Stumpf declined to comment on where the city stands on recommending them to the council.
Kehoe could not provide an exact dollar amount for the reimbursements he’s requesting, but he estimates it’s at least six figures per development.