Environmental review begins for a new courthouse in Seaside.

Last April, the state Judicial Council finally answered a years-long question of where to build a new courthouse in Monterey County, which was considered a high priority because the Monterey courthouse has long been deemed seismically unsafe. The answer was one of two five-acre sites in Seaside’s Main Gate property, which is just east of Highway 1 and north of Lightfighter Drive.

The question of which of those two sites has now also been answered: It will be on the northeast corner, along 2nd Avenue and Divarty Street. That became clear on July 18, when the Judicial Council issued a Notice of Preparation for an environmental impact report for a three-story, 83,000-square-foot building that is planned to house, among other things, seven multipurpose courtrooms. That building is also envisioned to be surrounded by 280 parking spaces.

But when Scott Waltz, a co-founder of the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway concept, saw the plans, he immediately grew concerned. The vision for FORTAG – which has not yet been built, but is partially planned – is a 28-mile loop connecting the Rec Trail to the former Fort Ord from Del Rey Oaks and Seaside and up north to Marina.

One planned arm connecting to the Rec Trail runs through the northern part of Main Gate. To Waltz’s eye, it’s nearly smack dab where the courthouse parking lot is planned to be.

“FORTAG is going to go through that location in some manner,” Waltz says. So Waltz picked up the phone and called Kim Bobic, the Judicial Council’s manager for the project. Bobic is not authorized to speak to the media, but Waltz says the conversation went well.

The lead agency for FORTAG is the Transportation Agency for Monterey County, and TAMC’s executive director, Todd Muck, says his agency will meet with city of Seaside and Judicial Council officials on Sept. 6 to talk the issue over.

“They’ve been open,” Muck says of the Judicial Council, adding that only a small part of the trail goes through the parcel. “This is exactly the right time to work out a solution that benefits both the courts and FORTAG. They’ve got an opportunity to be connected to the regional bike network that few properties have.”

The Judicial Council hosts a public meeting about the project on Wednesday, Sept. 7 from 5-7pm at Seaside Community Center at Soper Field (located at 220 Coe Ave.) where the public can learn more, and how to participate in the public review process going forward.