Monterey’s Old Capitol Site is slated for hiking trails, if the city can ever afford them.

In 2019, the Pebble Beach Company gave the City of Monterey the Old Capitol Site, a 135-acre property south of Highway 1 opposite the Del Monte Center. Subsequently, the city rezoned the land – a mostly pristine forest of Monterey pines – from low-density residential to parks and open space.

Yet five-plus years later, and after the city has spent about $1.2 million in fuel reduction projects and clearing homeless encampments – some of which were so entrenched that they had two stories – it’s fair to ask: Is the property an asset for the city, or a liability?

It’s become clear that opening the land to the public is going to be a high hurdle to clear.

Over several months last year, the city conducted outreach to gauge what the public would like to see on the property, and local mountain bikers saw an opportunity. There are no trails in Monterey where it’s legal to ride bikes, and the Old Capitol Site seemed like a perfect way to remedy that. Online surveys reflected popular support for the concept.

But after considering the options from all the angles – environmental, legal and financial – city staff, on Feb. 12, presented their findings to the Parks and Recreation Commission, and recommended a preferred concept for the park that would only include hiking trails with no bike access to minimize environmental impact. The site is one of the world’s few places home to the federally endangered Yadon’s rein orchid, which are only known to grow – worldwide – in five habitats from the Monterey Peninsula to Moss Landing.

The Parks and Rec Commission approved that recommendation, which will come before City Council in the coming months. But even if it is approved, commissioners suggested – per staff’s recommendation – putting the preferred park concept on the shelf for now, as the estimated price tag to build it is nearly $13 million.

The city’s current budget shortfall to fix its aging infrastructure over the next five years is about $40.6 million.

“When the city has other priorities, other existing infrastructure to maintain, it is a challenge,” says Recreation Manager Shannon Leon, who presented the concept to the commission. “But it is a beautiful space.”

The preferred concept for the park would impact eight acres, and to mitigate that impact per state law, Leon adds, the city would have to acquire 16 acres of habitat elsewhere to put into preservation.