Monterey-Salinas Transit launches a new plan for facilities expansion.

Plan A proposed removing about 4,400 trees. Plan B calls for removing just 57.

Back in 2012, public outcry led the County Board of Supervisors to deny Whispering Oaks, a proposed 58-acre business park, including a 28-acre Monterey-Salinas Transit maintenance facility and headquarters, on the former Fort Ord. The project would have centralized the agency’s facilities into one location.

“The Fort Ord project was [meant to] meet our entire needs for decades,” says MST Assistant General Manager Hunter Harvath. “It was the sort of ultimate project that would have solved all our problems for a very long time.”

In the wake of that project’s failure, MST’s staff and board opted to pursue a decentralized approach, one that envisions expanded MST facilities in Monterey and Salinas, and a new facility at an undecided location in South County.

“This is a much more incremental, 10-year-type solution, rather than a 50-year solution,” Harvath says.

MST’s problem: Because the storage capacity at its Ryan Ranch facility in Monterey is maxed out, about 24 empty mini-buses leave Salinas every day, en route to the Peninsula. The extra leg costs about $1,500 per day in gas and labor costs, Harvath says.

Harvath and MST Planning Director Lisa Rheinheimer presented the first phase of MST’s plan to the Monterey Planning Commission May 26. The proposal calls for an expansion of MST’s Ryan Ranch facility, adding more capacity to store and maintain all the vehicles serving the Peninsula.

Monterey city staff identified several technical issues, including stormwater management and pedestrian access. But Monterey planner Kim Cole says the plan was well-received overall: “They gave an excellent presentation.”

The public comment period for the project’s initial environmental study closed June 1. Harvath says he only received two comments: one from Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution District, indicating it had no issues; and one from the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, seeking more detail on the water impacts.

Harvath says the plan’s drought-resistant landscaping and a new bus washing and steam-cleaning machine will slightly reduce water use.

MST officials hope to break ground on the estimated $17 million expansion next spring. The first step will be getting the MST board’s approval July 13, after which the Monterey Planning Commission will consider the use permit.