It’s the trees, stupid.
That’s the message Del Monte Neighbors United, a group of residents battling a proposal by Pebble Beach Company to build affordable housing in the Del Monte Forest near the Congress gate, are trying to get across.
The project is a requirement the county Board of Supervisors imposed on Pebble Beach Co. for plans to build new homes, a hotel and an equestrian center.
An estimated 133 Monterey pines and 583 oaks would come down to make way for 24 affordable-rate apartments. Neighbors will know more as environmental documents are released, beginning with a notice of preparation next week.
The neighbors’ group plans a meeting Aug. 22, “for everyone who wants to get the real facts regarding the Pebble Beach Company’s proposed 24-unit project,” according to the group’s Facebook page.
Among those real facts, according to Jim Hemphill, who’s lived on Congress Road for 17 years: “We’re not against inclusionary housing; we’re against the location.” Hemphill says he’d like more extensive consideration of alternatives, such as a different location, or splitting up the units to spread them out.
Santa Cruz-based environmental attorney Bill Parkin will be there, after the neighbors’ group raised money through a Facebook campaign to hire him. “[Pebble Beach Co.] had opportunities to put this project in a place that had less impacts to trees. They didn’t want to because they’re trying to maximize profits,” Parkin says.
Mark Stilwell, Pebble Beach’s executive vice president of real estate, has said if the project is denied, the company may propose building market-rate units on the same company-owned site.
Pebble Beach Co. had originally proposed paying $7 million in fees instead of building the required units.
Stilwell says the site is preferable because it’s zoned residential, has water and utility hook-ups, and is outside the sensitive coastal zone.
(3) comments
Hmm. We don't oppose the project, we oppose the location. Sounds like the same smoke and mirrors approach employed to stop the veterans' cemetery...
Oh, BTW - look at the Coastal Zone Map for a real head-scratcher. Area D used to be in the coastal zone before it was bisected by SFB Morse Dr. for the development of Spanish Bay. Saying it is "...outside the sensitive coastal zone..." is disingenuous at best. Calling it "degraded" is a laugh - the "sensitive habitat" across the street (Sawmill Borrow") is far more degraded. And by whom? The Pebble Beach Company. Hypocrites!
I see Mark Stilwell is still using the same tired tactic of threatening something worse if they don't get what they want. When Spanish Bay was developed, and the "Sawmill Borrow" was ravaged, they promised to restore it and preserve it in perpetuity. It still hasn't happened (and Area D, the proposed site of the low-income apartment complex, was part of that). Then they wanted to use the area for sewage ponds. Later, they wanted to build a new equestrian center there. I found an old letter written by Bruce Cowan, self-appointed "environmentalist" and useful idiot, advocating for the equestrian center, saying "If they don't build the equestrian center, we will have sewage ponds there." This round, he was saying if they don't build the apartments, we won't have access to the area (also not true; there is a utility easement that must be left open). There is a LOT more to the story. www.delmonteneighborhood.org
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