Sand City “eco-resort” poised for construction in Western snowy plover habitat.

In early April, Marina photographer Steve Zmak watched three tiny dune birds build nests on the site of the proposed Monterey Bay Shores “eco-resort.”

Now Zmak, an ex-officio board member of the Sierra Club Ventana Chapter, and other environmentalists are challenging the California Coastal Commission to set stricter rules about how developer Ed Ghandour builds his 1.34-million-square-foot, mixed-use project on the dunes of Sand City.

This Friday, the commission is scheduled to consider revisions to staff findings. Enviros are using the opportunity to ask for tighter protections for sensitive species.

In an Aug. 8 letter to commission Chairman Steve Kinsey, the project critics – Sierra Club, California Audubon, Peninsula Audubon Society and the Center for Biological Diversity – ask to modify certain conditions relating to the federally threatened Western snowy plover.

Among those requests: That when biological monitors see plovers on the site, they inform the commission’s executive director immediately rather than monthly. And that Point Blue Conservation Science remain the consulting monitor.

“The concern is that the construction would render the project area unsuitable for this species,” says Rita Dalessio, conservation chair of the Ventana Chapter. “You could lose [individuals in] the species while you’re fooling around trying to figure out how to mitigate it.”

The commission conditionally approved the project’s coastal development permit in April after more than 12 years of wrangling.

Ghandour did not return the Weekly’s calls. His attorney, Steven Kaufmann, declined to comment on the environmentalists’ concerns but emphasized the upcoming meeting is a hearing on revised findings – not a chance to challenge the commission’s approval.