It’s time to rethink the ever-growing series of Car Week events.

I’ve been conducting an informal poll of Monterey County residents about Car Week: Do they love it, hate it, or are they indifferent? I’ve been surprised by how many respondees are indifferent. They might like certain types of events (say, vintage racing) and not others (exotics); they might find the traffic a hassle but can hunker down; it’s super busy, but good for business.

Such contradictions are nothing new for the Peninsula’s tourism-driven economy. There are impacts year-round from tourism – traffic is a big one – but it’s most noticeable during peaks. And there is no more obvious peak than Car Week, which draws 100,000 visitors and accounts for 5 percent of all hotel room nights for the entire year, according to See Monterey, the county’s tourism bureau.

Whether you love it or hate it, it’s nearly impossible to avoid Car Week. See Monterey counts 42 events (and some of those repeat). And that’s not including the plethora of private events that do not make See Monterey’s calendar.

Events in unincorporated Monterey County – including Pebble Beach and Carmel Valley – go to the County Housing and Community Development Department for review, meaning there is at least a public record that they exist. But many do not. In some cases, it’s because no special event application is required: Throwing a party in your backyard is not necessarily an “event.” If you expect more than 100 attendees, it might be. If you are selling food or drink, it’s an event. If you charge admission, it’s an event. Same if you’re erecting a tent larger than 400 square feet.

Each of these checkboxes triggers review by various agencies. For example, the County Health Department signs off on a temporary kitchen; the building inspector checks tents for safety; the Sheriff’s Office is on safety and evacuation routes.

To account for the multi-agency nature of event review, the Monterey County Special Event Task Force brings together various departments to keep tabs on who needs to do what. They meet monthly and last month, on July 23, reviewed 20 events, ranging from a private birthday party to a nonprofit anniversary celebration to Car Week events including an Aug. 16 road race between San Ardo and San Lucas, and an invitation-only “Aston Martin of the Americas” party in Pebble Beach featuring the debut of the Valhalla, a new hybrid.

By HCD’s official count, there are 16 public events and six private events – astoundingly low – tied to Car Week.

Permit Center Manager Liz Gonzales concedes there are likely many more. “A lot of organizers kind of jump from house to house: Why spend $9,000 on a coastal development permit when they are not going to have it at that same place the next year?” Pebble Beach is a particular area of concern, she adds.

The county’s task force only addresses events in unincorporated Monterey County. Events in the cities of Carmel, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Seaside and Marina don’t go to the County for review. No agency is accounting for the big picture.

If somebody were to apply today to host Car Week as we know it, I think we can all agree it would have zero chance of being approved. It would require intensive environmental review, not just a questionnaire about street closures, porta- potties and alcohol sales, each reviewed independently by independent agencies.

Cumulatively there is traffic, noise and environmental impact in the form of untold emissions – from the show vehicles themselves, the car-hauling trucks, the private jets that fly visitors to MRY. But the impacts of Car Week are not addressed cumulatively, instead in a piecemeal event-by-event, tent-by tent approach.

“The impacts are felt on the roads we all share and the neighborhoods we all live in,” says County Supervisor Kate Daniels. “We all understand the benefits of Car Week. But we need to ensure we can continue to be able to function as a community.”

I asked Daniels if she might convene a group to zoom out and think broadly about Car Week’s cumulative footprint; she said yes. “We have an opportunity to maybe reimagine the entire thing and ask ourselves, what we are looking for in terms of the totality of the event,” she says. “It’s time to revisit what we want out of this event as a county.”

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com or follow her at @sarahayleyrubin.bsky.social.