SQUIDFRY 05.04.17: All the Way

ALL THE WAY… Squid, like all sea creatures, doesn’t put much thought into legacy: You’re born, you eat, you get eaten. That’s how things work in the sea – marine creatures don’t leave a lasting mark, they are creatures of the moment.

Squid understands, however, that humans appreciate the idea of living on past one’s years, so Squid was tickled when Sand City City Council voted unanimously to rename Sylvan Park– a street to the immediate west, north and east of City Hall – as “Pendergrass Way” after former longtime mayor David Pendergrass, who retired at the end of April and moved to Redding. (The street, Squid notes, also encircles Calabrese Park, named for Phil Calabrese, another longtime mayor of the city.)

The only building with an address on the street is City Hall, which fittingly, is set to have a new address: 1 Pendergrass Way. Pendergrass, after serving 39 years as mayor – the longest-serving mayor in the state when he retired, according to the city – is finally on the map.

ON THE HILLTOP… Squid loves oozing through Carmel Valley on summery days, trying to turn Squid’s skin a little less translucent, sipping wine along the way. Squid is usually amenable to new wineries along the route. But details often seem to get in the way.

Consider Cima Collina, which for more than four years has been trying to get county approval to host special events at its Hilltop Ranch and Vineyards, in an area zoned residential. (Cima Collina’s vision: up to 10 big parties, like weddings, per year, and 25 smaller events with up to 75 people. Facing opposition, they scaled back the proposal to just 10 events a year.) Still, Code Enforcement busted them in 2015 for hosting weddings – sans permit.

Fast-forward to April 11, when Carl Holm, director of the county Resource Management Agency, sent a letter to Cima Collina reps granting permission to do special events – no permit needed.

Project opponents are sure to be up in arms again, represented by strange bedfellows – attorneys Tony Lombardo and Molly Erickson, who are usually opponents.

The issue now: Just how cozy are the emails between Holm and Cima Collina in the weeks preceding his no-permit-needed decision? And why didn’t neighbors get to weigh in? (A stack of emails got turned over to the Carmel Valley Association as part of a Public Records Act request.)

“I am open to discussing this further,” Holm wrote in February. “I will caution that experience has shown that doing anything can get the neighborhood’s attention such that it affects the permit hearing… you may have heard about a canine facility in Carmel Valley.”

Sounds to Squid like one way of saying out of sight and out of mind is the best path for a project – otherwise it will go to the dogs.