SQUIDFRY 10.15.20: Feeling Their Feelings

FEELING THEIR FEELINGS… Squid was enthused to find the arrival of decorative gourd season also means the arrival of pumpkin spice season. And finding Squidself in Oldtown Salinas, Squid decided to ooze over to Starbucks on the ground-floor level of Taylor Farms headquarters and indulge. “Pumpkin Cream cold foam?” Squid thought. “Sign me up!” But oozing anywhere in Salinas’ historic district is a dicey proposition these days, as the city’s endless Main Street Vibrancy Plan keeps plodding along. The streets are so screwed up right now that one business owner found the sidewalk outside his building had been removed overnight, leaving him to cling to the side of the building to get inside. Tempers are flaring – via email. One long exchange has Fox Theater “owner” Anthony Lane castigating the city: Salinas is only interested in “the RIGHT PEOPLE – not to mention names – taking over the downtown, buying all the property and pushing us out!” Given that Bruce Taylor had just completed purchase of the Bruhn Building and former Greyhound station, Taylor figured Lane was talking about him.

And Taylor responded, pointing out he had opposed the vibrancy plan because he believed it would kill Main Street businesses. “I have learned government does not know how to be helpful,” he wrote. “Our team works hard to build a successful national business so that we can reinvest in our local community. We can only be a small part of the solution… the rest is up to all of you.”

TAPPED OUT… If the pandemic ever ends, Squid dreams of a future night out: Head over to the athletic complex CSU Monterey Bay wants to build and watch a soccer game, then cross the street to the future neighborhood called Main Gate and grab a beer from the future brewpub.

But that kind of night feels like it might never happen – not just because of Covid. It’s been almost four years of negotiations between developer Paul Petrovich and the city of Seaside, and a deal on Main Gate seems less viable than ever. Petrovich had until Sept. 30 to sign a purchase agreement, a deadline that had been looming for the past year. Instead, after the deadline, he sent the city a new agreement with very different terms. “These revisions would add millions [of dollars] to his side of the ledger,” according to a report by City Manager Craig Malin, who recommends that Seaside City Council reject Petrovich’s proposal when council meets on Thursday, Oct. 15.

Petrovich says he is preparing a response to Malin. “It is my hope the Weekly and community will come to understand how egregiously the city has and continues to grossly mishandle this amazing development,” Petrovich writes to Squid’s colleague.

Some day, maybe Squid will be able to buy the guy a beer.