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PEBBLE BEACH DEVELOPMENT PLANS

From the Monterey County Herald
Serving Monterey County and the Salinas Valley

Posted on Fri, Apr. 09, 2004

Panel wants more talk on Pebble Beach plan

By KEVIN HOWE
Herald Staff Writer

With nearly 100 letters and commentaries related to Pebble Beach Co.'s development plans to pore over, the Monterey County Subdivision Committee voted Thursday to continue discussion of the issues to its April 29 meeting in order to study them.

Pebble Beach's Del Monte Forest Preservation and Development Plan calls for construction of a 216-acre, 18-hole golf course; a golf driving range; a total of 160 suites at the new golf course, The Lodge at Pebble Beach and The Inn at Spanish Bay; relocation of the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center to a 41-acre site in the Sawmill Gulch area; creation of 33 residential lots within five subdivisions; construction of 60 employee housing units; and relocation and construction of roads and trails.

The plan also sets aside 492 acres for preservation as forest and critical wildlife habitat in eight parcels ranging from just under an acre to 233 acres.

As proposed, the projects require removal of 17,971 trees, including 15,391 Monterey pines, 1,769 coast live oaks, 273 planted Bishop pines and 538 planted cypress trees. The largest tree removals involve the new golf course, equestrian center and driving range.

The golf course and equestrian center projects will hinge on whether the California Coastal Commission certifies Measure A, the land use ordinance approved by county voters in 2000, said senior planner Thom McCue of the county Planning and Building Inspection Department.

The county is operating on the presumption that Measure A will be the land-use law applied to Pebble Beach, McCue said, but it still must get the Coastal Commission's stamp of approval.

Issues raised over the Pebble Beach plan include the availability of water, water quality, tree removal, the impact on plant and animal species, traffic, noise and consistency with Measure A, McCue said.

But the company's plans are consistent with Measure A, said Alan Williams of the Carmel Development Co., the business that is developing the project for the Pebble Beach Co.

Several residents raised questions about the development plan's effects on roads and trails in Del Monte Forest and disturbances due to construction of the new projects. Of 10 people who spoke before the committee, seven voiced support of the plan and three were in opposition.

Hunter Harvath, planning manager for Monterey-Salinas Transit, said the county should require Pebble Beach Co. to bring public transportation service to Del Monte Forest as a condition of approval.

Public transit, he said, would provide access to workers, the disabled and job seekers.

Activist David Dilworth cited a Coastal Commission proposal that the draft environmental impact report be recirculated for more public comment and also contended that the project would violate the county's noise ordinances with the use of chain saws, wood chippers, trucks and bulldozers near residential areas.

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Kevin Howe can be reached at 646-4416 or khowe@montereyherald.com.