Land Use
Proposed
Rancho Canada "Village"
Proposed and Approved Projects in Carmel Valley and Carmel
- General
Plan: Litigation regarding traffic measurement methods, biological
resources and slope issue, by CVA. Still in process, no court date set.
- Cottages
of Carmel:
78 bed residential care facility at mouth of the Valley. Approved by
Supervisors. Litigation pending. When CVA appealed the decision, the
County agreed to monitor water use as occupancy levels reach 60, 70,
and 80 percent, and will limit occupancy if water use approaches the
4.8 acre feet limit. County staff was directed to work with a licensed
landscaping contractor to insure appropriate landscaping and adequate
screening. Without our appeal, none of this would have happened.
- Rancho
Canada Village Development (300 units): Now designated a "special
treatment area" in the general plan, which allows density housing on
this 10 acres without changing the previous zoning of 1 home per acre.
The Hatton properties were included in this special designation. No
word on whether the proposed plan will go forward as submitted, or will
be changed in some way.
- September
Ranch: Approved, 95 units. No building has begun. When it is built,
ingress and egress will be at Brookdale and CV Road, with a traffic
light added. September Ranch was denied permission for an automatic
4 additional years on their permit, by the planning commission. They
may come back for an extension May 14, 2014, if they need one.
- AT&T
Cell Tower: Thanks to an active and persistent neighborhood, with
some limited help from CVA, the permanent cell tower proposal site on
top of a quite visible knoll at Holman Ranch was denied and by a 10-0
vote by the Planning Commission, the alternate site at Hawk's Ridge
was approved!!!! This is a situation where the entire community was
able to come together....business, hospitality, Chamber, CVA and neighbors.....to
work with the applicant (AT&T) to find a site that was far superior
to their first proposal. On March 30, the Planning Commission (thanks
and hats off to them!) directed AT&T to seriously look at an alternative
site, as there were many objections to the Holman site by nearby neighbors.
AT&T accepted ideas from Frank Hennessy (a Holman neighbor), and went
the extra mile to do a complete analysis of the Hawk Ridge site. Hawk
Ridge is the new name for the Merv Griffin property above Robles. The
tower will be barely seen, and from a distance is great enough that
it will be barely seen. County staff is to be commended for the incredible
amount of work that went into their double reporting...on Holman and
Hawk's Ridge.
- Villas
de Carmelo:
Rejected by the Board of Supervisors.
- Corral
de Tierra Shopping Center, Whispering Oaks/MST Transit Center [Ft Ord]:
Please see
www.LandWatch.org
Water
Association Members, led by Todd Norgaard, continue to monitor proposals affecting our valley.
The Committee's Alternative Solutions to the Proposed Desal Plant
CVA's
Recommendation to Monterey Peninsula Water Management District
dated April 11, 2011
Letter to California Public Utilites Commission in Support of Continued Collection of Monterey Peninsula Water Management District User Fee for Carmel River Mitigation Program and Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project dated January 7, 2011
Below are links to information concerning our river and water supply.
History
of the Carmel River
A
working paper compiled by
the Carmel River Watershed Conservancy.
The
Carmel River Watershed Conservancy
A nonprofit organization dedicated
to the protection and restoration of the Carmel River.
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (MPWMD)
www.waterawareness.org
Water conservation design codes added to California Plumbing Code.
www.montereywaterinfo.org
Additional water conservation information.
How we, as valley residents, can maintain and protect our fragile watershed.
Short
Essays
by Laura Lee Lienk
Co-Director Watershed Institute
Cal State Monterey Bay
and
Christine William
and help protect our valley
Our
Board of Directors
bylaws
(pdf)
60th
anniversary of CVA newsletter
contact
us
Adobe Reader software required for pdf files
Dr.
Tim Sanders,
resident expert on traffic measurement
and
Attorney Ron DeHoff
who represents us
CVA Sues County Over Flawed Traffic Standards in New General Plan
The
Carmel Valley Association has sued the Monterey County Board of Supervisors
for its approval of the controversial 2010 General Plan which CVA
believes will allow a substantial increase in traffic congestion in
Carmel Valley and the County.
§
According to the EIR for the Plan, the two-lane
segments of Carmel Valley Road between Rancho San Carlos Road and the Village
are currently over capacity by the standards in effect for the rest of the
County. By those standards they are over capacity right now, by 106%, 51%,
47%, 12%, and 43%. (DEIR for GPU5, Table 4.6-21, page 4.6-81)
§
Despite this, the County's 2010 General Plan encourages
still more traffic on Carmel Valley Road.
§
The County Plan sets new, much weaker standards
applied only to Carmel Valley Road; existing standards are eliminated in
the proposed plan. (Current Carmel Valley Master Plan standards, implemented
consistently since 1991, included fixed average daily traffic data in annual
reports.)
§
The County uses a different, more permissive and
much less understandable method of determining traffic levels here
than is used elsewhere in the County. They use a complicated mathematical
model that minimizes the effect of high traffic volumes.
§
The County has stated that its purpose is to “allow
development to proceed” in Carmel Valley. (DSEIR for Carmel Valley
Traffic Improvement Program, pp. ES-2, 2-9)
§
The County has also clearly indicated its unwillingness
to preserve rural character because to do so would “postpone new development
… [and cause] … deterrence of tourism industry growth [and of]
business expansion”. (Public Works presentation to Carmel Valley
Road Committee, 7/23/09)
§
In other words, the County is using weakened traffic
standards to increase the rate and extent of development in the Valley.
§
The County’s weaker Carmel Valley traffic standards
will
o
Reduce the threshold for mitigation of traffic required
for new projects
o
Reduce the degree of mitigation required
o
Minimize local (Carmel Valley) participation in
traffic decisions by reducing the requirement for public hearings on traffic
growth.
o
Facilitate future development, including subdivisions,
in the Valley
Read
the Lawsuit Filed in
Monterey County Superior Court
