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If
you want to save the Marks Ranch, mark your calendar for July 23rd!
Please
attend an upcoming meeting to send a loud and clear message to Monterey
County that THE COUNTY MUST NOT ALLOW RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF
THE MARKS RANCH!
Monterey
County wants to know what local residents think about the proposed
General Plan objectives and vision for the Toro/Greater Salinas
Planning Area. The meeting will be held July 23rd, from 6:30 pm
to 9:30 pm at Sherwood Hall/Santa Lucia Room, 940 North Main St.,
Salinas. Please attend this important meeting and encourage your
friends and neighbors to attend.
 The
Marks Ranch is a 797-acre local treasure wedged between Toro Park
and the Las Palmas Ranch subdivision. The newly formed group, Citizens
to Save Marks Ranch (CSMR) is leading citizens in the fight to keep
the current quasi-public land use designation, so that the property
does not become part of the sprawling Las Palmas Ranch subdivision.
Marit Evans, CSMR spokesperson and former Monterey County Planning
Commissioner, says:"This property should become part of Toro
Park, which currently turns away visitors on most every three-day
weekend due to overcrowding. With so many new developments along
highway 68, the residents of the Toro area and the City of Salinas
need increased recreational space. The Marks Ranch provides the
perfect opportunity to increase the size of Toro Park."
The
current land use designation for the Marks Ranch does not allow
residential development. Last fall, the Fletcher Company, which
has an option to purchase the property, notified the County of its
desire to build 275 houses on the Marks Ranch. In a letter to the
County, Michael Fletcher said that he and his company "would
like the entire (Marks Ranch) property to be considered as Residential
within the scope of the updated General Plan." Marit Evans
says: "The county planning staff and the Board of Supervisors
will hear from us loud and clear: THE COUNTY MUST NOT CHANGE THE
GENERAL PLAN DESIGNATION OF THE MARKS RANCH TO STIMULATE MORE SUBURBAN
DEVELOPMENT!"
The
Marks family gave the Ranch to St. John's College, but the land
was specifically restricted for use as an educational campus. Areas
not built on for educational purposes were to be left in their natural
state. Subsequent court proceedings have clouded the original intention.
The Marks family also donated much of the property that is today
Toro Park. Ed De Mars, retired Monterey County Planning Director,
worked with Herman Marks to preserve the Ranch and create Toro Park.
De Mars says, "We wouldn't have Toro Park if it wasn't for
Herman Marks. Herman worked hard to get the cooperation of the other
owners to lock up all the land needed for the Park. Herman would
be rolling in his grave if he knew what was going on with the Marks
Ranch."
CSMR
needs volunteers to collect signatures for an advisory petition
to the Monterey County Supervisors, urging them to SAVE MARKS RANCH!
If you can help, contact Chris Fitz at LandWatch Monterey County,
422-9390.
Click
here to download the Marks Ranch Petition and Info Sheet
posted 07.03.01
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