landWatch: Sunridge Views Coastal Appeal Is Critically Important

A PDF version of this file is available here.

PDF files can be viewed and printed with the Free Acrobat Reader software that you can download at the Adobe website.

Sunridge Views Coastal Appeal Is Critically Important

On December 9, 2004, the Coastal Commission denied a proposed subdivision in North Monterey County because it would lead to continued water overdraft, in an area already experiencing a severe overdraft situation. This decision by the Coastal Commission was properly heralded as a major victory for good planning. Now that victory is in peril!

The attorneys for the applicants have asked the Coastal Commission to “reconsider” their decision turning down the Sunridge Views subdivision. The Commission will make a decision on this request on Wednesday, February 16th, right here in Monterey (at the Portola Plaza Hotel, at the end of Alvarado Street). The hearing is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., but the item could come up later. To participate effectively, you need to plan to be there at 10 o’clock, but also be prepared to wait till the item comes up for consideration.

LandWatch urges its supporters to come to the Coastal Commission on Wednesday, February 16th! Residents in Supervisor Dave Potter’s district are particularly encouraged to attend. Dave Potter has supported the Sunridge Views project in the past, but the issue now is different. We need to encourage him to maintain the integrity of the Coastal Commission’s process, and not give this applicant two chances to get a “yes” vote on a project that would allow continued development in an area of significant groundwater overdraft.

Our earlier letters, outlining the reasons why the Sunridge Views subdivision should be denied, are available on the LandWatch website. Our most recent letter, addressing the possible “reconsideration” of the Sunridge Views decision, is reprinted in its entirety below:

February 11, 2005

California Coastal Commission [Sent By FAX: 831-427-4877]
Central Coast District Office
725 Front Street, Suite 300
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

RE: Sunridge Views – Request for Reconsideration
Permit Number: A-3-MCO-04-054-R
Hearing: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 / ITEM NO: W11a

Dear Members of the Commission:

LandWatch urges the Commission to follow the recommendation of its staff, and to deny the request for reconsideration. We agree with the staff that there is no error of fact or law that has the potential to alter the Commission’s decision (and no new information that could not have been presented at the earlier hearing). We believe, therefore, that granting reconsideration would be inconsistent with the provisions of Coastal Act Section 30627, and the Commission must deny the applicant’s request to hear the Sunridge Views appeal all over again.

This vote is a critically important one for the future of the Monterey County Coastal Zone, and we urge the Commission to maintain the integrity of the Commission’s process. Every applicant would like “two bites at the apple,” but the Commission’s procedures properly say that second hearings on matters already decided are only permitted in very unusual circumstances. This is not such a case. The staff report reviews each of the applicant’s claims, and demonstrates that these claims do not warrant reconsideration, under the provisions of the Coastal Act.

LandWatch has many members from North Monterey County, and our North County members, in particular, are critically concerned about continuing water overdraft in North Monterey County, and especially in the Coastal Zone, where seawater intrusion problems are greatest. Some LandWatch members have had their wells fail, as the level of groundwater has dropped. Some have had water quality problems in their wells. All of them believe that preventing the further deterioration of the groundwater aquifers that serve North Monterey County should be the County’s highest priority in the North County Coastal Zone, and that further groundwater overdraft should be prevented, unless and until the current overdraft is eliminated by the provision of a secure, available, and longÅ]term water supply.

On behalf of its members and supporters from throughout Monterey County, and particularly from within the North Monterey County Coastal Zone, LandWatch urges the Commission to deny the request for reconsideration.

Other LandWatch Letters:

[Return to North County Issues and Actions]

posted 02.12.05