CRA News September 2009

Selected articles from the newsletter of the Carmel Residents Association

This photo of Mary Ellen Thomas, left, Barry Swift and Kathleen Swift, right, was taken in the garden of the Cherry Center at the May CRA artists and writers program. The above threesome comprises the CRA Dines Out Committee.

CRA General Meeting:
How the Coastal Commission
protects our valuable resources

There is no question in anyone's mind that our scenic coastline would look entirely different had the California Coastal Commission not been established by voter initiative (Proposition 20) in 1972. California voters supported this measure (55% to 45%) because of their concern about the impacts of rampant development on our state's coastline.

The Carmel Residents Association's September program will feature the return of California Coastal Commission staff to update us on their activities and remind us of exactly what they do to "protect our valuable coastal resources." The last time we heard from them was in 2001, when Executive Director Peter Douglas spoke to our organization, and in 2002, when Senior Deputy Director Charles Lester came to Carmel.

As of press time, it was confirmed that our speaker will be one or more of these staff members–Charles Lester, Dan Carl or Mike Watson.

Dr. Lester serves directly below the Commission's Executive Director Peter Douglas, and is in charge of the Commission's statewide planning unit, as well as being responsible for oversight of the Commission's North Central and Central Coast district offices. Dr. Lester was actively involved with development of Carmel's Local Coastal Program (LCP) through and including final certification in 2003/2004.

Dan Carl is the manager of the Coastal Commission's Central Coast program and the Central Coast district office, covering Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. Mr. Carl was the Commission's lead planner for Carmel in the mid and late 1990s, and was also actively involved with development and certification of the city's LCP.

Mike Watson is a coastal planner in the Coastal Commission's Central Coast district office. Mr. Watson is the Commission's lead planner for Carmel and adjacent Monterey Peninsula cities, and was also actively involved with development and certification of our city's LCP.

A boost for Carmel business

CRA's A to Z booklet

President's Message
Summertime - and the CRA's been busy ...

by Barbara Livingston

... mailing the A-Z booklets to all home owners in Carmel-by-the-Sea and receiving requests for copies from Ojai, Colorado, Michigan, San Francisco, Berkeley, Pacific Grove, Monterey and Salinas as a result of the fine media coverage by the Carmel Pine Cone and the Monterey County Herald

... planning for our world famous August barbecue at Indian Village in Pebble Beach, featuring barbecue chicken by Pierre Prodis and the delicious CRA rice-cheese casserole (secret recipe)–thank you to cochairs Tony and Jane Diamond, who have taken over from Don and Susie Carr.

... attending City Council and Planning Commission meetings to keep informed of the important issues facing our village.

... organizing our September CRA retreat, a revitalizing process facilitated by former Carmel City Administrator Doug Schmitz.

... delivering A-Z booklets to city departments, shops, inns and real estate offices in Carmel-by-the-Sea–courtesy of Tom Parks and Ken White.

... lining up great speakers for our Fall general meetings–read about our September meeting above. We have Roberta Miller to thank for continuing to bring us interesting speakers on timely topics.

... riding the weekend MST Trolley and chatting with visitors who are getting a view of Carmel not seen from their cars. Congratulations to MST Director and Carmel City Council Member Karen Sharp for spearheading this idea.

... conducting CRA board meetings to discuss important issues like beach fires, General Plan Update, Forest Theater renovation and Forest & Parks. These study groups offer in depth position papers which, when adopted by the board, are presented to the City Council and/or Planning Commission for their consideration. Examples of Carmel Residents Association Board of Directors' positions:

• Beach Fires: An enjoyable tradition from the Bohemian days, beach fires are graying our pristine white sand. More resources need to be dedicated to keeping Carmel Beach clean; existing rules and regulations covering beach use might need to be adjusted; and regulations need to be enforceable.
• General Plan Update: A detailed report reviewing changes to the General Plan was presented to the Planning Department.
• Forest Theater Renovation: During these difficult economic times, only what is absolutely necessary should be done to keep the theater open and safe for all.
• Forest and Parks: Not enough resources are being applied to the forest and parks to replace aged, diseased and dying upper canopy trees, remove invasive non-native species, abate wild fire possibilities, maintain trails and water newly-planted trees.
• Fire Services: The city should examine all options available, with an emphasis on the best response time and least cost.
• Sale of Parkland and Flanders Property: Parkland should never be sold, especially when it lies smack dab in the middle of Mission Trail Nature Preserve.

... writing, editing the CRA News– the best little monthly paper in the USA, thanks to Editor Linda Anderson, who never fails to produce a newsletter of enormous interest and incomparable style.

... attending wonderful productions by Pacific Repertory Theatre (Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Oliver) and the Cherry Center (Layne Littlepage singing Cole Porter), visiting the Carmel Art Association to view the work of local artists and choosing good summer reads at Pilgrim's Way Bookstore.

... cleaning the beach of charcoal, trash and debris (especially important during summer months), while enjoying cookies from Safeway and coffee from the Carmel Coffee House. Until only last year, when the city stepped in and funded a limited beach cleanup, the CRA has been the sole entity performing this monumental task. Our heroic Beachmaster Clayton Anderson has chaired this program for 17 years! Currently assisting him are Kay and Harvey Kuffner, Judy and Mike Cunningham, and Helen and Mark d'Oliveira.

... working on membership renewals–Kathy Fredrickson reports that in spite of the economy our membership is at an all-time high.

So, thank you, CRA members for renewing your memberships and maintaining your interest, not only in the Carmel Residents Association but in the issues of the village so vitally important to us all.

The American Red Cross in Carmel-by-the-Sea ...
going strong for 93 years and counting

by Sharon J. Crino, chief executive officer,
American Red Cross, Carmel Area Chapter

The staff of your local American Red Cross has assured that residents of Carmel can feel safe knowing that their local Chapter is here and ready to respond at a moment's notice–24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year ... for 93 years and counting.

As our fiscal year recently closed, we had an opportunity to review some of the services we provided to the community. We want to share those numbers and remind you that, should you need any of our services, we are ready and willing to provide them.

In this past year alone, our local Red Cross has provided the following:

Medical Equipment Loan Closet–loaned 209 pieces of medical equipment such as crutches, wheel chairs, walkers and shower benches.

Blood Drives–172 people donated blood at our Chapter, which translates into providing vital blood for up to 516 individuals within our community.

Events–Staffed first aid stations at the Big Sur Marathon and gave essential disaster preparedness information at four community events.

Disaster Response–Provided 2,800 meals for individuals affected by disaster. Sent Chapter volunteers to help with the bus crash in Soledad and to disasters in North Dakota, Texas, Alabama and Florida.

Safety and Preparedness Training–Trained 1,153 individuals in CPR, First Aid and the use of automated external defibrillators, providing an additional layer of readiness for you and your neighbors. Developed a new training program to meet community needs (upcoming Wilderness First Aid Course).

Disaster Preparedness–Provided five community disaster presentations and cultivated 29 partners for sheltering during a disaster.

Preparedness Kits–Sold a significant number of first aid kits, pet first aid kits, disaster kits and other items necessary to prepare for an emergency.

When it comes to preparedness, 87 percent of individuals think it is very important to be prepared yet only 22 percent actually are. If you fall in that middle ground of this Red Cross statistic, you should schedule time to stop by the Carmel Red Cross office, sign up for a First Aid/CPR class and check out the supply of items that we have available.

We always have coffee and goodies on hand for those of you who are human walking or dog walking in the area, so stop in and get to know us.

You can also find all of this information at www.ARCcarmel.org.

Neighborhood Coalition fighting harmful development

We are passing on the information below provided to CRA News by the Save Our Carmel Neighborhood Coalition. The Carmel Residents Association is vitally interested in issues which impact the quality of life of our local community.

The Save Our Carmel Neighborhood Coalition represents over 118 families and residents of northeast Carmel, who have struggled since 2006 to thwart attempts to have the former Carmel Convalescent Hospital site up-zoned from R-1 Residential. Widewaters Group, a New York real estate developer, and Bob Leidig have proposed building Villas de Carmelo at this site, with forty-six two and three-story condos in a quiet, forested single-family residential neighborhood. The recent Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) drew responses from various community and civic organizations that support the opposition to a zoning change and an amendment to the county's Local Coastal Program.

California Coastal Commission–
(this project) "... has the potential to conflict with the Coastal Act policies that protect scenic areas and resources, [and] water supplies."

"... we do not believe that the DEIR accurately analyzes the water supply ... In addition, the analysis of consistency with existing plans and policies is incorrect and incomplete."

City of Carmel-by-the-Sea Community Planning and Building Department–
"The removal of 213 existing trees, many of which are significant Monterey Pines and Coast Live Oaks, is also a significant impact."

"The City concurs with the findings of the DEIR ... the resulting rehabilitation and renovation of the existing structures would cause a substantial, adverse change to a historic structure."

"... the proposed project will only increase the road deterioration (of Valley Way)."

The League of Women Voters of the Monterey Peninsula–
" The project is inconsistent with the County Housing Element because it fails to provide housing for low and very low-income groups. The DEIR fails to address the impact of locating residents adjacent to a heavily traveled roadway (Highway 1)."

Land Watch Monterey County–
"The proposed project would add about 269 total daily trips to the local streets and Highway 1..."

The Coalition supports the adaptive reuse of the hospital and its spectacular tree-laden historical setting, but not at the expense of neighborhood integrity and quality of life. We need a proposal for the site commensurate with Carmel's community character and the sanctity of Scenic Highway One's viewshed. The Widewaters/Leidig proposal does not meet any of these criteria. The requested high density up-zoning sets a dangerous precedent for the rest of the Peninsula.

Please join us in supporting the current zoning and our Local Coastal Program.

Save Our Carmel Neighborhood Coalition
P.O. Box 221001
Carmel, CA 93922-1001

Festive decorations, beautiful weather, a happy crowd, live Latin music, plentiful libations, shrimp, grilled sausage and a scrumptious south-of-the-border dinner added up to a perfect twilight barbecue! Because of space constraints, more photos of this sold-out event, as well as thanks to all of the committee members, will be printed in the Oct. CRA News. For now, enormous thanks to event chairs Jane Diamond and Tony Diamond and former chairs Susie and Don Carr for the incredible job they did in organizing this popular party and making sure it was perfect in every way.

City Council's efforts to sell Flanders Mansion Property create financial sinkhole

by Francis P. "Skip" Lloyd

The City Council's efforts to sell the Flanders Mansion Property have created a financial sinkhole–the City Council has spent $785,536 of city money to date on this attempted sale! And there is more to come.

The Flanders property is a 1.25 acre parcel of Mission Trail Nature Preserve (MTNP), a city park, which includes the Flanders mansion. This parcel is unnecessarily large, having been surveyed out by a developer, at the city's request, to maximize profit from this sale, which will have serious, adverse impacts on the park.

State law mandates the peoples' vote before city parkland can be sold. At its July 7, 2009 meeting, the City Council scheduled a November 3, 2009 election regarding the sale, summarily ignoring a formal request by the CRA Board of Directors that the election date not be set. The CRA cited likely voter confusion over the status of the project while the Flanders Foundation's lawsuit, which could void the sale, is pending, waste of city funds for the election if the city loses the lawsuit and general unfairness of an election while the legal status of the decision to sell is unsettled.

The sinkhole gets even deeper. Additional future costs are: Cost to the city of litigating the pending lawsuit, even if it wins, could exceed $50,000 and the cost of the election is an estimated $15,000, bringing its out of pocket costs to $850,536. If the City Council loses the lawsuit, litigation costs could skyrocket by another $150,000, bringing the total to $1,000,536. These sums do not include the great amount of internal costs to the city of this attenuated process.

If the City Council wins both the lawsuit and the election (neither is a given) and can sell at the property's appraised value of $2,843,000, broker's commissions and other sales costs (generally, together, estimated at about 7% of the sales price), could be another $199,000. So, the total cost to the city, out-of-pocket, to sell the property, if all goes well for the City Council, will reach an estimated $1,049,536, netting the city less than $1,793,464, as there will be attorneys' fees for drafting complicated deed restrictions and for negotiating the terms of this unique transaction involving sale of parkland located in the heart of MTNP. On the other hand, if the City Council loses the lawsuit, the process is halted and the city could be out the above $1,000,536, with nothing to show for it.

If, instead of playing hardball, the City Council had negotiated a solution to the Flanders controversy, then most of the out-of-pocket costs, which the City will suffer, if the sale goes through, or most of the costs it will suffer if it loses the lawsuit, could have been spent on required repairs to the mansion and on its ongoing maintenance, and the Flanders mansion might now be in use in compatibility with MTNP and the Hatton Fields neighborhood.

The City does not have to sell this parkland (Mayor McCloud recently wrote, publicly, that the City is in sound financial position, with substantial reserves), and no use for the net proceeds of the sale has been identified by the City.

Through a series of controversial and expensive decisions by the City Council, a huge amount of taxpayers' cold cash is gone, down into this sinkhole. Should the voters reward the City Council and replenish this cash by voting to sell off an irreplaceable asset, the Flanders Mansion Property?

Member of a long-time Carmel family, Skip Lloyd is a local attorney and a Carmel Residents Association board member.

SPOTLIGHT ON MEMBERS

Casey MacKenzie heads SPCA Shop

With more energy, focus and enthusiasm than a pack of Border Collies, former CRA board member Casey MacKenzie has managed the SPCA Benefit Shop since last March.

Taking advantage of generous donors and her experience as an artist and decorator, Casey has turned this shop at 26364 Carmel Rancho Lane into a wonderland of treasures.

The July 2-8 Monterey County Weekly said the store is "gorgeously decorated and stacked with hidden fashion finds like funkily- striped and zig-zagged cotton blazers, beautiful vintage gold-and-cream-sequined tops straight from a 1920s movie, and pieces donated from places like Girl Boy Girl." Currently, Casey says the shop is featuring an Italian dining room set hand made in 1904. Go take a look.

Proceeds from sales support SPCA pet adoptions, humane investigations, the pet food bank and Hug-a-Pet, which brings pet companions to those in hospice and convalescent homes.

Dogs as well as their owners are welcome in this unique shop.

Barbara Butler on front page of Herald

A large photo of artist and poet Barbara Butler in her Norton Court studio apartment appeared above the fold on the front page of the June 10 Herald.

The article featured the attractive housing units provided by the Carmel Foundation for members 65 and over who have limited financial resources–Norton, Haseltine and Trevvette Courts.

Butler participated in CRA's May 28 program Celebrating the Artist Amongst Us, reading her delightful poetry and displaying two of her lovely collages.

Your editor had the pleasure of driving Barbara to the event. On the way, when asked how she accomplishes so much, Butler said that she writes in the morning and paints in the afternoon, but added, "When an idea comes, you have to write it down right then or you will forget it." If only we could all have as many ideas!

Remember that your City Council is on T.V.
and on the Web

City Council meetings are taped and re-broadcast
Sundays, 8 a.m. - 12 noon on
KMST Channel 26
In addition, webcasts of council meetings can be viewed live or
at a later time on the city's web site: http://ci.carmel.ca.us/carmel/
[Unfortunately for Mac users, this technology really works properly only on PCs. On a Mac, you can run the webcast start to finish, but can't pause it or search for a special section.]