WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES FOR MONTERY'S WATERFRONT?
The City of Monterey does not have a certified Local Coastal Plan as required by the 1976 Coastal Act. Nor does it have a certified Implementation Plan for coastal development as required by the Coastal Act. The City does have a General Plan and several Local Coastal Land Use Plans that promise to protect and restore coastal access, coastal views, and coastal related recreation. But in recent times they have ignored these fine plans and are choosing to let the developers drive coastal development as they see fit.
City Hall also has a history of "interpreting" its plans and policies to "fit the situation."
City
Hall says it requires developers to provide access to the shoreline. But
in fact these are pictures of development the City allowed along the waterfront.
The view from the street is gone or severely restricted and public access
to the beach is only possible at lower tides.
Does
this look like a point at which the public is welcomed and can gain access
to the shore line? In fact when two Planning Commissioners attempted to
use the public space, they were told to leave the area. After much negotiation,
there is a small sign indicating that this is a public access point. But
when the hotel is having an event the public is barred from the "public" plaza.
In
the picture in the previous paragraph there is a sign advising the public
that the plaza is open to the public. But the public is unlikely to see
or understand the sign. Does the picture on the right look like an invitation
to a public space? The little access sign can be seen in the larger version
of the picture located on the side of the planter near the sidewalk.
Just
a few steps along the street from the "public plaza" entrance
is this "inviting" scene. The blue and white sign in the foreground
announces a "Coastal Overview." Once you find your way through
the parked cars (private parking only) you find the "overview" on
the right. Another sign announces Plaza Open to the Public – Coastal
Access Available," only at very low tides or from the deck under the
hotel. Does this look like a great place to go for a picnic or to get you
feet wet on the sandy shore? IF the tide is way out, and if you can find
a parking place you may find a tiny patch of sand under the hotel on the
right - that's right, under the hotel - no sun there :>( and the City
is "proud" of this "public access" at "no cost" to
the residents - you get what you pay for :>)
City
Hall says they are preserving views by requiring "view cones."
The view on the left is from street level on Cannery Row between the
Plaza Hotel and an old cannery building. From the recreation trail or farther
away there is no view at all. This is another shoreline access point. But
as you can see on the right, the shoreline is under the hotel and only
useable by those that are ready to get wet.
The
National Trust for Historic Preservation placed Cannery Row on its list
of Eleven Most Endangered Places in 1998. Despite plans to protect
and preserve the historic character and places on Cannery Row, the City
of Monterey is promoting commercial development along the Row and has
failed to complete and adopt its own plan to survey and protect the historic
resources along the row.
We
have lost much of the history that visitors come to see, most recently
the San Xavier warehouse was "deconstructed." Stohans (the blue
building in the picture on the left – once a fish reduction plant)
remains standing but is in grave danger of being destroyed by the developer
who owns the land in the picture. For more on what is happening along
Cannery Row click on of the Current Projects.
City
Hall is in the planning process for the redevelopment of the Catellus
site. Will this public property, including Wharf 2 and the Window
On The Bay remain in public use? Or, as City Hall proposed at one point,
will they be covered with T-shirt shops, Golf Museums, or tourist trains
for private profit?
Thus if we are to maintain and improve Waterfront access, views, and its connection with history the residents will have to continue their advocacy activities!