Carmel Pine Cone, February 21, 2020
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VolumeThe 106 No. 8 Carmelwww.carmelpinecone.com Pine ConeFebruary 21-27, 2020 T RUS T ED BY LOCALS AND LOVED BY VISI T ORS SINCE 1 9 1 5 ADA CLAIMS FILED BY MAN WHO CAN’T STOP EATING City managers call for By KELLY NIX disability laws, making it difficult for him to get around the eateries. independent review A MORBIDLY obese man who admits to binge eating In his most recent lawsuit filed in the United States Dis- four to five times a week has filed lawsuits against numer- trict Court in San Jose, Jose Velez contends that three local of water estimates ous Monterey Peninsula restaurants alleging they violated businesses were out of compliance with the 1990 Amer- icans with Disabilities Act and other n Housing mandates cited laws that require the owners of public service businesses to make them acces- By KELLY NIX Two killed as car plummets sible to everyone. Velez said he qualifies as disabled because of his weight and LOCAL CITY managers are planning to hire experts his binge-eating disorder. to scrutinize a controversial water supply memo that influ- enced the California Coastal Commission’s powerful staff He has the receipts to recommend the denial of a permit for Cal Am’s pro- In the Sept. 9, 2019 complaint, posed desalination plant. Velez named Monterey Crepe Com- In a Feb. 4 letter to Monterey Peninsula Water Man- pany, Rocky Point Restaurant, Cottage agement District general manager Dave Stoldt, adminis- Restaurant on Lincoln Street and Ritu- trators of Monterey, Carmel and other Peninsula cities said al Day Spa in Campbell as defendants. they want a “professional independent third party” review Velez said he visited the Peninsula of the water supply report Stoldt released last year. The restaurants in April 2019 and has re- document, among other things, claims that a recycled wa- ceipts to prove it. ter project Stoldt’s agency is co-sponsoring could supply “The existence of access barriers enough water to the Peninsula — without a seawater de- and ADA violations at the restaurants salination plant — until at least 2043. caused Velez unnecessary difficulty and discomfort,” he said in the complaint ‘Non-controversial’ he filed himself. “For example, lack of The claim, which Cal Am disputes, was cited last Oc- tables with the spaces required by the tober by the staff of the California Coastal Commission to standards makes it more difficult for support its decision to recommend the coastal panel deny PHOTO/CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL Velez to sit and use the tables because Cal Am a permit for its $329 million desal plant. After putting out a brush fire on a cliffside in Big Sur early Tuesday, firefighters found the “We do not have the expertise to adequately assess the car that started the blaze — but they also made a grim discovery inside. See Page 6A. See ADA page 16A various [water] sources and associated supplies,” said the letter, which was signed by Monterey city manager Hans Uslar on behalf of the officials, including Carmel city ad- Monaco businessman’s Scenic Road home OK’d ministrator Chip Rerig. “It is necessary to have a peer re- view conducted by experts selected by our cities.” By MARY SCHLEY sioners wanted more changes. The review would be “non-controversial” and would At the Feb. 19 meeting, Sillano proposed demolish- See REVIEW page 19A BY GIVING up an underground tunnel and other de- ing the middle of the three houses — all of which Pas- tails of the home he wants to build on Scenic Road, wealthy tor purchased over a three-year period for a total of near- Monaco businessman Patrice Pastor received unanimous approval from the planning commission Wednesday night See HOME page 18A No ticket, but Corvette for his plans to demolish one of the three houses he owns on the oceanfront road and replace it with a new residence, driver could face jail along with an indoor swimming pool and a subterranean garage. By KELLY NIX No more compound THE DRIVER of the Chevrolet Corvette who was Last July, Pastor’s architect, Jun Sillano of Internation- speeding and driving on the wrong side of the road before al Design Group, presented plans calling for demolishing crashing into four other vehicles on Ocean View Boule- two of Pastor’s homes on Scenic south of Ninth and build- vard two weeks ago could face criminal charges for reck- ing a new house connected to the third existing home by less driving, according to Pacific Grove Police, who did a subterranean tunnel. Pastor also wanted to install a large not ticket the person for causing the wreck. outdoor pool. After commissioners decisively sent Sillano The motorist from Monterey was traveling at a high back to the drawing board, the architect returned with a rate of speed on the 200 block of Ocean View, a 25 mph vastly scaled-down project in December that retained the street, at about 5:45 p.m. when the accident occurred, ac- underground passage and moved the pool, but commis- cording to law enforcement. The driver and passenger of the Corvette were injured, and four other motorists report- RENDERING/JUN SILLANO A.I.A. ed minor pain. The 2014 sports car was totaled. A rendering shows the stone house that will contain a swimming Baier talks politics pool and replace one of Patrice Pastor’s houses on Scenic Road. See JAIL page 13A ahead of visit next week Fiery activist who took on city hall dies at 92 By KELLY NIX By MARY SCHLEY then. IN A broad interview this week, Fox News Channel’s “They would come to the back porch, and she would chief political anchor, Bret Baier, spoke to The Pine Cone AT 4-FOOT-11 — and with an apparent immunity to feed them regularly,” she said. Bayne’s parents “had land about the political fallout from the impeachment of Presi- intimidation and a fierce determination to fight and grew all their food.” dent Donald Trump, allegations that the Democratic Party for all sorts of causes — Carolina Bayne person- Perhaps as a result, Bayne had a leadership is trying to undermine Bernie Sanders’ cam- ified “small but mighty.” The longtime Carmelo strong instinct for caring for people paign, and the complexities behind what’s called a “bro- Street resident who led a successful fight against who needed help, whether her co- kered convention.” the powers that be at city hall, campaigned hard workers at Community Hospital, the The veteran journalist spoke from Fox News’ Wash- for home mail delivery, and fought for the instal- hungry, schoolkids, or homebound ington D.C. bureau ahead of his appearance at the Leon lation of a stoplight outside the hospital where residents who couldn’t go to the post Panetta Lecture Series on Feb. 24 at the Monterey Con- she worked, died Feb. 8 at the age of 92. office to get their mail. ference Center. Baier first addressed concerns by Sanders’ Bayne graduated from San Jose supporters that Democratic officials, worried that Sanders Feeding ‘tramps’ High School and went to nursing could win the nomination, are trying to derail his efforts. Bayne was born in San Jose Sept. 14, 1927, school at UC Berkeley, spending “I think the Democratic establishment is in four-alarm- the daughter of Italian immigrants and the three years working daily shifts at a fire mode,” Baier said. “And they are doing all kinds of youngest of three. “In her youth, the Depres- local hospital and attending classes. things to think about how to challenge Bernie Sanders, in- sion hit, and I would say it had a huge impact She and the other students lived in cluding letting Michael Bloomberg on the stage. That, in on her,” her daughter, Michele Pollock, said the hospital basement, according to and of itself, has changed the dynamic of the race and has Wednesday. “She clearly remembered her moth- Pollock. er making minestrone and lentil soup just to feed See BAIER page 12A the ‘tramps,’” as the homeless were called back Carolina Bayne See BAYNE page 23A Attention readers: Don’t forget that you can have the complete Carmel Pine Cone delivered every Thursday evening to your tablet, laptop, PC or phone — with no banner ads, popups, click bait or paywalls. We also don’t harvest your data or make you create an account or password. Free subscriptions available at www.carmelpinecone.com. 2A The Carmel Pine Cone February 21, 2020 Sandy Claws By Lisa Crawford Watson Going the distance +WHOLESOME GRAINS IT DIDN’T matter that they’d always had big SINGLES dogs, she wanted a Yorkshire terrier. Her husband did not — that is, until he met Coco, a 5-month-old Choice without Yorkie their daughter acquired from a rescue orga- Compromise nization. Now he adores her. Maybe it’s because, while his wife said she Single Protein named the dog Coco after the animal’s soft brown Duck or Lamb coat, that was also the name of her husband’s first Biologically dog. Appropriate Food “I’ve always been drawn to the Yorkshire terrier breed,” her person said. “They’re very easy to care for. And, they’re so small and soft and cute and Dollars Off Promo cuddly but also feisty.” Now through March 13th ! Her husband maintains that Coco’s first line of defense is offense, referring to her rather aggres- sive nature. “Either she thinks she’s a big dog, or she’s got that small-dog thing with something to prove.” Now nearly 15, Coco has begun to mellow. Ex- FOXY COUTURE cept when she goes to Carmel Beach.