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Volume 98 No. 22 On the Internet: www.carmelpinecone.com June 1-7, 2012 Y OUR S OURCE F OR L OCAL N EWS, ARTS AND O PINION S INCE 1915 County commission wants Pebble Beach Taxpayers’ group to have ‘very low income’ housing steps up campaign By KELLY NIX income families to live there. “The Del Monte Forest lacks shopping, schools, pub- to halt ‘user fee’ THE PEBBLE Beach Company should build hous- lic transportation and other essential services,” P.B. Co. ing for low income and very low income residents in Del executive vice president and general counsel Mark Monte Forest, according to a decision this week by the Stilwell told commissioners. n A postcard for every property owner Monterey County Planning Commission. Stilwell also said the $5 million fee would allow a The P.B. Co. has argued against putting so-called nonprofit developer to provide a greater number of By KELLY NIX inclusionary housing in the forest, offering to meet coun- affordable housing units than could be built in Del ty requirements by paying a $5 million in-lieu fee that Monte Forest. MONTEREY PENINSULA home and business owners would allow units to be built somewhere else. have less than two weeks to protest a user fee the Monterey The planning commission’s vote on the Pebble Beach See HOUSING page 19A Peninsula Water Management District wants to add to their project includes a recommendation of property tax bills. And the proponents and opponents of the fee approval to the county board of supervi- are making their last stands to get their points across. sors, which is set to weigh in on the project The charge, which will go into effect automatically unless in June. half the Peninsula’s property owners protest it in writing by June Though the county’s housing advisory 12, would generate about $3.7 million a year for the water man- committee earlier recommended “moder- agement district — money the district says it will use to pay for ate income” housing be built in the forest, expanded water storage facilities and a groundwater replenish- the planning commission approved a ment project. motion by commissioner Martha Diehl “These two projects will provide half the replacement water that the P.B. Co. be required to build about we need” for the Peninsula, water district spokeswoman Rachel 20 units for people with “low,” “very low” Martinez told The Pine Cone, “so we think it’s important to get and “moderate” incomes. these projects moving.” “There are many, many employees who Martinez said water district officials are continuing to talk to work in the Del Monte Forest that are in community and business groups to reiterate the district’s posi- the ‘low’ and ‘very low’ category,” com- tion that without the fee, the water projects cannot be built. missioner Keith Vandevere said. But the Monterey County Association of Realtors and the However, the Pebble Beach Co. has said Monterey Peninsula Taxpayers’ Association are fighting the fee, the corporation yard near Spyglass Hill which the groups argue is a tax that should be brought before Golf Course — where the affordable units The county planning commission wants housing for “low” and “very low” income voters. would be built — is relatively isolated, residents built at the corporation yard in Pebble Beach. The board of supervisors The water district has “said over the years that it would use which could make it inconvenient for low will have the final say. those fees to augment the water supply,” according to Ron See FEE page 20A Agha, P.G. at odds over who Council puts off Postcards — com- plete with 32 will pay to defend lawsuits vote on budget cent stamps — have been sent By KELLY NIX paperwork that would ensure P.G. By MARY SCHLEY to every property is protected from litigation — a owner in the AFTER WEEKS of negotia- hot-button issue that Agha’s attor- THE CITY council last week continued water district to tions with developer Nader Agha, ney said if not resolved, could its exhaustive discussion of the 2012/2013 make it easy for the Pacific Grove City Council “jeopardize the deal.” budget but did not vote to approve it, instead them to protest a failed last week to finalize the first While Agha has agreed to planning to engage in a more casual talk user fee. of two contracts that would allow indemnify the city against some about money on Monday and then possibly the city to build and operate a legal actions, his lawyer, Paul cast votes on the spending plan at a July 12 desal plant on his Moss Landing Hart, told the council at a special special meeting. So far, council members property. meeting May 23 that Agha could have spent more than eight hours in budget While the council voted 5-2 to not provide the city with “unlimit- talks. LandWatch warns that continue to pursue an agreement ed risk.” “They wanted more opportunity to delib- with Agha, it was unable to iron erate, so they scheduled a workshop for water project may out details of a clause in the See ODDS page 22A Monday, June 4, to talk about the budget,” city administrator Jason Stilwell said this ‘induce growth’ week. ‘Play Misty’ at Forest Theater There, they will continue to discuss ways to raise money, within the context of under- n Wants new EIR to examine issue standing how spending has been reduced dur- ing the past few years and what it would take By KELLY NIX to restore the city’s services to pre-recession levels. At the May 24 budget meeting, WHILE CALIFORNIA American Water says its proposed Stilwell outlined $2.4 million in items that water project will simply replace water being illegally taken should be funded but are not included in the from the Carmel River without providing any for lots of record, budget: three part-time and three full-time business expansions, home remodels or new development, positions totaling $407,000, road mainte- LandWatch Monterey County has told The California Public nance costing $584,000, $458,000 for capital Utilities Commission the plan will, in fact, provide too much improvements and $293,000 in debt service. water and could lead to “induced growth.” The June 4 discussion will focus on how “Newly available information on existing demand and water the city can raise that money. supply projects suggests that [Cal Am’s latest] project may actu- “I think the community didn’t have the ally contribute to an oversupply of water,” says the document, information to fully understand the incremen- signed by LandWatch attorneys Mark R. Wolfe and John H. tal cuts over the years and what that meant to Farrow, with the San Francisco firm M.R. Wolfe and services,” he told The Pine Cone Wednesday. Associates. “We’ve been cutting 5 percent per year, and LandWatch also says “new information” indicates that the that has been adding up.” EIR for a previous water project, “overstated demand.” To save He also said the workshop setting would time and money, Cal Am wants to carry over the old EIR to its “allow people to have a better discussion new project. about what kind of services they expect out of But, “the new demand information indicates that a smaller An iconic movie of Clint Eastwood’s movie career and the history of the Monterey the city.” Stilwell said, “I think there will be project is feasible” and “would reduce impacts and minimize Peninsula, “Play Misty for Me,” starring Eastwood and Jessica Walter, will provide a big boost to this summer’s season of movies at the Forest Theater. See page 12A. See BUDGET page 24A See GROWTH page 23A Have the complete Carmel Pine Cone delivered every Thursday evening to your iPad, laptop, PC or phone. Free subscriptions available at www.carmelpinecone.com 2A The Carmel Pine Cone June 1, 2012 BROCCHINI • RYAN By Lisa Crawford Watson PROPERTIES Sandy Claws neighbors fostered him for six weeks while she cared for another wounded animal. By the time she retrieved him, he had defied hope and had begun to heal. And he had been named Blue. She kept the dog and the name. “I was going to try to find a home for him,” she says, “but he was so shy, so afraid of people; I just couldn’t let him go. I picked him up, looked into his face and said, ‘Blue; if you make it, I will get you the most beau- tiful collar.’ And so we did.” Slowly, he learned to trust people, to accept other Pelican Beach House animals, to feel sure of himself. Seven years later, Blue, Just Listed in Pebble Beach who weighs more than 100 pounds, is known as the “Gentle Giant.” The Pelican Beach House sits on pretty and quiet street. One afternoon, Blue, who had never barked, came It has excellent curb appeal with a colorful front garden running in to find her, barking and whining, frantic as surrounded by a white picket fence. 3 en suite bedrooms with full baths, powder room, family room, remodeled he ran away and came back, until she realized he kitchen, 2-car garage. Perfect and ready to move in today. needed her to follow. He led her down the hill, through $1,225,000 Gentle giant the trees and into the mud, where her horse lay, with a life-threatening illness. Call Mark or Paul to view. HE COULD have been a mallard, splashing among “I didn’t know they paid attention to each other, did- the reeds in the shallows of Elkhorn Slough.

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