Monterey Herald - January 15, 1986
Board of Supervisors' Meeting January 14, 1986
Spanish Bay Development - Sawmill Gulch
Conditions
A controversial proposal to bring sand by
conveyor belt to the Spanish Bay development in
Pebble Beach won unanimous approval from the
Monterey County Board of Supervisors last night,
but in a way designed to kill plans for a sewage
treatment and reclamation project on the sand
mining site.
The board, in a 5-0 vote at the end of three
hours of public testimony, also conditioned its
approval so that if any part of the conveyor belt
permit is overturned in court, the entire permit is
invalidated.
That would force the Pebble Beach Co., to find
sand for its resort development outside the Del
Monte Forest and haul in the sand by truck. It
would also leave open the issue of whether a
reclamation project could be built in the Sawmill
Gulch area adjacent to the Del Monte Park
neighborhood in Pacific Grove.
The Supervisors will take final action on the
permit, which had been appealed by residents of the
Del Monte Park area, at a 1:30 p.m. hearing on Jan.
28.
But board members were clearly pleased with the
Solomon-like compromise offered by 1st District
Supervisor Marc Del Piero, which is designed to
keep sand-hauling trucks off roads and out of
neighborhoods, and to allay concerns of Pacific
Grove residents that they would find themselves
with a treatment plant near their homes.
The conditions accepted by the board in concept
would require the Pebble Beach Co., to revegetate
the sand mining pit at Sawmill Gulch and the swath
cut through the forest by the conveyor belt once
the mining operation is completed.
They would also require the company to grant a
scenic easement to the County for the sand pit and
the conveyor route, and to forbid any other
development of the property.
They would "assure that no sewage treatment
plant (is built) at the borrow site under any
circumstances," Del Piero said.
Neither representatives of the company nor the
Del Monte Park residents were sure last night if
the conditions were acceptable.
"I'm sort of shell-shocked," said Steve Elmer,
director of real estate operations for the Pebble
Beach Co., "We'll have to analyze the impact."
Karen Perling, chief spokesman for the Concerned
Neighbors of Del Monte Park, said the neighbors
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would "have to reflect" on the board's
action.
But, she said, "It seems what we have
accomplished tonight is to kill the sewer plan.
That we are very happy about"
Del Piero said that revegetation and creation of
a scenic easement would compensate for the "loss of
thousands of trees" that will be cut so that the
conveyor belt can haul sand for six months.
The sand will be used to recreate dunes mined at
Spanish Bay by Pebble Beach Co., and which must be
restored as part of the use permit for the 270-room
hotel, 18 hole golf course and 80 condominiums to
be built there.
Fifth District Supervisor Karin Strasser
Kauffman said that the board action would not kill
all prospects for reclamation in the forest, but
would eliminate Sawmill Gulch as a treatment plant
or reservoir site.
The Supervisors had earlier granted a use permit
to the Pebble Beach Community Services District for
the reclamation project at Sawmill Gulch, a permit
scheduled before the California Coastal commission
at its April meeting in Santa Cruz.
The Pebble Beach Community Services District has
since removed itself from county permit authority
by invoking a provision of state law.
If the Supervisors' action stands, the District
would have to go to court to attack the scenic
easement imposed by the county if it still wants to
use the site, Del Piero said.
Directors of the Pebble beach District "played
their card" when the stepped out of county
authority, he said. "And the Board (of Supervisors)
played the last one."
Second District Supervisor Barbara Shipnuck, who
favored use of trucks rather than the conveyor belt
to haul Sawmill Gulch sand, said she still opposes
the conveyor belt but could support the compromise
because it "gives the community itself the (final)
choice" by voiding the use permit in the event of a
successful lawsuit.
The hearing, which began at 7 p.m. and concluded
after 10 p.m., featured rational and impassioned
appeals by Del Monte Park residents in opposition
to the conveyor belt.
They argued that the Pebble Beach co., use
permit for the project had already expired,
challenged the permit on several other grounds and
cited potential safety and fire hazards inherent in
having the fenced-off conveyor belt near their
residential neighborhood.
Company representatives and County staff members
rebutted the challenges, contending that the permit
is valid, that the sand is needed to meet Coastal
Commission requirements at Spanish Bay and that the
conveyor belt could operate safely.
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