Month: April 2018

Highway Closure Update, 4/24/18

Photos (1-2) of Mud Creek (PM 8.9) from Friday, April 20; (3-5) of the Coastlands (PM 44.41) south of PCB taken Friday, April 20, pictures of “Geo Web” before and after being covered up by soil—it helps stabilize the slope.

HIGHWAY 1 UPDATE – Tuesday, April 24

State Route 1 in Monterey County remains closed from north of Salmon Creek, just south of the Ranger Station (PM 3) to just south of Gorda (PM 10) due to the Mud Creek slide. State Route 1 south of Salmon Creek is accessible via State Route 1 in San Luis Obispo County near Ragged Point.

REMINDER: Travelers still CANNOT access the entire length of Highway 1 from Carmel to Cambria but local businesses are open on both sides of Mud Creek.

Mud Creek (PM 8.9)

Mud Creek had a major slide on Saturday, May 20, 2017, losing over 5 million cubic yards of material. Caltrans continues with its plan to realign the existing terrain with the projected timeline to safely open to public traffic is late-summer 2018 at an estimated cost of $40 million. A more specific opening schedule will be announced in next week’s update.

This week: Work continues on the north cut, middle and north fills, and on north berm.

 There is currently no public/local access through the Mud Creek area since this remains an active, emergency construction zone.

 Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6)

Paul’s Slide was cleaned up last week from debris and slide material. It is still active but the 24/7traffic signal remains in place and temporary guardrail (k-rail) in the centerline.

ADDITIONAL WORK—CALPORTLAND PAVING BETWEEN LUCIA (PM 23) AND JUST SOUTH OF PCB (45.52)

Final items continue taking place. Metal Beam Guardrail (MBGR) end treatment work at Castro Canyon (PM 43.12) and slope work at the Coastlands (PM 44.41) is taking place. Last week Geo Web was installed to help stabilize the slope (see pix above). This week we are adding recessed marker to the striping.

Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through highway work zones.

The next update will be on Monday, April 30 ☺

Susana Z. Cruz

Caltrans District 5

Public Information Officer

Tourist Tuesdays, 4/24/18

This is from a 2011 report sent to me by Lana Weeks, so the information is a bit dated, but here are a few pages of the report and some interesting statistics:

4EBF03E5-2518-49DB-9425-E92E6C4A5A050055617E-0D12-4148-9A4B-261B2C7730EB54500C40-F9C5-47AF-8D76-76F0EA68F13641DFBE5F-A8B8-4C73-A61E-B83A8382DB0F4DE91A10-C30C-4403-BF57-26A12223CB7BE34F45FE-8C1B-4104-984A-E950C40FB20C19D907C1-0367-47C4-A139-156BDAC595500DB940E5-9816-40C0-9212-1B8592F82121

STRs

From the Highland STRs group:

The PC staff is having a meeting in Big Sur next week [Tuesday at 9:30 at the Lodge] where they will be recommending/announcing they will be restricting STR’s to “Home Stays”  in a Host’s permanent residence, and only while they are actually living/staying there.  We discussed this in our last meeting, and now the shape of it is better known.  We will need (at some point) to decide whether Carmel Highlands wants to end up with a identical situation.

It is a compromise from the PC’s previous position, and it does accomplish some of what we have been fighting for.  The key things missing are enforcement and ADA. It is not clear where traffic, leach field, water, advertising and other issues end up from our point of view, but it is clearly better than before.  There is also a technical issue on the number of people a Host can rent to because the draft ordinance limit of two times the number of bedrooms doesn’t leave a room for the owner.
On enforcement: responsibility for enforcement shifts entirely to the neighbors from a practical point of view.  The County is substituting an ordinance it won’t enforce, to one it can’t enforce.  On the other hand, fines are way up, and we might have the same legal options we have now (requires legal verification).  And paying a firm for enforcement is cheaper than litigation against the County and Coastal Commission.
I know there are some in our group who have favored this approach, at least in concept. It is also similar to the approach being supported by Carmel Valley.
Please read it carefully when you have a chance, think about it, and let’s communicate our thoughts to each other. (Or in Big Sur’s Case, at the meeting on Tuesday)
There is a bit more info on the website – specifically from Mary Adams office.

Planning Commission Draft Ordinance – “Home Stays” Simplified Explanation

KEY EXCERPTS FROM THE DRAFT ORDINANCE

MAXIMUM OCCUPANCY

No more than two (2) times the total number of bedrooms

Home Stay Definition

There are two different kinds:

A.     The STR unit is the STR Operator’s principal residence, and the STR Operator resides at the STR site while it is occupied by short-term renters.

Planning Commission staff makes the following preliminary recommendation (for Big Sur):

• STRs that are defined as homestays, are consistent with the BSLUP and should be allowed.

• STRs that are to be rented 12 times per year or fewer and not more than 2 times per year (referred to herein as “low-frequency STR”) and: Are a primary residence, are consistent with the BSLUP and should be allowed.

B.     The STR unit is not the STR Operator’s principal residence

Planning Commission staff makes the following preliminary recommendation (for Big Sur):

• STRs that would require a Coastal Development Permit (equivalent to the “Use Permit” in the Draft Ordinance), are not consistent with the BSLUP and should not be allowed.

• STRs that are to be rented 12 times per year or fewer and not more than 2 times per year (referred to herein as “low-frequency STR”) and are not a primary residence, are not consistent with the BSLUP and should not be allowed 

• Un-Hosted Short-Term Rental or Un-Hosted STR: A short-term rental whereby the STR Operator does not reside at the STR site while it is occupied by short- term renters are not consistent with the BSLUP and should not be allowed 

Native CA coastal plants smuggling

Keep an eye out on our coastal bluffs for this activity:

Here is the original story by Lisa Krieger, and it is more thorough, better written, and has  the photos.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/20/busting-plant-smugglers-along-californias-coast/

Smugglers Caught Trafficking Thousands Of Stolen California Succulents

“SANTA CRUZ (KPIX) – A group of people smuggling succulent plants were busted in Northern California.

Wildlife detectives from several agencies made three separate busts along the north coast in Mendocino and Humboldt counties.

Rare and native plants were pulled from the soil and shipped overseas.

It was an international smuggling ring that was trafficking not in guns or drugs, but native California succulent plants called Dudleyas.

“Pretty unusual case for us,” said California Department of Fish and Wildlife Capt. Patrick Foy. “Like nothing we’ve seen before in terms of the scale and the type of poaching involved.”

California Department of Fish and Wildlife investigators busted up the ring in Humboldt and Mendocino counties, where they say poachers were scaling coastal bluffs to rip the plants out of the ground by the thousands.

They would then allegedly ship them to China and Korea where they would be sold on the black market for $40 to $50 each.”

For the rest of the article and the video, go here:

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/04/20/smugglers-caught-illegally-ship-native-california-succulents-abroad/

 

Photo Sunday, 4/22/18

A few photos taken on a back road from San Jose I took last month, to enjoy this beautiful Earth Day.

EE74ECE5-8950-473F-9C7C-22F207C29BAD0BE51101-09CC-42D7-B712-F41F547A03AD2A4008DE-B677-4486-ADEC-A158876AD35885EEF86A-AA1B-4424-9164-1859A815A153

Saturday Tourists… (4/21/18)

… Came wandering up to my place this morning. A young, polite Chinese couple, clearly in trouble. They had gotten their car stuck in a hole a few miles away. They slept in their car. They had had no food or water. They offered me $200 to take them to the highway. Unfortunately, I was expecting company in an hour – a BSK reader and her husband who had flown in to SFO and were renting a 4×4 Jeep and a place at the bottom of the road from me and who did not know the neighborhood, were coming up. I couldn’t take the couple down.

I offered the use of my phone, but it kept dropping the calls. I drew them a map of where they were, how they needed to go to get out of here. I gave them each a 1/2 gallon of water, bananas, and oranges. I was just sending them on their way, when my son showed up. “Want to make $200??” I asked him. After looking at the photo of their car, he said he could pull them out with his chain, so he loaded them up and took them back to their car. He needs to make his truck payment and works at whatever he can get. Plus, he is just an all-round good guy. Boy did those visitors luck out!

Arroyo Seco Duck Race

I could use a bit of help promoting the Duck Race… (Please check out the link for further information:
This benefits our local firehouse and will help pay for training staff and other such things. This is our main fundraiser. As you can see it’s locals getting together. Mad Otter Ale is supplying the beer, it’s chicken beans and corn on the cob, for $10.00 and a $5.00 donation for a “craft” beer. So for $20.00. you get fed, and two beers, which these days, is a good deal. Other non-alcoholic drinks will be available for purchase. There is a far better chance of winning the Duck Race than the California lottery.
If you could help spread the word…. it would be appreciated…
FBB5D2C3-EF83-43B6-8848-E9B70D27B994FB07B45A-6D8F-45DE-A63D-C1D7278E150A

Fire Season

The 2017 fire season was the nation’s costliest, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which houses the Forest Service. That agency’s annual budget is increasingly dedicated to suppressing and fighting wildland fires, as longer seasons and more destructive blazes require more resources. Millions of acres have burned in the West this year, mostly in California, Montana and Oregon. Some of the West’s biggest fires began in September, at a time when the fire season is typically waning. But by mid-September, California had declared the first of several states of emergency, when blazes threatened giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park. Nowhere were fires more intense than in Montana, where more than 1.2 million acres burned. In Oregon, the Eagle Creek Fire tore through the Columbia River Gorge. With long-term climate trends portending more frequent droughts, this kind of severe and expensive fire season is more likely to become the norm. According to the National Interagency Fire Center’s most recent wildfire potential outlook report, it’s not over, either: Southern California should see higher than normal wildfire activity well into 2018.

For the rest of this article, and to see the statistics go to:

https://www.hcn.org/issues/49.21/infographic-why-western-wildfires-are-getting-more-expensive

Getting ready to make the switchover from winter weather watching to summer fire season. I will be leaving my weather links up for a bit, yet, but wildfires are happening in So Cal and in Colorado and other states a bit early this year, so will be adding in a few of those links as well.

 

STRs Meeting, Next Tuesday…

…At 9:30 am at the Conference Center at the Lodge.

Important Meeting on Tuesday, April 24th at 9:30 AM 

at the Conference Room at Pfeiffer State Park. 

Mark your calendar, tell your neighbors and friends. 

(if you can’t make the meeting please send an e-mail stating that STR’s are not consistent with the Big Sur LUP to: 
RMA Service Manager Melanie Beretti: BerettiM@co.monterey.ca.us
cc: Supervisor Mary Adams: district5@co.monterey.ca.us and bigsurlcp@gmail.com
 
 

A ‘Special Meeting’ to discuss STR’s in Big Sur.

Let’s all show up to demonstrate that allowing STR’s in Big Sur isn’t consistent with our LUP and that the community is close to united in its opposition to making STR’s legal. 

 

Many of us have testified at public hearings multiple times but it appears that, despite our efforts to clarify the issues, and despite the negative impacts on traffic, public access, housing, public safety and community, there’s still a chance decision makers will make STR’s legal in Big Sur. We need to prevent that from happening.

Again here’s the link to the County announcement of this ‘Special Meeting’

https://www.co.monterey.ca.us/home/showdocument?id=63641

Please share this with your neighbors  (and FB etc!) – it is a very good time to show up and help in the thoughtful protection of the Big Sur coast.