UPDATE: The Monterey County Planning Department today notified Big Sur residents that it will schedule another meeting of the South Coast Big Sur Land Use Advisory Committee on May 26 to discuss the tower proposal.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency is building a temporary surveillance tower meant to provide “security and coastal protection” at a remote site in Big Sur.
News of the proposed tower at Lucia Ranch, 50 miles south of Carmel, did not reach Big Sur until last Tuesday, when the South Coast Big Sur Land Use Advisory Committee heard an “informational” presentation about the project.
Neighbors adjacent to Lucia Ranch, including former Rep. Sam Farr, said they weren’t aware of the proposal until after Tuesday’s meeting.
The 80-foot tower would apparently test technology the agency has developed in an effort to capture real-time photographs and video of boats up to 24 miles out to sea. If working correctly, the surveillance would detect packages, people and weapons on the vessels.
Documents presented to the Big Sur committee indicate that the solar-powered tower relies on “maritime radar” and other technology that “automatically detects, tracks and identifies watercraft of various sizes crossing open water between international waters and the U.S. shoreline.”
In a letter to the state Coastal Commission, a CBP representative said the tower is meant to “provide continuing security and coastal protection” and that more of them could be installed in other regions of the coast.
Oddly, after identifying the site, the CBP’s letter notes that “the strategy and actual placement of the system is For Official Use Only and is Law Enforcement Sensitive information.”
For the rest of the article, see: https://voicesofmontereybay.org/2020/05/15/cbp-plans-surveillance-tower-in-big-sur/
Guest Commentary: The Best Way to KeepBig Sur Accessible? Limit Lodging DevelopmentBy Tim GreenAnyone who…
Linus Pauling Gets the Jitters At the edge of the abyss, the celebrated chemist delivered…
Note: This is ONLY Rocky Creek. There are still three other closures that prevent taking…
Up at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto, there is a spiral that is flanked…
As part of the public input process for the County of Monterey’s Housing Element Cycle,…
View Comments
the terms 'federal surveillance' and 'temporary' do not belong together in the same sentence...
Big brother in Big Sur.... No public input. They owe us at least the use of that tower for internet/cell signal relay for the citizens.
Agree with both of above. Alan Buchwald, Weston Ridge
Don’t like it. Seems like there should have been more of an effort to have public input by the people in direct site of this tower (Aka all the neighbors on the south coast). I doubt they’re going to ONLY keep an eye on boats.. with a tower like that they can literally see anything and everything/one on the south coast in sight..
Mike, talk to your dad. He was there. And Connie, in trying to get another zoom meeting that neighbors can attend, was able to add everyone else’s name from the SCLUAC to the request, except your dad. She did add your dad’s name, and got a new meeting date.
Kinda creepy.
Unrelated, but sorta related I guess . . . scary at any rate.
https://www.npr.org/2020/05/13/854014403/your-boss-is-watching-you-work-from-home-boom-leads-to-more-surveillance?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits
Yes, related, but not. Employers monitoring their employees through spy or tattleware when they can easily tell productivity by the work accomplished, regardless of what ever else was going on in the employees life. What about employees who have children at home who they have to babysit and homeschool? Not fond of where we are going because of COVID-19.
It's in the emergencies Americans lose more of their freedoms. Think 9-11 & the Patriot Act! Just yesterday we lost the fight to require a warrant for the gov't to look at our browsing history! Vote in November!
Little Philly, this has been in the works since Oct of 2018, before the pandemic. But generally speaking, yes, I agree with you. During emergencies...and we never get them back.
This is dreadful ! We must stop this !