- Please see the attached notice (PHN_PLN220090_120623) for the Garrapata Creek Bridge item scheduled for the Board of Supervisors on December 6, 2023, at 1:30 pm. Caltrans also has a Big Sur and Garrapata Creek Bridge Rail Replacement Project webpage. Big Sur and Garrapata Creek Bridge Rail Replacement Project | Caltrans. This appeal will occur after the December 6thBig Sur Byways Organization meeting.
Big Sur Land Use Plan Update DRAFT
- The draft has been shared with the public and is attached to this email (Big_Sur_LUP_Ad_Hoc). For more information and past documents, please go to this Big Sur Coast Land Use Plan Update.
Visitor Accommodations and Campgrounds unit count data
- The County of Monterey is releasing the Visitor Accommodations and Campgrounds unit count data for the Big Sur Coastal Planning Area. The attached memorandum (Memo_VSU_County_2023) details the County’s unit count data for Visitor Accommodation and Campground units. The County has also updated the draft Big Sur Coast Land Use Plan to reflect the updated unit count data, which is attached; the only changes are to the unit count numbers. The document can be found on the County of Monterey webpage for the Big Sur Coast Land Use Plan updates.
Upcoming Meetings – Big Sur Byway Organization (BSBO) and Big Sur Multi-Agency Advisory Council (BSMAAC)
- The agendas have not yet been posted, but please save the dates and times.
- BSBO – Wednesday, December 6th at 10:00am, Hybrid meeting with in-person location at the Carmel Highlands Fire Station and online location via zoom.
- BSMAAC – Friday, December 15th at 10:00am, in-person meeting at the Big Sur Lodge Conference Center
Don’t forget the hearing on Dec 6th re Caltrans’ outrageous plans for the Garrapata Bridge. We all have a real chance of stopping them here. Please do at least attend via Zoom.
Kate, Thank you for this!!! The Garrapata Bridge Rail replacements new design is just another way to urbanize Big Sur. No reason for a new design as the original design has kept us all safe for over 90 years along with the other 5 Big Sur Historic Arch Bridges rails (Mal Paso Creek, Granite Creek, Rocky Creek Bixby Creek & Big Creek) that Caltrans plans to urbanize following Garrapata. Just say NO … I would also like to thank both the Planning Commissioners and Keep Big Sur Wild for all the time and hard work they have put into this as well as the Coastal Commission. For those of you that don’t know this, our Big Sur Land Use Plan is all about the importance and protection of “visual access”!
Two other very important issues … the Big Sur Land Use Plan Draft update that 5 of our Planning Commissioners (ad-hoc committee) have been working on, thank you very much, and the Visitor-Serving Unit Count. I see lots of errors still and much more discussion is going to be needed here, and that’s why its important that you all attend these County Workshops that are coming up! I would like to also thank our Planning Commissioners, Keep Big Sur Wild, Big Sur Chamber of Commerce and anyone else I may have forgotten to mention.
Please help stop the urbanization of our coastal area and Keep Big Sur Wild ….
thank you!
Our group, Albion Bridge Stewards are drafting a response to Caltrans’ appeal and will have it ready to send tomorrow. Some of us will be attending via Zoom as allies to the Big Sur community.
Our letter to the Board of Supervisors was sent off this afternoon. It addresses, in detail, the (lame) arguments Caltrans put forth. We also worked together with Christina McGinnis to ensure a united coastal front. I urge the Big Sur community to show up for this important meeting.
Thank you Ali, you and your group the Albion Bridge Stewards wrote a wonderful letter to the County of Monterey BOS … Thank you!!
It’s our pleasure! You may not know that I lived in the area for 20 years and am now up on the Mendocino coast. The two, though different in so many ways, have unique similarities capturing the drama and rugged beauty of our California Coast. We are fighting to preserve history here, too, as you are doing there. Caltrans uses projects like this to throw their weight around and steamroll communities into acquiescence. Not on our watch!
Ali, Janet just sent me a copy of the letter your group sent, and we can’t thank you enough for your support of our efforts in fighting Caltrans on this issue. Your letter was outstanding. I just sent in a note requesting that my voice be added to the positions stated in the Stewards’s letter. Bless you.
From Janet, who is getting an invalid security token for some reason: ” Also a big thank you to Christine McGinnis our land use planner @ Keep Big Sur Wild for all the hours she has put into this along with the Albion Bridge Stewards.”
Again, you are so welcome. None of what we do would be possible without the extraordinary guidance and leadership of the best coastal land use planning specialists in the biz. We are fortunate to have them on our side. And also, thank you for putting me together with Christina! When I first saw this on the Agenda you posted from the Planning Commission months ago, as a once long-time resident of Palo Colorado Canyon, I had to get involved! Good luck tomorrow 🤞🤞🤞
WE DID IT!!! With extraordinary cooperation between KBSW and others, the Board of Supervisors agreed that CT’s heavy-handed design is inappropriate and unnecessary to this iconic coast.
To you all, thank you!!