Author: bigsurkate

Appointed appellate counsel for indigent defendants (retired.) I have lived in Big Sur since 1984, first on the north coast, and on the South Coast since 1989.

STRs and the MoCo BOS meeting

I stayed neutral on this issue for years, but after watching what it has done to our community — done away with former housing for teachers at our school (one of the illegal STRs) and now watching our USFS LEO struggle to find ANY housing for a single guy with no pets, and the unavailability of housing to support our basic community services, I changed my position a few years back. I am speaking out today by posting a recent weekly newsletter from the Carmel Valley Association, that faces the same issues Big Sur does, and a notice about the Board of Supervisors Meeting next week and how to join in.

Carmel Valley Association Weekly Bulletin
Short-Term Rentals in Carmel Valley
A well-funded group of short-term rental owners and managers recently has taken out ads attempting to discredit Supervisor Mary Adams’ effort to address the impacts of unpermitted vacation rentals in the 5th District. The ads are misleading, histrionic and filled with erroneous information about a proposed action to enforce existing regulations on transient use of residential properties.
The number of vacation rentals (formerly known as short-term Rentals STRS) has increased dramatically during the inexplicably seven long years taken to develop a vacation rental ordinance with effective enforcement.
According to county staff, there are more than 600 identified vacation rentals in Monterey County, of which only 24 properties have required permits. The overwhelming majority of these unpermitted vacation rentals are in the 5th District, including Carmel Valley.
At its last meeting, at the urging of 5th District Supervisor Mary Adams, the Board of Supervisors unanimously took the first step to deal with this urgent problem. The Board directed county staff to take action to enforce the existing regulations on short term rentals in the 5th District. The response by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors is to be commended.
This enforcement action is to determine how resources will be allocated to enforce existing regulations. Additionally, enforcement will serve to provide information on how vacation rentals can be effectively regulated and the best enforcement practices for potential inclusion in the final vacation rental ordinance. Immediate enforcement is also needed because, according to county staff, it may take more than another year to develop an effective vacation rental ordinance.
If there is no control exerted now, the negative impacts of vacation rentals will continue to grow:
Hotel, resort, and motel businesses will suffer.The number of long term rentals available for people who live and work here will decrease, and rents will continue to rise.The quality of life for residents will further decline as residential neighborhoods become de facto commercial zones.
CVA believes that the enforcement of current regulations is critically important to maintaining the residential character of our neighborhoods. Not surprisingly, a group representing the owners and managers of vacation rentals is trying to stop enforcement.
Our opponents are well-funded by vacation rental owners, guests, managers, and national and international investors. They are soliciting more funds to defeat any attempt to enforce existing regulations.
That’s why we need you to take action to fight back now. Please write a letter to the Board of Supervisors. Their addresses are:
district1@co.monterey.ca.us, Luis Alejodistrict2@co.monterey.ca.us, John M. Phillipsdistrict3@co.monterey.ca.us, Chris Lopezdistrict4@co.monterey.ca.us, Wendy Root Askewdistrict5@co.monterey.ca.us, Mary Adams
Also, plan to voice your support for the enforcement of the existing regulations for short-term rentals at the next Board of Supervisors meeting on December 8, 2021. We’ll be sending out a ZOOM link later this week or early next. You could make the difference!
Thank you for helping to protect our residential neighborhoods and to preserve the rural character of Carmel Valley.

Attached you will find the Final Agenda for the Monterey County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, December 7, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. and Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.. The agenda(s) and agenda packet(s) can be found online by visiting the following link: https://monterey.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx Due to the size limitations the agenda packet could not be attached to this e-mail, but can be found by visiting the following link.  Once there, you can navigate to the agenda packet by:

  1. Locating the correct legislative meeting body followed by date.
  2. On the same row, you will find a list of available options be sure to select “Agenda Packet”
  3. If the option is not presented, the packet may be located by selecting “Searchable Meeting Details.”
  4. You will be taken to a separate page and the packet may be found under the header entitled, “attachments”

you may participate through ZOOM. For ZOOM participation please join by computer audio at:https://montereycty.zoom.us/j/224397747OR to participate by phone call any of these numbers below:+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)+1 253 215 8782 US+1 301 715 8592 USEnter this Meeting ID number: 224397747 when prompted. Please note there is no ParticipantCode, you will just hit # again after the recording prompts you.

There are a substantial number of issues that will be addressed at both meetings that may be of interest to you. 

Item 7 – December 8, 2021 Agenda (physical page 7) PDF page 8

Consider a comprehensive analysis in response to revised Board Referral 2016.02, regarding enforcement of existing County regulations relating to transient use of residential properties, also known as short term rentals or vacation rentals, and provide direction to staff regarding unauthorized vacation rentals and potential funding sources to cover costs.

Happy Thanksgiving


“Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.”

– John Henry Jowett (1864-1923)

I may not have time to blog for the next few days, and in case that turns out to be true, I wanted to take this moment in time to wish all of you a blessed Thanksgiving Day. May it be filled with love, joy, friends and family. Take a few moments each day to fill your soul with the gratitude you truly feel. Blessed be.

Thanksgiving at Jo-Anne’s (and my favorite T-Day photo)

Keep Big Sur Wild’s LUP Update

Big Sur Land Use Plan Update

Since its certification by the California Coastal Commission in 1986, the award-winning Big Sur Land Use Plan (LUP) has helped to ensure the protection of the Big Sur Coast. Developed by the County of Monterey, Big Sur residents, and the Commission, the LUP implemented the then-radical ideas of acquiring hundreds of acres of critical viewshed lands, significantly downzoning residential buildout, and capping visitor serving units. For 35 years, the LUP has successfully protected the natural beauty of seventy miles of the California coast, a well-known national treasure.

Since 2013, the County of Monterey and the Big Sur Land Use Advisory Committee (LUAC) have been evaluating potential changes to the LUP. While changing conditions may warrant modest updates to the LUP, Keep Big Sur Wild believes that its core tenants are still valid and should remain strong and enforceable. As a result, Keep Big Sur Wild has been actively involved in the Planning Commission’s recent review of proposed changes to the LUP. 

Alarmingly, the draft Update released in July 2021 would significantly undermine the LUPand its protections of the Big Sur Coast. Some of the most problematic changes include: ● Modifications to the critical viewshed policy to allow additional development in this critical area. ● Modifications to Plan prioritizations, such that the Plan’s current favoring of visual access of the coast over physical access and other development is weakened.● Eliminating mandatory policies in favor of non-mandatory “objectives.”● Allowing additional visitor serving units beyond those currently permitted. ● Allowing additional “special events” without adequately regulating noise and impacts on Highway capacity.● Proposals for “improvements” to Highway One that would negatively impact the wild and scenic character of the Big Sur Coast, while failing to address the current overuse issues.  

We understand that a County subcommittee is currently reviewing the proposed LUP Update in light of these and other identified issues. Keep Big Sur Wild supports this current effort to ensure that both the spirit and the letter of the LUP is retained into the future.