Just a taste. Note Big Sur and Mining Ridge. Wowsa.

Due to weather forecasts showing rainfall amounts likely to meet thresholds for increased risk of debris flow activity, the County of Monterey is issuing an evacuation warning for the Dolan Burn Scar and areas of River Road in Salinas, CA. Properties and people located below or downstream of the burn areas are at an increased risk for flooding and debris flows. Areas that have experienced increased runoff, flooding, debris, and/or mudflows since the fires in August 2020 will likely experience similar or worsened impacts. Please remain vigilant and be aware of any land movement. If weather patterns change or land movement occurs, additional evacuation warnings or orders may be issued. If you are concerned about your safety or feel that your life is threatened, leave the area; do not wait for officials to tell you to do so. Note: Highway 1 will be closed at Deetjen’s Big Sur Resort (Postmile 42.1) and Ragged Point beginning 12/12/21 at 08:00pm.

From NOAA NWS:

One thing which has emerged is increasing agreement among both deterministic guidance and EC/GEFS ensemble members in slowing the progression of the AR along the Central Coast. This trend, should it persist, points towards potentially higher rain totals for the Santa Cruz and Santa Lucia ranges, in addition to coastal portions of Monterey County. Thus confidence for higher rain totals in these areas has increased. Please see below for more details on timing, amounts, and potential impacts from this AR event.

Light warm advection rains which began late Saturday night should persist into Sunday morning for the North Bay, while spreading towards the San Mateo coast and the remainder of the greater San Francisco Bay area by Sunday afternoon. The system should then stall/weaken over the Bay area into Sunday evening before intensifying on Monday with the greatest rain focus for the Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Lucia Range, and Monterey Bay areas. While rain chances may persist into Tuesday, it still appears that the best window for meaningful rainfall (along with possible moderate and/or heavy rain rates at times) should be from about midday Sunday into Monday afternoon.

Given the previous mention of the slowing AR on Monday some adjustment to rain totals were made to reflect model trends and known topographic effects. This includes decreasing amounts for rain shadowed valleys while increasing them for the Santa Cruz and Santa Lucia ranges. With that said the latest thinking on storm total amounts is as follows:

North Bay Valleys: 2-3"
North Bay Mountains: 3-6"
Greater San Francisco and East Bay: 2-3"
South Bay valleys: 1-2"
Santa Cruz/Santa Lucia Ranges: 3-6"; locally up to 10"
Monterey Bay: 2-3"
Inland Monterey and San Benito Counties: 1-2"

Keep in mind that adjustments to these forecast amounts are possible with additional information as we head closer to this rain event. Stay current with the latest forecast information. With rain on the way now`s a good time to take proactive measures like clearing gutters and storm drains of debris.

From John Chesnut:

High likelihood of Central California rain beginning Thursday this week. These are trailing rain bands from low pressure systems crossing the high North Pacific.

Genesis: a nearly stationary low near Kauai, Hawaii was blocked by persistent high pressure centered over the Western states. This high pressure will drift westward and displace the low. The movement of the high pressure opens a channel along the west coast for shortwave rain bands to be pushed south.

On an even broader scale, the movement of the high and low pressure couple is a consequence of the periodic progression of the “Madden Julian Oscillation [MJO]” eastward across the tropical Pacific.

The MJO is a paired pattern of high convection (thunderstorms) and dry descending air linked in the Indian and Pacific Ocean along the equator. It moves eastward from the Horn of Africa to the coast of Peru in a 30-90 day cycle. The eastern most phases (near the coast of South America) of the MJO weaken or split the North Pacific jetstream, which allows the prototypical western North American high to detatch from the western desert and drift westward across the Pacific.

The El Nina pattern (with high Ocean temperatures) has been observed to strengthen the impact of the MJO ( whereas the El Nino (Pacific storm)pattern overpowers and suppreses it). The El Nina pattern (and general climate warming) slows the eastward drift of the MJO in the Pacific (and shortens its residence in the Indian Ocean).

As of 8 am this morning, 12/9, Big Sur has had between .20 and .25” since last night.

Big Sur Health Center Hosts Online Fundraiser In-Lieu of In-Person Auction at 2022 Foragers Festival

BIG SUR, CA. (Dec. 4, 2021) — While The Big Sur Foragers Festival will be back for an in-person festival from Thursday, Jan. 20 through Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022, the popular in-person auction will be replaced by an online Marketplace. 

All items in the online store have been donated by supporters of Big Sur Health Center, and all of the sales go to Big Sur Health Center. To purchase an item at the online auction site, go to https://www.bigsurhealthcenteronlinestore.org/.

You can either pay the published price or go with several discount options depending on your ability and desire to pay:

PUBLISHED PRICE: This is just above retail value for those who want to give a little extra.

Code HEALTH: This will take 25% off the highest price.

Code BIG SUR: This will take 35% off the highest price and still allow folks to support Big Sur Health Center.

Code COMMUNITY: This will take 50% off the highest price and will allow the purchaser to get the items for an amazing deal while still giving to Big Sur Health Center.

There will also be a “Hike With The King Of Mushrooms,” Todd Spanier, on Jan. 22, 2022, and a “Beer and Brunch” following the hike at the Big Sur River Inn. Whether you take the hike or not you are still welcome to attend the brunch. Hikes and brunches are not available to be discounted due to the high demand. All proceeds of the hike and brunch go to the Big Sur Health Center.

To participate in the hike and/or the brunch, go to https://www.bigsurhealthcenteronlinestore.org/hikes-brunch.

Hike With The King of Mushrooms

Join us for a memorable foraging experience in the Big Sur woods with Todd Spanier, known by many as the “The King of Mushrooms,” within the food industry. Spanier is considered to be a pioneer of the “sustainable“ and “wild food” movements in California. He is an expert chef, mushroomer and forager.

Lisa Haas and her crew will start the event with their now-famous and very popular and extensive wild mushroom display and educational introduction.  Lisa and Maryia Hyrharenka are the ultimate “backyard mycology” team.  Their knowledge and support along with their artistic flair has been a highlight of our event for years.

The hike is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022. Meet at the Big Sur River Inn parking lot, north of the gas station, on Highway 1.

Tickets are $60, with 35 spaces available. This popular event fills up rapidly.

The Beer and Brunch, a 3-course meal paired with craft beer (wine available for non-beer drinkers) will be held at noon at the Big Sur River Inn.  This is a perfect post-hike brunch. Tickets are $50.

COVID-19: All CDC recommendations will be followed in order to protect the health and safety of participants during both events.  More information will be available as events are updated.

If you would like to donate an item to be sold at the online auction, please contact Kara at kara@therandompickler.com.

If you would like to donate money directly to Big Sur Health Center please click here: https://www.montereycountygives.com.

The Foragers Festival has traditionally served as a fundraiser for the Big Sur Health Center. The community’s non-profit health center will receive 100% of proceeds from the various events to continue to support the presence of local health care services in the Big Sur area. In 2020, the last time the festival was held in-person, more than $31,000 was raised at the event.

Call (831) 667-2580 for more information.

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.