Tag: Big Sur

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

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 

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!

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.

 

Tourist Tuesday, 4/3/18

I took  a closer look at thepresentation MCCVB made at the last BSMBAAC meeting. While I can see the need for a “Destination Master Plan”  for Monterey County, I think we need a separate and community oriented, implemented, and managed Sustainable Destination Stewardship Program/Plan for Big Sur. In discussions with Tammy Blount of MCCVB, she has agreed that a separate, “special” forum should be held for Big Sur. I look forward to working with Tammy and finding a common vocabulary which will strengthen our sense of community here in Big Sur – the crown jewel of Monterey County.

A “Master Plan” reminds me too much of dystopian novels like 1984, Brave New World, Handmaiden’s Tale, Soylent Green, etc. Personally, I think the Sustainable and Stewardship components of any plan are critical to how we approach the issue of sustainability of both the community and the environment of Big Sur as tourism continues to increase exponentially. The focus needs to shift from making money to sustaining the sense of place, in my opinion. Making money is only relevant if it is used to enhance the experience – not profit from it. I also see that Big Sur needs a bigger voice in any planning endeavor.  Big Sur needs to take the lead in any efforts to “market” her unique beauty, and if necessary, tell others she is not for sale. Several members of the board of CPOA are willing and delighted to work with us on creating an entity for such a purpose.

Naming, to me, helps to define, refine, and focus our goals so we don’t get distracted from the purpose we have for going forward, obtaining financing, other backing, and instituting meaningful change to save our community and place while we share it with visitors. Also, it will help establish the roles of all our various governmental and non-governmental agencies who claim a stakehold in Big Sur by helping them to fulfill their management plans and see the many ways each is compatible with the others. We need to get away from the singularity which defines each government agency and begin to see our Big Sur Coast as a holistic entity, entitled to the protection she needs and deserves.

Here is a quarterly event that MCCVB hosts that addresses this issue:

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The above is a screen shot, so the registration button is not “live.” Here is a link you can go to to register for the Sustainable Moments marketing forum: Sustainable Moments Quarterly Forum. I have signed up to attend, and will report back after the Forum. Marcus Foster has also indicated he is interested in attending. I would encourage all of you interested in the future of Big Sur and her tourism component to come to this forum to listen, learn, and contribute, if appropriate. Big Sur is the driving force behind tourism for the entire Monterey Peninsula. It is time we have a bigger voice that is heard.

Next week, I will seek out information on how to work with and organize all the diverse stakeholders present in Big Sur. Thanks to others in the community with whom I have had conversations, I am convinced that the MCCVB is NOT the appropriate entity to spear head an issue to preserve and protect Big Sur, and am looking at a whether a disinterested outside consultant might be the way to go, along with formulating a non-profit Big Sur entity capable of grant-writing, funding a consultant, fund-raising, organizing, and implementing a long-term plan that incorporates all the various interlocking pieces that comprise Big Sur and make her who she is. If you want to be a part of this process, please let me know how you see yourself contributing, either in the comments or via email to kwnovoa@mac.com

I had not intended to make this portion of my blog a full-time endeavor, but that is what it is becoming. Big Sur needs protecting and all of us must become proactive in this. All the individual concerns we have: bathrooms, traffic, degradation of the wilderness, camping, enforcement, tourists who drive Highway One (poorly), but don’t spend here, preserving our community, work-force housing, our history, protecting our environment and so much more are pieces of this much larger puzzle. Join us in becoming a part of the solution, instead of just bitching. Let’s save the love of our lives and our home, Mama Sur.

Tourist Tuesday, 3/27/18

On Friday, 3/23/18, the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau made a presentation to BSMAAC on the concept of sustainable tourism. They are willing to be the lead organization on this, IF the county is willing to provide/find/arrange the necessary funding. The presentation included the following, which they so kindly sent me. Since I was NOT at this meeting, I would appreciate feedback from community members who WERE present. If you wish to remain anonymous, send it to me privately, and I will post under my name. Email to: kwnovoa@mac.com

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Photo Sunday, 1/21/18

Pfeiffer State Park, photo by Dan Danbom. This is such an exquisite photo. Thank you, Dan.

Fall colors in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, Big Sur, California

Highway Photos today, 1/9/18

All Photos by Greg J. Shalhoob:

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Paul’s Slide from the north, looking south

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Cow Cliff’s at Big Creek

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Closer look at Cow Cliffs.

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Paul’s Slide, South End

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Chimney, just south of Limekiln.

Highway One closure update

Photos: 1-3 of Mud Creek (PM 8.9) from Wednesday, Jan. 4 and Thursday, Jan. 5; photos 4-5 of Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge (PM 45.52) of AC grinding from Wednesday, Jan. 4 .

 

Everything about Mud Creek, Paul’s Slide, and the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge remains unchanged, but additional work is:

ADDITIONAL WORK—CALPORTLAND PAVING BETWEEN LUCIA (PM 23) AND JUST SOUTH OF PCB (45.52)
Wednesday (1-10) – Grind Deli/Post office parking lot in two sections (1/2 at a time) to keep some parking spaces available.
Thursday (1-11) – Pave the Deli/Post office parking lot.
Friday (1-12) – Pave mainline Hwy 1 from PM 44.8-45.3, which is through the Deli/post office area.

STRs, part 3, 1/5/18

Probably THE most comprehensive website on Short Term Rentals in Monterey County can be found here:

Preserve Monterey Neighborhoods

This is their mission statement:

“This is a working group to consider litigation, voter initiative, and activism options to stop STR in Monterey County.

We are looking for constructive suggestions and a healthy debate to develop a consensus and action plan that can win. The purpose of this website is to be a resource for information that may be helpful.

In the Coastal Zone of Monterey, every City and area has at least one group opposing STR except for Seaside and Marina. In the one city where STR is currently legal (Pacific Grove), opposition is growing and organizing. There is a page for each that has their public statements and/or Comments to the Planning Commission.”

I urge you to explore this website for a wealth of available information about this issue before the January 10th workshop with the Planning Commission. I will offer bits & pieces of it as I can.