Monterey County Land Use & Development Articles

A hotel construction boom is underway in Monterey County, presenting both an opportunity and a challenge, says Rob O’Keefe, president and CEO of See Monterey. Done right, it could increase tourism revenue, already a $3 billion industry. Done wrong, new…

David Schmalz here. Just over three years ago in this newsletter, I offered a defense for the much-maligned bike path running down the center of North Fremont Street in Monterey, aka the Bike Lane to Nowhere.

The path to developing anything locally is littered with pitfalls and often unforeseen challenges, particularly if the proposed project is on the former Fort Ord. That being the case, sometimes plans change, as they did Sept. 19 when Seaside City…

A now-vacant 94-year-old hospital building and a row of 12 occupied cottage apartments within unincorporated Carmel just off Highway 1 could become the site of Monterey County’s first “builder’s remedy” housing development, with construction of at least 127 units of…

Erik Chalhoub here. As a 20-year North County resident, a dozen of those covering the area for various outlets, I’ve heard all the talk and witnessed the delays and inaction when it came to the sorely needed rebuild of the…

Sara Rubin here, just after taking a hard-hat tour of Monterey County’s newest neighborhood. The Promenade in Marina, an idea 20-plus years in the making, finally exists in three dimensions. There’s the movie theater at one end—for years, an island…

David Schmalz here. Short-term rentals have long been a sticky subject locally, as opponents argue they hurt the fabric of the community and take vital housing units off the market, while its proponents broadly argue that a property owner should…

With a full City Hall and two defined factions that showed up—one to support and one to oppose a rent stabilization ordinance—the Salinas City Council unanimously approved an ordinance on Tuesday, Sept. 24 that will cap annual rent increases within…

SOLEDAD — City of Soledad has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Program, a significant initiative aimed at fostering economic growth in rural communities.

Carmel, it seems, is not quite ready to enter the 21st century. Despite pleas from a growing number of residents who find it increasingly difficult to live a life without street addresses in a world that demands them, a Carmel…

The efforts by a group of determined activists attempting to save the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center came to an abrupt end on Tuesday, Sept. 10, when the 100-year-old facility was demolished by the Pebble Beach Company.

JOLON — Fort Hunter Liggett (FHL) continues to lead the way in the Army’s energy resilience as the first-ever military installation with a microgrid implementation using only renewable sources, such as photovoltaic (PV) generation and battery storage.

Two weeks after the Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 in favor of a new short-term rental ordinance, the board split down the same lines on Tuesday, Sept. 10, in a final approval of amendments to the county’s code…

In what is becoming an increasingly divisive issue in the village, a majority of the Carmel City Council members declined to make a decision on bringing street addresses to the village on Tuesday, Sept. 10, instead voting to let the…

GONZALES — Community members interested in following the construction of the Dennis & Janice Caprara Community Center project in Gonzales can now do so with the help of a live EarthCam installed at the site by Otto Construction.

SOLEDAD — The City of Soledad is the first South Monterey County community to adopt the 2023-2031 Housing Element, a document that will ensure Soledad adequately plans to meet the housing needs of all community members.

On Friday, July 26, when California Coastal Commission staff released a report regarding Monterey-Salinas Transit’s proposed SURF! busway from Marina to Sand City, the surf was looking down – the report said in no uncertain terms that the project was…

After Carmel barely made a deadline in April to turn into the state their eight-year housing plan, known as a housing element, some residents became alarmed that the plan to add a required 349 units in the tiny village included…

As Seaside development expands further north with the nascent Campus Town project, which seeks to build up to nearly 1,500 residential units on dilapidated property between Gigling Road and Lightfighter Drive, a second fire station for Seaside has long been…

Tenants at 150 Encinal St. in Soledad received three letters dated Aug. 1. In one, they were notified they have a new landlord, Mi Tierra Linda, LLC. The second alerted them to “extensive renovations,” and noted the new rental rates,…