Downtown Specific Plan Set for Final Approval
The City Council is set to certify the Final EIR, approve the Downtown Specific Plan and amend Marina’s zoning map during its meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 6:30 p.m.
The resolution to approve the plan is one of the last items on the agenda. The goals of the new downtown plan are to create a more walkable downtown that is more environmentally responsible, attracts more economic activity, is safer for pedestrians and bicycles, and creates more housing near downtown.
Within two years, a few key projects are expected to get underway. Roundabouts will be installed on Del Monte Road, and improvements will be made to the Del Monte/Reservation Road intersection. The city has received grants to pay for some of this and is applying for other grants to pay for more. To learn more about this project, click here.
On the Consent Agenda is a settlement agreement between the city and the County of Monterey, the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency and California-American Water Company.
The city’s legal battle with the three has been ongoing since 2010. It was then that the county, city and Cal-Am had just reached an agreement on a new water project, when it was discovered that Monterey County Water Board member Stephen Collins had been paid $160,000 to advocate for the City of Marina. A year later, the county sent a letter to the city and Cal-Am that the agreement was void due to Collins’s double dealing. Cal-Am then followed suit and the lawsuits began. Collins, for his part in it, was sentenced to nine months in jail and three years probation.
This particular settlement concerns the dispute over Cal-Am’s plan to draw feeder water for its desalination project from water underneath the old CEMEX plant. The City of Marina had originally denied Cal-Am a permit, so Cal-Am went to the county, which permitted Cal-Am to drill a well on county property that slanted under the CEMEX plant. Marina sued in 2020 and has mostly been on the losing side in court decisions.
To settle it, the city has agreed to pay Cal-Am $5,643; $50,000 to the SVBGSA; and $220,000 to the County of Monterey. The city will have 45 days to pay. In return the city will get a meeting with the SVBGSA to discuss its concerns further, but with no commitment by either party for anything to occur as a result of it.
The lone public hearing on the City Council’s agenda concerns establishment of the Dunes-West Side Services CFD, the purpose of which is to generate special tax revenues to fund public services to the Shea Homes neighborhood. Once the council approves the idea, it will take a two-thirds approval by the landowners in the CFD to pass. If it doesn’t pass, the city will have to pay $1 million annually out of its General Fund to pay for the services. The City Council will definitely vote for approval. It’s unclear if two-thirds of the landowners will do the same.
The open session follows a closed session meeting at 5 p.m. wherein the council will discuss ongoing litigation.
Affordable Housing Opened
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Thursday to celebrate the opening of Terracina at the Dunes, a new affordable housing development located near 4th Avenue and Imjin Parkway. Property tours were given and the press was invited. Click here to read KSBW’s story about it.
The purpose of the 142-unit development is to house residents whose income is between 30 and 70 percent of the area median income, which is anywhere from $35,760 for a one-person household to $83,440 for a three-person household.
New on the Market
A number of homes entered the market in the past week. The most affordable would be 3137 Seacrest Ave. #1 for $650,000 and 2 Carmel Drive for $849,000. The most expensive to enter the market is 3038-888 Arroyo Drive for $1.6 million.
Go here to see a complete list of what’s on sale and give me a call at (831) 869-2484 and we can go take a look.
Police Reports
Oct. 13
• Two men, one 46 and the other 35, arrested for possession of narcotics on Beach Road.
• An arrest for simple battery on person on Seacrest Avenue.
• An arrest for battery of a spouse on Del Monte Boulevard.
Oct. 12
• A 45-year-old man charged with DUI on Reservation Road.
• A 21-year-old man charged with narcotics possession on Reservation Road at Seaside Circle.
Oct. 11
• A charge of battery on an elderly person at Tamara Court.
Oct. 10
• A 47-year-old man was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia at Reindollar and California avenues.
• A 53-year-old man was charged with the same offense, along with a probation violation, driving without a license and failing to have insurance while on Del Monte Boulevard at Beach Road.
Oct. 8
• A 35-year-old man was charged with conspiracy and possession of burglary tools and an apparent accomplice, a 24-year-old man, was charged with shoplifting, conspiracy, possession of burglary tools, and possession of narcotics. Both were on Beach Road.
Oct. 7
• A 34-year-old woman was charged with narcotics offenses, as well as a weapons law violation while on Reservation Road at Crescent Avenue.
• An arrest was made on Brown Court for possession of child pornography.
Oct. 6
• A 56-year-old man on Reservation Road was charged with false imprisonment, disorderly conduct, battery on a spouse and threatening with intent to terrorize.