A Superior Court judge on June 27 denied a temporary restraining order that would have halted a construction project currently underway in Monterey County, which would add three residential buildings with 45 units for 360 seasonal agricultural workers.
Residents of the small rural neighborhood in Pajaro that abut the site—who live on Susan and Gonda streets—were hoping the restraining order would halt work as a lawsuit filed on Jan. 13 to stop the project entirely goes through the system.
Neighbors’ concerns
Christine Shaw, who lives on Susan Street, says the project would ruin the neighborhood, adding untenable levels of traffic and altering the community where children currently can ride their bikes in the streets. Already, she says, construction traffic on the narrow Susan Street—the only way in and out of the site—is making life difficult.
“I don’t feel safe with (my daughter) doing that anymore with the increase in traffic, and it’s not even built yet,” Shaw said.
Shaw and her neighbors also worry that the area is not equipped for the additional water use that will come from the development, as well as the parking and the sewage system.
She also says that the limited number of Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies that patrol the area could put her neighborhood in jeopardy if an emergency occurs, and when an evacuation is necessary if flooding occurs as it did in March when the adjacent levee breached.
“Suddenly the neighborhood is going to change massively,” she said.
The lawsuit
The lawsuit alleges that the county erred in not requiring a thorough environmental review for the project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), instead awarding a mitigated negative declaration. Also at issue is whether the county should have granted a variance that allows larger ground cover in an area zoned for agriculture use.
A judge on Friday will decide whether the lawsuit will move forward after the developer filed a demurrer, saying the neighbors filed their CEQA objections one day too late. The judge will also hear arguments on the merits of the case.
Jason Retterer, an attorney for Rio Vista Group, said that the
property owners hired several experts in response to neighbors’ concerns, which has included five different analyses of the potential traffic impacts.
“Every time the neighbors raised an issue, they did the right thing,” he said. “Assuming we don’t prevail on Friday and we have to fight over the merits of the claims, we feel pretty confident that a judge is going to look at the record and see that the county did a very good job looking at these issues.”
Babak Naficy, who is representing the neighbors group, called Pajaro Community Matters, said he expects the case to move forward.
“I hope and expect it will not be dismissed,” he said.
But even if the case is allowed to continue, Naficy says it will likely not be resolved until next year, when the developers hope to have the project completed.
Supervisors overturned planning commission recommendation
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors in December approved the project 3-1. Supervisor John Phillips—whose seat is now filled by Glenn Church—recused himself because his chief of staff had been involved with the project.
The Supervisors’ approval came despite the fact that the county’s Planning Commission denied it in a 6-1 vote.
“We were successful at the planning commission level, which I think speaks volumes, because they’ve never voted one of these down,” Shaw said.
The subsequent approval after an hours-long supervisors’ meeting, she said, was a “completely frustrating experience.”
“We’re being steamrolled by the developers,” she said.
Co-owner touts community benefits
The project, located at 51, 53, 55 and 57 Susan Street, originally proposed four buildings that would have housed a total of 480 employees. That number was reduced after neighbors expressed their concerns and the Planning Commission rejected it, says Cesar Padilla, part of Rio Vista, LLC, the group that owns the property. Padilla also owns Castroville Tire.
“If there is anything we can possibly do to come to a more reasonable agreement with them, it’s always been our intention to be a good neighbor,” Padilla said.
He adds that the project—named Rio Vista 3—is intended to fill a desperate need in the community for workforce housing, and to help the county meet its state requirements. He also says it frees up scarce housing for the community.
“This is exactly what we’re supposed to do,” he said. “Finding farm/labor housing is a constant struggle. Us investors shouldn’t be looking anywhere else, but to invest our money back into our community.”
The change to the original plans also lessens the footprint for the project, from covering 27% of the site to 20%. The County of Monterey had already granted a variance to allow the developer to go over the 5% maximum allowed for agriculturally-zoned areas.
In addition, developers say the smaller project will use less water and have a smaller impact on traffic, and give a 200-foot buffer from agricultural crops.
Monterey County Housing and Community Development Director Craig Spencer told the Supervisor at the December meeting that the revisions include raising the project above flood levels from the adjacent Pajaro River. They also add drainage improvements for the area.
Too bad they don’t build housing for teachers, nurses etc. They do build housing for temp farm workers who probably aren’t even here legally. Way to go!