Corral de Tierra Shopping Center / Phelps Project

Description: The proposed project consists of the subdivision of the two existing lots into seven parcels and the development of an approximately 126,523 square foot shopping village with 10 retail buildings, a grocery store, one office building and 508 parking spaces. The proposal includes a rezoning of the property to remove the B-8 Overlay District from the site's zoning designation.

There are two parts to the Draft Environmental Impact Report, dated May 2010. Volume 1 (54MB) and Volume 2 (62 MB)

The primary issues with the proposal are visual impacts, traffic, water, and sewage. All are serious issues.

• Visual Impacts - The images at the top of the page show the area (click on each one to enlarge). The orange scaffolding represents the building faces, so you can visualize the impact. Highway 68 is designated part of the state scenic highway system . Corral de Tierra has a County Scenic Road designation. The developers are asking to build a 50-foot signature tower and 2 35-foot towers to increase visibility. At the Planning Commission site visit, it was stated that there would be landscaping between Corral de Tierra Road and the buildings, but if you visit the site, you can see there isn't space for anything much besides a row of parking and a lane to drive through. In addition the project would add tremendously to the light pollution in the area.

• Traffic - Highway 68 is already at the "F" Level of Service (LOS) grade during peak hours. If you drive, you already knew that, but see a table of roads in Monterey County from a powerpoint from the Board of Supervisors General Plan Study Session dated April 26, 2005.

  The developer claims that 7 trips per household will be saved per week by building the shopping center. On average, that's one per day. Do you or someone in your household make a special trip to shop in Salinas or Monterey each day? Otherwise those numbers just don't make sense. The developer also says he wants to make the shopping center a "destination" for other shoppers, which will bring increased traffic to an already congested road. Additionally, there will be a number of trips each day by workers.

  The project, if built, will pay fees to the Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC). These fees will be earmarked for improvements, but clearly not enough fees are paid by developers to fix the traffic problems.

  Now, for the specific problems, there will be 3 entrances to the shopping center from Corral de Tierra Road, and none directly in or out of Hwy 68. Imagine traffic backed up Corral de Tierra Rd in addition to being backed up on Hwy 68. Neighbors are concerned about noise, and large trucks going in and out of the shopping center.

• Water - The Toro Groundwater Basin is in overdraft. According to a 2007 County hydrology study conducted by Geosyntec, (see the Executive Summary here) the El Toro Groundwater table has been dropping an average of 1.8 feet per year since 1999. Wells are going dry in places, and many folks have had to drill deeper in recent years.

  The developer claims that the project would add 4.4 acre-feet of water per year! How? They are proposing a storm water retention/percolation system which would capture runoff from the site and from the adjacent service station and hillside, which would gather 10.66 acre-feet per year. The average rainfall in the area is approximately 15 inches per year, but can be as low as 10-12 inches per year in a low-rain year, or less in a drought. So, almost every drop of rain that falls would need to be captured, filtered, and injected into the groundwater in order to reach those numbers. It is not mentioned how they will do that or if other similar projects have had any documented success in doing a similar thing in California. On the consumption side, they would use LEED Silver water fixtures which reduce water use, so they are estimating usage at 5.32 acre-feet of water per year.

• Sewage - Sewage is already over capacity and there is no plan to expand the sewer system.

• Loss of Trees: This magnificent perfectly symmetric specimen of an old oak pictured below (left) is slated to be cut down, as well as two sycamore trees (below right) and several other oaks. Patio trees will be planted around the village to "replace" them.

Please visit the Developer's website for a description of how the project will produce additional water, reduce traffic, and "preserve the site's natural setting".

Documents and Letters:

• Monterey County Standard Subdivision Report and Recommendation - July 29, 2010

• Comments on the DEIR to Senior Planner Luis Osorio from James Eagle - August 31, 2010

Recent News Links:

• Peter Andresen: The men with the axes: The perverse subsidy of Monterey County real estateThe Californian - October 2, 2010

• Pastures of Discontent - The Monterey County Weekly - September 16, 2010

• Monterey County planners eye Corral de Tierra commercial site - The Californian August 19, 2010

• Guest Commentary by Beverly Bean - The Monterey County Herald August 13, 2010

• Divided Toro LUAC recommends approval of Corral de Tierra shopping center - Off 68 August 6, 2010