By Peter Nichols
pnichols@tellingthetruth.com
CARMEL _ Convinced that the Memo of Understanding negotiated by Assemblyman Fred Keeley would severely limit the development possibilities in the coastal zone west of Watsonville, the California Coastal Commission voted 9-1 to allow the construction of a new high school at Harkins Slough and Lee Roads.
Environmentalists and citizens concerned about potential safety issues not previously addressed also won concessions from the ten member body.
The commission accepted the staff recommendations to prevent development of Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas located at the east and west boundary of the property and to have the site reevaluated for airport safety and noise concerns.
Citing the historic nature of the MOU that binds the city and county to new annexation and development restrictions _ and the willingness of those parties to abide by it _ the commissioners clearly indicated the school had no chance without it.
``Assemblyman Keeley,'' said Commissioner Dave Potter, a Monterey County Supervisor, ``you are the reason we're here today.''
The lone no vote on the panel belonged to Paula Daniels, a Los Angeles attorney who questioned the district's lack of site options, the airport safety concerns and the potential for geological hazards at the site. Prior to the final vote, she moved for a continuance but that motion died without a second.
Peter Douglas, Commission Executive Director said the agreement was ``unprecedented and would concentrate development at the site and establish a stable urban-rural boundary.''
A standing-room-only crowd of approximately 250 mostly Watsonville area residents filled the Carmel Valley Inn meeting room. Many wore large yellow ``Third high school _ Yes'' buttons and waved their hands in the air quietly to signify their approval of comments addressed to the commissioners.
The overcrowding of schools throughout the Pajaro Valley Unified School District and the importance of education in the predominantly Latino community was a theme repeated by supporters of the city's amendments.
Laura Dow, a Rio Del Mar Elementary School fifth grader said the commissioners should be mindful of the education needs of the younger generation, ``because we'll be taking care of you someday.''
The approximately six hour hearing was a condensed version of the seven year debate that has gone on since the district selected the site for a high school. The commissioners heard comments from over 75 different individuals.
City and district officials were clearly elated at the outcome though their application was denied as submitted. Staff recommended modifications placed restrictions on the project and numerous hurdles remain before any ground breaking will take place (see Hurdles Remain).
A last minute compromise on the development foot print the commission would allow was reached that reduced agriculture buffers along the northern half of the western boundary and along Harkins Slough Rd. That request made by Development Director John Doughty increased the 42 acre site recommended in the original staff report to approximately 50 acres.
The district which had initiated eminent domain proceedings to acquire approximately half of the 130 acre site, will now have to purchase the entire parcel as the development foot print is no longer concentrated near Harkins Slough Rd.
That decision could facilitate negotiations with Ralph and Kathleen Edwards who have argued through their attorney that the district's original plan would leave them with useless property. Acquiring the entire parcel however creates the need for additional EIR documentation.
Language suggested by the city that might eliminate the necessity for a bridge where Harkins Slough Rd. crosses Struve Slough was rejected by staff and the commissioners. That structure would be required in order to widen Harkins Slough Rd. leading to the school. Though no funding source has been identified, the cost of a bridge there was estimated by the city to be $4 million.
Assemblyman Keeley previously indicated if the district or the Department of Education were unable, or unwilling, to pay for a bridge's construction, he would put his efforts into securing the necessary funding.
John Casey, PVUSD Superintendent expressed concern that design changes associated with the school's altered development area would send the project back to the Department of State Architect and could seriously delay construction. He added that desperately needed hardship funding previously promised by the state could dry up.
Following the decisive vote, Casey said the next step would be to secure the approval of the Department of Education and the Department of Transportation Aeronautical Program who will evaluate the new site plan for airport safety and noise concerns.
Though the commissioner's action represented a compromise between competing interests, some opposed to the site's use as a school felt that compromise unjustified.
Sandra NIchols, representing the Committee for Safe and Sane Schools said, ``You can't teach students to treasure their environment In a school the very construction of which requires a rewrite of our coastal protection regulations.''
The core of the commissioner's decision to allow the project to move forward was the agreement facilitated by Keeley, and hammered out over several months. Those negotiations _ conducted in private _ originally included site supporters and environmentalists and later involved the Coastal Commission staff and the local agencies who became parties to the MOU.
That understanding, which was made a part of the modifications permitting the
LCP change, provides several redundant mechanisms to restrict actions by the
city or the county to develop agriculture lands west of Watsonville.