12 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY april 27-may 3, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com Within Carmel’s one-squaremile city, volunteers with the nonprofit group Carmel Cares picked up 70 pounds of cigarette butts— representing approximately 250,000 cigarettes—in 2022 alone. That staggering number is just a drop in the bucket nationally; the Keep America Beautiful organization estimates that there were around 9.7 billion butts picked up daily across the U.S. in 2020. Carmel Cares founder Dale Byrne and fellow volunteers were already on cigarette butt patrol when Byrne learned of KAB and its Cigarette Litter Prevention Program and grants available to support local efforts. About a year ago, Carmel Cares applied to become a KAB affiliate. It also applied for and received a $2,500 grant to fight cigarette litter and raise public awareness about the problem. Butts, which are mostly plastic, pose a serious threat to the environment, leaching nicotine, pesticide residues and metals into water runoff, as well as dumping microplastics into the ocean, hazardous to marine life. In dog-friendly Carmel there’s another reason to be concerned because the butts are toxic to canines, Byrne says. In accepting the grant, Carmel Cares leaders agreed to complete a survey of how many butts are collected and where the hot spots’ are. Even before the group became a KAB affiliate they had already discovered that many restaurant and hospitality workers smoke, leading to concentrated areas of litter near eateries and hotels. They purchased butt receptacles and Byrne did some friendly campaigning to change employees’ behavior. “We tend to be a pretty creative group, and also a pretty common-sense kind of group,” he says. KAB gave Carmel Cares free materials to distribute to the public, including cigarette trays that fit in vehicle cup holders (since ashtrays are no longer standard in late models) and small, sealable and nonflammable bags that act as portable ashtrays. Another part of the program is recycling recovered butts through a Colorado-based company called TerraCycle that provides free shipping to participating affiliates like Carmel Cares. In addition to continuing to pick up and recycle cigarette waste and raising public awareness, the group will be reviewing the city’s cigarette ordinances to see if they can be tightened to discourage cigarette smoking and disposal—possibly even banning smoking in public. Pacific Grove passed such an ordinance in 2020. Carmel Valley residents objecting to short-term vacation rentals in their community will have to wait longer for a resolution, after the Monterey County Board of Supervisors rejected an interim ordinance that would have temporarily restricted permits for such rentals in Carmel Valley and unincorporated areas of the Monterey Peninsula. On Tuesday, April 25, the board voted 5-0 in favor of a recommendation by the county’s Housing and Community Development Department, which acknowledged that shortterm rentals are “a significant public policy issue” in the coastal District 5 area and that permits for them should be referred to the county Planning Commission for review. But that falls short of the temporary permit restriction proposed for consideration by District 5 Supervisor Mary Adams, whose Carmel Valley constituents flocked to the board’s chambers to voice their views during the meeting. While some of the two dozen-plus speakers expressed opposition to the ordinance and its potential impact on the local tourism-reliant economy, the majority voiced support for a permit ban—citing the disruption of traffic and noise on the remote residential community, as well as how short-term rentals can eat into the local housing market. With the ordinance’s rejection, the onus now moves to a new, permanent short-term rental ordinance that HCD hopes to bring before the Board of Supervisors by the end of the year. One outstanding issue is non-permitted rentals; according to HCD, there are only 29 permitted short-term rentals in unincorporated Monterey County, yet some 600 are advertised on Airbnb and similar sites. Adams acknowledged that it had become clear in recent weeks that she did not have the four votes needed to pass the proposed interim ordinance, and bemoaned the board’s inability to find a solution to a long-running issue in her district, describing it as “the biggest failure of my entire career.” No Butts Carmel volunteers join a national effort to clean up cigarette waste. By Pam Marino news Helping Hands Rotary District 5230 is preparing to distribute relief supplies to residents of Pajaro. They expect about 500 mattresses and up to 96 pallets of home goods. Volunteers are needed to help unload, sort and store the items. Four-hour slots are available and organizers are seeking about 50 volunteers for each day. Trucks unload 8am Thursday April, 27; sorting starts at 8am Friday, April 28. Hilltop Warehouse, 3060 Hilltop Road, Moss Landing. Free. (559) 799-0533, rotary5230.org. Lasting Memorial The District Attorney’s Office honors people who have been lost to crime through a Victims’ Dedication Ceremony each year. Families and friends have the opportunity to share their loved one’s names in an intimate setting with others who understand their stories. Noon Friday, April 28. Salinas Courthouse courtyard, 142 W. Alisal St., Salinas. Free. 755-5070, co.monterey.ca.us. Pocket Parks Earth Day has passed, but volunteers with the Friends of Seaside Parks Association are still working on neighborhood parks each week to keep them clean. Come make a difference in your community and help with weeding, mulching, planting and picking up trash. Children and pets are welcome. FOSPA meets 10am-noon every Saturday, rotating through parks. April 29 at Lincoln Cunningham Park (at San Pablo, Lincoln and Yerba Buena) and May 6 at Havana Soliz Park (Havana Street and Lincoln Street), Seaside. Free. friendsofseasideparks.org. Road To Recovery Community Human Services is hosting three more flag memorial ceremonies with the next one slated for Soledad, then in Seaside and Salinas in the following weeks. More than 1,800 flags will be on display, a speaker who has experienced the recovery process will share their story, and recovery practitioners will be on-site. Officials will distribute 200 Narcan kits at each location. 1pm Saturday, April 29. Veteran’s Memorial Park, Gabilan Drive, Soledad. Free. chservices.org. Run For It The Big Sur International Marathon is here, celebrating its 36th year of bringing thousands together for a run along scenic Highway 1. This bucket list course features redwood trees and a coastal view of the ocean and mountains. 6:45am Sunday, April 30. Big Sur Station, 47555 Highway 1, Big Sur. Registration for runners is closed. 6256226, bigsurmarathon.org. Stay Awhile Supervisors shoot down a temporary ban on short-term rental permits in Carmel Valley. By Rey Mashayekhi Carmel Cares volunteer Janice Bradner was responsible for collecting around 70 pounds of cigarette butts in the village in 2022. She also coordinates recycling the butts. e-mail: publiccitizen@mcweekly.com TOOLBOX Cigarette butts, which are mostly plastic, pose a serious threat. Daniel Dreifuss
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