www.montereycountyweekly.com august 10-16, 2023 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 21 T.A. Work, a Scottish immigrant who bought a large tract of land—from what is now Seaside to Marina—from a fellow Scottish immigrant named David Jacks, a cunning real estate magnate who at one point during the late 19th century owned almost the entire Monterey Peninsula. Some of the language in the Del Rey Woods deed restriction—dated April 22, 1941—while not unusual at the time, remains jarring: “No Mongolian, Hindus, Malays, Negroes, or Filipinos (sic) shall use or occupy any building on any lot, except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of either of the aforesaid races employed by an owner or tenant.” The naked racism aside, it’s interesting that Latinos were not included in that deed restriction—perhaps because they owned the land before Scotsmen did. That deed restriction was binding until Jan. 1, 1965. (Coincidentally, on July 2, 1964—just six months before that date—Congress passed the historic Civil Rights Act.) The deed language was also quite restrictive in other ways. “No building shall be erected on any residential lot or plot nearer than 20 feet to the front lot line, and on corner lots not nearer than 10 feet to any side of street line.” Front yards were required, by law. Just under a decade after the subdivision was formed, there was talk of Del Rey Woods annexing to the City of Monterey. Nearly 200 residents showed up to a meeting at the Monterey City Council chambers to discuss the matter—including Sam DeMello, who owned a nursery in Seaside and who would later become Del Rey Oaks’ mayor—and spearhead the effort to incorporate. A March 21, 1951 article in the Monterey Peninsula Herald paraphrases what DeMello said at the meeting: “Nobody should be frightened by the ‘bogey man’ of Seaside annexing to Monterey. He added that he feels Monterey has been guilty of bad government in the past (he pointed to the El Estero Park development), and asked what had ever been done for outlying Monterey areas.” And so the drama began. Meetings were held that spring among Del Rey Woods residents to decide whether to stay unincorporated or annex to Monterey or Seaside— which was not yet incorporated, but leaders of its incorporation effort had included Del Rey Woods in their initial plans. In June of 1951, the Monterey City Council granted Del Rey Woods residents permission to circulate a petition to annex to Monterey, which would require signatures of 25 percent of the subdivision’s property owners to qualify for the ballot. A politically charged energy suddenly suffused the small city—something it has continued to be known for, 70-plus years later—because even though it qualified for the ballot (the election was set for Jan. 8), there was an opportunity for opponents to collect protest signatures. If they got signatures from just over 50 percent of the area’s property owners, they could scuttle it before the election. A “protest” meeting was held at Monterey City Hall on Nov. 20, 1951. In advance of that meeting, the Herald published a story Nov. 15 that probably turned up the temperature even more. As those for and against annexing into Monterey were running their campaigns, the Herald reported that both sides were “working like beavers to get the necessary signatures and the pros out to prevent achievement of that goal. “Secrecy surrounds much of the goings on with each side unwilling to disclose what progress has been made. Rumors of midnight meetings, covert “ Rumors of midnight meetings, covert house-to-house visits and skullduggery of various types are running rife.” Photos by Daniel Dreifuss
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