8 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY july 4-10, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com news On June 26, Josh Metz, executive director of Monterey Bay DART (Drone Automation & Robotics Technology), made a pitch to the board of the Transportation Agency for Monterey County: Please be the lead agency in our effort to get federal grant money to help us use drones in times of emergency or disaster. The idea is this: Unmanned drones, much bigger than the hobbyist’s variety, fly over rural parts of the county and assess the conditions of county or private roads. Then, that information is put into a county database and assimilated by decision makers, who then make decisions based on what we know to be true from the sky. The TAMC board was thrilled by the idea—the phrase “cutting edge” came up—and unanimously agreed to be the public agency sponsor for MBDART’s grant application (DART is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit). The grant application is for just under $2 million, about half of which would go toward the infrastructure side of drone operations, while the other half would go toward administering the program. A key partner in the program is University of Alaska Fairbanks, which hosted one of the original federal drone testing sites more than a decade ago, and which operates the Pan-Pacific Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Test Range Complex. DART’s proposal is an admission that our emergency responsiveness can improve, and must. Climate change-induced disasters are wreaking havoc on our infrastructure, and unless we want to accept major disruptions to our ability to travel on rural roads, we must adapt accordingly—it’s about seeing the problems in real time, and reacting. Remote Work The push is on to harness drones to help monitor disaster-damaged roads. By David Schmalz The owner of the destroyed Big Sur Bakery is suing his landlord, alleging that his lease was wrongly terminated following a May fire. Property owner Hillary Lipman called the lawsuit a “complete fabrication full of spurious allegations,” and he intends to file a countersuit. On the afternoon of May 3, the oven in the Big Sur Bakery—which was closed due to the Highway 1 shutdown—caught fire, and the flames quickly spread throughout the building. The other businesses on the property—Big Sur Shell station, Mother Botanical, Loma Art Studio and Gallery, and the event space Loma Vista Gardens—were spared, although Lipman says the fire destroyed a nearby storage building, burned trees and an electrical meter serving the property and melted a waterline. Bakery owner Michael Gilson filed the lawsuit on June 20 against Lipman and his son, Blaise, who manages Loma Vista Gardens. According to the suit, the lease, which was first signed in 2001 and has been updated multiple times over the years, states that a fire or other such destruction is not a cause for terminating the agreement. The suit states that Gilson received word from Lipman on June 7 that the lease was terminated on May 3 “as a result of the destruction of the premises.” The suit goes on to claim that the Lipmans have “consistently and intentionally taken steps to disrupt” the business in recent years, including removing a sign that was visible on Highway 1. “I am not afraid of competing businesses, and I have a long record of supporting and welcoming all businesses that have opened in Big Sur over the decades,” Gilson says. “Unfortunately, however, my landlord, over the years, and much more so recently, has taken actions which are designed to try to shutter [Big Sur Bakery].” Gilson adds that the support for the bakery following the fire has been “completely overwhelming,” and the plan is to rebuild and reopen it as soon as possible. Lipman says the building will be rebuilt, but Big Sur Bakery will not be a part of it. Each side is accusing the other of illegal activity on the property— Gilson’s suit states that Lipman has allowed for events on the property in violation of Monterey County code, while Blaise Lipman says Big Sur Bakery was operating with “unpermitted building additions” that were made without the property owners’ consent. “This lawsuit is a transparent and feeble attempt to distract from Mike Gilson’s gross negligence and illegal activities that resulted in a devastating fire that destroyed our historic family property,” he says. “Before our family has had time to sift through the ashes of what he destroyed, he is filing lawsuits with frivolous and baseless accusations unrelated to the fire, in a last-ditch effort to preempt the substantive claims we have no choice but to pursue against him legally.” A case management conference in court is scheduled for Oct. 22. The restaurant and bakery occupied a historic building that previously served as a hospitality center in Big Sur. Loma Vista property owner Hillary Lipman says he was “shocked” to hear of the lawsuit filed by a tenant, Big Sur Bakery owner Michael Gilson. Into the Oven Big Sur Bakery’s owner and landlord prepare for court battle after fire ravages business. By Erik Chalhoub If awarded, DART could use the grant for drones to monitor hard-to-reach places. In supporting the application, TAMC asked that funds be used for monitoring county roads and private roads. “Before our family has had time to sift through the ashes, he is filing lawsuits.” sara rubin Airspace Integration
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