8 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY july 18-24, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com news On Friday, July 5, Monterey County Parks staff noticed hundreds of small baitfish washing up dead on the shores of Lake San Antonio, which is both a county-owned reservoir and a recreation area managed by the parks department that allows for day use, boating and camping. Initially, officials thought it was due to the extreme heat—air temperatures exceeded 110 degrees in some places—but when bigger fish like bass started washing ashore in the subsequent days, park leaders took the precautionary measure to close the lake until the cause of the fish die-off could be determined. The initial hypothesis that the water was depleted of oxygen due to the heat didn’t bear out—after samples were taken, oxygen levels came back within the normal range. So now it’s a waiting game for more test results to come back, which unfortunately is at a time when demand to recreate at the lake is peaking. “It’s a bummer,” Parks Director Bryan Flores says. He adds the lake’s facility brought in about $114,000 in revenue over Memorial Day weekend for camping alone, and there have been several weekends since when the county’s revenue exceeded $100,000. “Reservations are full, we’re starting to make a comeback, we have some triathlons that want to come back next May, and the lake’s coming back,” Flores says. County parks officials are honoring annual passes for Lake San Antonio at Lake Nacimiento during the closure. Lab results won’t be back for some days—the timing is unknown—but Flores says the latest hypothesis is that the dieoff is related to some kind of algal bloom. But for now, it’s all just speculation. It’s Fishy The reasons behind a massive fish die-off at Lake San Antonio remain a mystery. By David Schmalz As the cliché goes: Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission, not that $558,600 in accrued fines is forgiveness, exactly. On July 11, the Monterey County Zoning Administrator convened a meeting to consider granting after-the-fact construction permits for a 5.8-acre coastal property in southern Big Sur at 54722 Highway 1, 10.5 miles north of Lucia. It even has a name—“Wind & Sea”—and since 2016, the county has received complaints that the property has been illegally operating as a short-term rental and event center; a subsequent investigation found that to be true, and despite the county’s order to desist from using the property for such purposes by Jan. 27, 2023, the illegal use continues to this day. The property has an active, slick website—windandseabigsur.com. But that’s not what the July 11 meeting was about. Rather, it was clearing up unpermitted construction of the property that includes converting the garage into a guesthouse, building an outdoor sauna, two copper hot tubs, a patio and a deck within 50 feet of a coastal bluff and within 100 feet of environmentally sensitive habitat. County planners recommended granting the after-the-fact permits, except there was one deck—there are two on the property—that planners recommended for removal because it’s on a slope in excess of 30 percent, which is not compliant with the Big Sur Coast Land Use Policy. (Though the project was subject to a review by South Coast Land Use Advisory Committee, county staff did not refer it for a review because slipouts on Highway 1 in 2023 and 2024 impaired access to the would-be meeting location.) Property owner Alex Sakakian attended the July 11 meeting virtually and asked Acting Zoning Administrator Mike Novo for a continuance so he could consult with contractors and attorneys about removing the deck and restoring 11,750 square feet of environmentally sensitive habitat in the one-year window proposed by county officials. Novo was unswayed—Novo said Sakakian had plenty of time to consult with experts since applying for after-the-fact permits four years ago, in 2020. Novo expressed concern about habitat restoration in particular. The property is home to seacliff buckwheat, habitat for federally endangered Smith’s blue butterfly. The project’s biologist estimated that 30 such plants were removed during the unpermitted improvements. “We take these things very seriously, as I think the owner has found out,” Novo said. “I know it’s frustrating for the public how long these things take,” he added. During the meeting, Sakakian said that the property continues to operate as a short-term rental and event venue—he says he has a longterm lease with an operator that runs it—and gave no indication those uses would stop anytime soon. “Visitors like Wind & Sea,” he implored, adding that if such uses are disallowed, some property owners won’t be able to pay their mortgages. Ramon Montano, the county’s code enforcement officer working on the matter of the short-term rental violation, could not be reached by the Weekly’s deadline. Novo, the Zoning Administrator, approved of the after-the-fact permits for the construction. The Big Sur property marketed as Wind & Sea received an after-the-fact permit for construction; an investigation into ongoing unpermitted rentals continues. Rent and Roll A coastal estate in Big Sur is granted after-the-fact permits, but it’s still being rented illegally. By David Schmalz Hundreds of dead fish have washed up on the shores of Lake San Antonio since July 5. The cause of the die-off remains unknown, but has resulted in a closure of the lake during a heat wave. “We take these things very seriously.” Daniel Dreifuss courtesy of County of Monterey
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