www.montereycountynow.com JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 5, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 11 It was perhaps fitting that Carmel’s community planning and building director, Brandon Swanson, missed the first part of the city Planning Commission’s meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 15. He’d been in a separate meeting with the fire chief and other officials talking about a local response to a potential event like the Los Angeles fires. (There will be a presentation to Carmel City Council on Monday, Feb. 3.) They’d been discussing the Community Wildfire Prevention Plan, completed in November 2023. The extensive plan covers the cities of Carmel, Monterey and Pacific Grove. (You can find the plan online at monterey.gov/ fire.) It covers emergency notifications and also actions that can help buildings survive a wildfire, such as landscaping, building materials and clearing defensible space around the perimeter. This plan exists primarily on paper, a broad guiding document. There are some tangible outcomes—for instance, in 2024, the Monterey Fire Department conducted 864 defensible space inspections. But a lot of what a plan like this accomplishes is education and awareness. How to translate that awareness into tangible action puts a finer point on the broad idea of fire resilience. Architects, city planners, homeowners and policymakers are asking: Can we design our way out of the problem? A partial answer was the subject of a lengthy conversation at the Carmel Planning Commission on Jan. 15, after Swanson arrived. It was the first in what will be a series of conversations about updating the small city’s design guidelines to reflect more contemporary needs for alternative roofing materials—in short, out with the flammable shake roof options made of wood shingles, in with composite and metal. Most members of the public who spoke to the commission urged them to embrace alternatives to the shake roofs that have, for roughly a century, been associated with looking very Carmel. Carmel is famous for embracing and strictly adhering to design standards that uphold what is generally described as “village character.” Sample shingles may be passed around the room for public inspection at a Planning Commission meeting— and opinions about those shingle styles and how they fit in, or not, is a hot topic. Architect Daniela de Sola (of the firm de Sola.Barnes) urged the Planning Commission to update ideas about acceptable roofing designs. “The problem is that guidelines are in direct conflict with the Wildland Urban Interface codes and standards,” she said. “I do agree that aesthetics play a vital role in creating a sense of place and identity. However, it’s essential we should ensure safety is never compromised in favor of visual appeal.” Not everyone in Carmel is ready to go for it. Neal Kruse, a member of the Carmel Preservation Association, spoke specifically about standing seam roofs, which have a decidedly industrial look, with visible seams along a uniform surface, rather than shingles layered on top of each other. “Are we so afraid of fire that we’re willing to lose the character of Carmel? I don’t think so,” he said. I disagree—it’s time to accept that the future is here. On Jan. 10, as the Los Angeles fires raged, NASA announced an analysis showing that in 2024, the Earth’s temperature was 2.65 degrees Fahrenheit above 1850-1900. “The long-term trend is clear,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. “We’re already seeing the impact in extreme rainfall, heat waves and increased flood risk, which are going to keep getting worse as long as emissions continue.” We are at a transformational point on our planet and in our local communities. And as commissioners see it, also for design. “We’re at a pivotal point right now—we could ultimately change the entire aesthetic of the community,” Commissioner Erin Allen said. “We can’t have every single roof metal here, it will change the look of our community.” Indeed it will change that look—and we must envision what those communities of the future will look like. Planning Commissioner Michael LePage seemed to see and embrace the reality. “We have to acknowledge we’re up against a situation that’s going to change that architectural character of our residential community,” he said. “We’ve got to make a change.” Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com. Pam Marino contributed to this report. Safety First Carmel wrestles with what a fire-safe community looks like. By Sara Rubin MONEY PROBLEM…Despite its age making it a classic, no auction house is interested in Squid’s jalopy. But when none other than Jerry Seinfeld consigned a car from his collection to Mecum Auctions, the excitement was palpable. Squid was there when Mecum unveiled the vehicle in Monterey during Car Week in 2024 and understood the interest. The car in question was the 1969 Porsche 917K owned and driven by Steve McQueen in the film Le Mans. Never had a Porsche of this magnitude been on the auction block, although another used in the film sold for more than $14 million. Bruce Canepa, vice president of Friends of Laguna Seca, pegged its value at $25 million. So Squid could not help being transfixed in front of the TV on Saturday, Jan. 18. Following months of hype and in front of a crowd of cell phone cameras at Kissimmee, Florida, bidding for the star car opened at $15 million and topped out right on Canepa’s mark, $25 million. Only it didn’t sell—it seems the seller was expecting a higher figure. To a chorus of disbelief, Mecum auctioneer Jimmy Landis said, “Don’t hate me, I’m going to close the bid.” There are rumors that it was all a stunt, or that Seinfeld had already sold the car to Dana Mecum. But Squid thinks the auction served a purpose. Now we know what the car is not worth. DISS ORDER…Squid wasn’t surprised when President Donald Trump, after getting sworn into office for the second time Jan. 20, signed a slew of executive orders that rewarded his supporters—he pardoned all the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, including violent offenders who assaulted police officers—and punished his political enemies. Trump 2.0, as he’s made clear both in his campaign and first week-plus back in office, provides the blueprint for the spoils system that will define his second term. And as for punishing his political enemies, Trump issued an executive order revoking the security clearances of 51 former national security officials who signed in a letter in the run-up to the 2020 election that argued the emails recovered from a laptop once owned by Hunter Biden bore “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” Among the signatories of that letter, and whose name was included in Trump’s order, is Leon Panetta of Carmel Valley who has held a number of prestigious positions in Washington over his storied career, and retired as Secretary of Defense in 2014. Squid wondered: Did Panetta even still have a security clearance? Squid’s colleague called up the Panetta Institute to ask, and confirmed that he hasn’t had a security clearance since he retired over a decade ago. But hey, at least the price of eggs is going…up. THE LOCAL SPIN SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “We should ensure safety is never compromised.” SEND SQUID A TIP: squid@montereycountynow.com
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