8 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY APRIL 17-23, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com NEWS For over a decade, sewer rates for Salinas residents have remained the same: $5.45 per month since 2012. This fiscal year, the city is facing a funding shortfall. “Necessary infrastructure repairs and upgrades have not been financially possible,” Finance DTA, a consulting firm, reported in a study. For the next decade, DTA calculated, the city will need $114.8 million to maintain the current level of service it provides. David Jacobs, director of public works, says part of the system is very old. “Most of the sewer lift stations in the city were built in the ’60s and we have maintained them, but they’re getting to end of life,” Jacobs says. Salinas operates its own sanitary sewer collection system covering 12,430 acres, then sends the wastewater to Monterey One Water to be treated. (M1W is the agency that bills residents for both services, so they would see an increase reflected on their M1W bills.) The proposed rates would triple, then would increase by 2 percent every fiscal year over the next decade. A single-family home, for example, would pay $16.35/month as early as July instead of $5.45/ month today, then would pay $19.54/month by 2035. The council is set to vote on the proposed sewer rates on Tuesday, April 22. If approved, it would trigger steps required by Proposition 218, starting with sending informational notices to property owners, setting a hearing date and a protest process, giving people a chance to override the approved increases with 50 percent opposition. Since increases would impact those living on a fixed income, the city is exploring implementing a subsidy program. Increased rates could take effect July 1. Drain Pipe Salinas City Council prepares to vote on sewer rate increases, potentially tripling rates. By Celia Jiménez After about six years and multiple delays in attempting to get a 13,000-square-feet multi-use project built near 7th Avenue and Dolores Street in Carmel, Monacobased developer Patrice Pastor finally cleared a major hurdle on April 9: a 4-0 approval of the project by the Carmel Planning Commission. For some projects that might be all that’s needed to move forward. For a project as controversial as Pastor’s, it’s likely it will face an appeal, delaying the project even further. While there was support from residents and business owners for the project during the meeting, others objected to its size, asking commissioners to scale it back and increase the setback from a neighboring building, among other changes. “Simply put, as proposed it’s too big for our little village, especially in the service commercial zone,” said Ian Martin, a former planning commissioner, who argued the project should be reduced in size by at least 3,000 square feet. Parking was also at issue during the meeting, since the project will eliminate a parking lot used by the 7th & Dolores restaurant and an annex building next door that now serves as a wine bar. The JB Pastor project, with 5,100 square feet of retail downstairs and eight apartments upstairs, proposed 12 spaces, 10 with a shared parking lift system. Under the code such a project would require at least 17.6 spaces. The city’s in-lieu parking program allows for paying a fee if a developer has “diligently” attempted to add parking but cannot—Esperanza Carmel, Pastor’s company, is making that claim and is willing to pay over $54,000 per space to cover 5.6 spaces. At least two of the commissioners expressed concerns that Esperanza had not fully explored underground parking The four planning commissioners present were, as Chair Michael LePage put it, “all over the map” in their opinions. (Commissioner Erin Allen was absent.) It appeared the project could be headed for defeat, until LePage made the case that the developer had complied with all the commission’s previous direction and suggested a few minor changes to improve privacy for a neighbor. “I am genuinely pleased with the outcome, despite the somewhat subjective and not entirely rational interventions throughout the process,” Pastor says in a written statement. He says that process “is the system we must work with, accept and continue moving forward.” Opponents have until April 23 to file an appeal. Meanwhile, Esperanza’s other project, Ulrika Plaza at Dolores and 5th Avenue—colloquially referred to as “The Pit,” because the previous structures were demolished by the last owner and have sat empty since Pastor bought the property several years ago—is progressing through the permitting process, according to Anna Ginette, the City’s community planning and building director. She says Esperanza has submitted applications for a building permit, demolition permit and construction and have been in the plan check phase since February. Once plan check is complete, the next step would be to apply for a temporary encroachment permit, since there’s not enough room for construction equipment on site. That permit would have to be approved by the City Council. The JB Pastor Building, seen in a digital rendition above, is proposed to replace a smaller existing building on Dolores Street in Carmel, shown in the inset photo. One Step Forward Developer Patrice Pastor gets approval for one of his Carmel projects—for the moment. By Pam Marino The City of Salinas’ aging sewer system includes 292 miles of gravity pipes and 11 lift stations. As of a 2023 study, the system was moving 10.46 million gallons of wastewater per day. “It’s too big for our little village.” COURTESY CITY OF CARMEL COURTESY CITY OF SALINAS DANIEL DREIFUSS
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