www.montereycountynow.com JULY 30-AUGUST 5, 2026 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 15 The Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail is a true gem of a bicycle path, 18 miles of pavement with only moderate hills, epic scenery and useful commuter connectivity between Castroville and Pacific Grove. I ride on it regularly for utility, and also for recreation. There’s a funky gap in the middle, which regular users of the trail know. Through Sand City, it takes a jog west, behind the shopping centers, requiring travelers to get off the car-free path, meaning there is interaction with vehicle traffic before hopping back on the trail. I’ve never found this detour to be terrible, once you know how to navigate it. But it is a black mark on an otherwise excellent bike path, and for three years, Sand City officials have been hyped about a plan to change it. Where today there is a milelong segment of old railroad track, lined with weeds and litter, they envision a bike path connecting to Monterey at the south (across Canyon Del Rey Boulevard) and to Sand City’s northern border with Seaside (at Playa Avenue, the end of MST’s SURF! Busway project, now under construction). It will be lined with landscaping, benches and bike repair stations. “The project goals are to enhance regional trail connectivity while promoting alternative and sustainable transportation options such as walking and cycling,” according to a request for proposals issued in May, seeking a contractor to take it from its current 30-percent design status to 100-percent. City officials estimate it would cost $12 million, and that transportation grants could cover much of it. Sand City is budgeting annual expenses of about $250,000 to cover an additional public works employee for maintenance and a police officer for safety. “The project has garnered strong regional support from local jurisdictions, public officials and community organizations including the cities of Marina, Del Rey Oaks, Pacific Grove, Seaside, and Monterey, CSUMB, MPUSD, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, [State] Sen. John Laird, Congressman Jimmy Panetta, [the Transportation Agency for Monterey County] and Monterey-Salinas Transit,” according to the RFP. All of that would seem to point to a path forward. Cooperation with TAMC is especially critical as the agency owns the 100-foot right-of-way where the trail would be built. When it acquired that land from Union Pacific, TAMC inherited leases to car dealers who park vehicles there long-term—replacing vehicle storage with a bike path is a huge boon for active transportation, even if it means reduced revenue to TAMC. Even better news for Sand City is that TAMC policy is not to charge rent for use of its property for transportation purposes. So Sand City Planning Manager Nick McIlroy says he expected that TAMC would agree to lease the land to the city for…nothing. But TAMC’s proposal is for fair market value, something Sand City staff estimate would be roughly $624,000 per year. “It’s more than we can afford as a small city. We are hoping to find a middle ground and a way to make this work,” McIlroy says. City Manager Vibeke Norgaard wrote a letter to TAMC Executive Director Todd Muck on June 30 arguing against charging fair market rent: “This project provides a public benefit for residents of the region, and should not be used to provide a windfall financial transaction to TAMC from a fellow public agency.” Muck says the agency has done an appraisal (that number is not yet public). But the bigger issue is about what’s included in the project and what’s not. Muck says the land where the actual bike trail would go would indeed be rent-free, but proposed parking would be subject to fair market rent. Sand City’s proposal calls for five lots, totaling 110 parking spaces, along the trail. “We don’t normally put parking in with bicycle facilities,” Muck says. (TAMC’s latest markup of the draft agreement shows a strikethrough name change for the Multi-Use Trail and Parking Project.”) McIlroy hopes to present on the project to the TAMC board on Aug. 26, which requires buyin from the executive committee, which builds agendas, on Aug. 5. I don’t think Sand City needs to persuade TAMC about the merits of a bike path, but they may discover that there is no free parking. Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com. Wheels Off Sand City’s dream of a bike path hits problems with parking and pricing. By Sara Rubin SHIT STORM…Thanks to Squid’s preference for shrimp-flavored snacks, Squid hasn’t been anywhere near the pathogen that has sickened thousands of Americans with cyclosporiasis (although Squid has been unable to stay away from the phrase “explosive diarrhea” in the news every day). Salinas-based Taylor Farms has been in the spotlight—and not in a good way—ever since the FDA, which is responsible for investigating foodborne illnesses, linked the company to the outbreak via contaminated lettuce grown in central Mexico. The lawsuits have already started, even without clarity as to what went wrong. Law firm Ron Simon & Associates first filed suit in Ohio against Taylor Farms and Taco Bell on July 17, and says it already represents hundreds of clients. “If a stubborn stomach illness has kept you close to a bathroom for days or weeks, you’re not imagining how serious it feels,” they wrote in a statement. Squid would rather not imagine that, thank you very much. But in Taylor Farms’ terrible, horrible, no-good summer, just when Squid thought it couldn’t get any worse—except, of course, see symptoms described above—Squid learned the company sued one of its former executives in federal court. Brian Thure, the former director of Taylor Farms Tennessee, allegedly placed his wife, Julie Thure—as well as his mother and sister and others in his personal orbit—on Taylor Farms payroll, to the tune of $3 million. That’s just the beginning. An IRS audit in 2025 revealed some questionable reimbursement practices and, according to the suit, Thure and family collected $6.5 million in fraudulent expense reimbursements. It all came to a head when, allegedly, Thure admitted to it in a recorded phone call with corporate execs and “also spoke to his propensity to engage in extravagant personal spending on activities such as gambling and women, none of which were related to any legitimate business purpose.” On April 8, he left a voicemail for CEO Bruce Taylor with a confession and apology, the lawsuit states. All told, the company suspects he stole more than $32 million. That’s an eye-popping number. According to court papers filed by the Thures’ attorneys, there is a pending federal criminal investigation, as well. They are asking the court to give them extra time to respond to the allegations while waiting for the criminal proceedings to play out; Taylor Farms’ attorneys are arguing against a delay. (Squid’s colleagues did not hear back from the defendants’ attorneys; Taylor Farms declined to comment.) Nobody yet knows how many plaintiffs will seek how much money for their terrible, horrible, no-good summer of food poisoning, but maybe whatever Taylor Farms gets back from the Thures will be enough to cover those claims. THE LOCAL SPIN SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “It’s more than we can afford as a small city.” SEND SQUID A TIP: squid@montereycountynow.com
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