Title
PLN180431 - STATE OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PARKS & RECREATION (ParkIT!)
Public hearing to consider implementation of a day-use reservation system for Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, a shuttle system serving Point Lobos State Natural Reserve and Marathon Flats, and associated site improvements including a 100 stall parking lot, bike racks, fence, ticket machine, and drainage improvements.
Project Location: Located near the intersection of Highway 1 and Rio Road, between Crossroads Shopping Center and Highway 1.
Proposed CEQA Action: Consider the Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Point Lobos State Natural Reserve Shuttle and Day-Use Reservation System (ParkIT!) Project (State Clearinghouse No. 2021100338) adopted by the California Department of Parks and Recreation and find that no subsequent or supplemental environmental review is required pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15162.
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RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the County of Monterey Planning Commission adopt a resolution:
1. Consider the Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Point Lobos State Natural Reserve Shuttle and Day-Use Reservation System (ParkIT!) Project (State Clearinghouse No. 2021100338) adopted by the California Department of Parks and Recreation and find that no subsequent or supplemental environmental review is required pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15162;
2. Approving a Combined Development Permit consisting of:
a. Coastal Development Permit to allow the improvement of a public accessway through implementation of a day-use reservation system for Point Lobos State Natural Reserve and a shuttle system serving Point Lobos State Natural Reserve and Marathon Flats; and
b. Coastal Administrative Permit and Design Approval to allow a 100 stall parking lot, fence, ticket machine, and associated site improvements; and
3. Adopting a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program.
A draft resolution, including findings and evidence, is attached for consideration (Exhibit A). Staff recommends approval subject to 16 conditions of approval.
PROJECT INFORMATION
Property Owner: State of California Department of Parks & Recreation
Agent: John Hiles
APN: 000-000-000-000
Zoning: State Right-of-Way; Public/Quasi-Public “PQP”
Parcel Size: 1.6 acres
Flagged and Staked: N/A
Project Planner: Taylor Price, Senior Planner
PriceT1@countyofmonterey.gov, 831-784-2179
SUMMARY:
The proposed project includes establishment of a shuttle and reservation system, and construction of a new 100-space off-site parking lot at the vacant property known as “Marathon Flats” (corner of Carmel Crossroads Shopping Center and Highway 1), to serve the Point Lobos State Natural Reserve (Reserve). The proposed shuttle would operate between the Reserve and the proposed Marathon Flats parking lot.
This reservation system would consist of a two-step system: 1) require all individuals visiting the park to have a timed reservation that will be made online or over the phone, and 2) require that all visitors to the Reserve pay an entrance fee. Timed reservations will be released in three blocks: 50 percent three to four months in advance, 25 percent 72-48 hours in advance, and 25 percent day-of reservations. There will be approximately 2,055 daily timed reservation slots available; these slots will be approximately distributed between three access categories: 1) parking within the Reserve, which will allow 1,215 daily timed reservations; 2) parking within Marathon Flats, which will allow 540 daily timed reservations; 3) walk-in/bike-ins, with 300 daily timed reservations. The daily allotments identified above total approximately 2,055 timed reservation slots and assume a turnover of between 1.8 and 3, depending on the location. The walk-in and bicycle allotment of 300 daily slots is subject to a condition of approval that ensures that up to 25 percent of those slots are made available at no charge (Condition No. 16). This condition also ensures that 25 percent of the slots discussed above is not the ceiling for free access for walk-in/bike-ins access and that State Parks will make every effort to secure additional funding to increase free access to the Reserve.
Development at the Marathon Flats parking lot would include accessory improvements such as temporary restroom facilities, a ticket machine, trash receptacles, drainage, and signage. This project does not propose any new development within the Reserve. Shuttles would drop off visitors within the Reserve.
The project as proposed would begin to implement requirements of the 1979 Point Lobos State Reserve General Plan (1979 Reserve General Plan), 2021 California State Parks Carmel Area (2021 Reserve General Plan), and the Carmel Area Land Use Plan (CARLUP). Implementation of this project will begin to implement CARLUP Policies 5.3.2.7, 5.3.3.6, and 5.3.3.8, which detail that managed access to the Reserve and other public access areas shall occur, and management at the Reserve should implement the management policies identified in the 1979 Reserve General Plan, which include a reservation system and means to control and manage visitor access. Since the 1970s, the Reserve has struggled to serve the large number of visitors, and its popularity has continued to grow. This increase in popularity has resulted in dangerous conditions both within and outside of the Reserve, such as creating significant traffic backups along Highway 1, illegal parking along the Highway 1 shoulder, dangerous interactions between pedestrians and vehicles as visitors park further along the Highway 1 shoulder and attempt to walk along the Highway, and the unfettered free access that walk-in and bicycle-in visitors have to the Reserve has encouraged further shoulder parking along Highway 1 rather than parking within the Reserve. Impacts are not limited to the Reserve, as documented in the 1979 Reserve General Plan (Exhibit K), the 2021 Reserve General Plan (Exhibit L), the CARLUP, and a research study on visitation impacts to the Reserve (Exhibit H).
All development would take place at the Marathon Flats parking facility, located between the Carmel Crossroads Shopping Center and Highway 1. This site is approximately 1.6 acres and is within the Carmel Area Land Use Plan. The site was formerly Highway 1 right-of-way that was owned by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). The site, which does not have a zoning designation in the County’s Geographic Information System (GIS) or zoning maps, is treated as Public/Quasi-Public zoning and land use because the State owns it and it was intended as highway right-of-way. Caltrans transferred the parcel to the California Department of Parks and Recreation on March 22, 2002 (County of Monterey Document ID: 200204525). This transfer is one of two properties that make up the new Ixshenta State Park. The parcel where the parking lot and associated site improvements are located consists primarily of disturbed landscape that is used irregularly for vehicular parking, as a congregation point for various events, and as a Christmas tree lot. The project proposes to construct a parking lot on the site, consisting mostly of pervious gravel, with some areas paved to accommodate required site improvements and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) parking requirements. The project would provide 100 parking spaces, including ADA stalls, as well as a bike rack for five bicycles. The new parking lot would have access through the existing Carmel Crossroads Shopping Center. The project is conditioned on the applicant entering into an access agreement with the Carmel Crossroads Shopping Center before commencing use (Condition No. 8).
Based on staff analysis, the project is consistent with all rules and regulations pertaining to zoning uses and all other applicable provisions of the 2010 County of Monterey General Plan, the Carmel Valley Master Plan, 1982 County of Monterey General Plan, the Carmel Area Land Use Plan, County of Monterey Coastal Implementation Plan Part 4 (Carmel CIP), 1979 Point Lobos State Reserve General Plan, 2021 California State Parks Carmel Area State Parks General Plan, and the Coastal Zoning Ordinance (Title 20, Coastal Implementation Plan Part 1).
DISCUSSION: To read the full background for this project, please refer to the Detailed Discussion included as Exhibit B.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
The following agencies have reviewed the project, have comments, and/or have recommended conditions:
Environmental Health Bureau
HCD-Engineering Services
HCD-Environmental Services
Carmel Highlands Fire Department
Monterey County Sheriff’s Office
California Coastal Commission
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), District 5
California Highway Patrol
LAND USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The project was referred to the Carmel Unincorporated/Highlands Land Use Advisory Committee and to the Carmel Valley Land Use Advisory Committee for review. Under the Land Use Advisory Committee Procedure guidelines adopted by the Board of Supervisors, referral was warranted because the application is a discretionary permit that, in the opinion of the Director of Housing and Community Development, raises significant land use issues warranting review prior to a public hearing before the Appropriate Authority.
The Carmel Unincorporated/Highlands Land Use Advisory Committee recommended support (4 Ayes - 0 Noes) for the project with changes: (1) update the capacity plan and identify a maximum visitation capacity; (2) develop a permanent on-site or near-site parking lot designed to meet that updated maximum capacity; and (3) add signage along State Route 1 (known as Highway 1) clearly notifying visitors that reservations are required, identifying where highway parking is and is not permitted, and stating whether vehicles are subject to citation or removal. The project as proposed does not update the capacity plan or develop a permanent parking facility; those are identified in the 2021 Reserve General Plan as components of future phases. The project has been conditioned to require a comprehensive monitoring and effectiveness report addressing future phase implementation, resource protection outcomes, and whether visitation can be sustained or increased, and to require coordination with Caltrans and the Coastal Commission on a signage program (Condition No. 16).
The Carmel Valley Land Use Advisory Committee recommended support (6 Ayes - 0 Noes) for the project with changes, consisting of confirmation that any lighting complies with County lighting regulations and that the project includes drainageway safety and appropriate stormwater controls. The project proposes no exterior lighting, as the Reserve is open only during daylight hours and shuttle operations will cease before nightfall, and the project includes drainageway safety measures and on-site stormwater controls as described above.
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT
The California Department of Parks and Recreation is the Lead Agency for this project. Denise Duffy & Associates prepared an Initial Study on behalf of State Parks. The Draft Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration were filed with the State Clearinghouse on October 20, 2021, and circulated for public review from October 20 through November 19, 2021 (State Clearinghouse No. 2021100338). State Parks considered the comments received, prepared responses and minor revisions to the Initial Study, adopted the Mitigated Negative Declaration, and filed a Notice of Determination on September 26, 2022. The Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration were prepared as a tiered document pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15152, tiering from the Environmental Impact Report certified for the 2021 Carmel Area State Parks General Plan (State Clearinghouse No. 2012041016).
The County of Monterey is a Responsible Agency for this project under PRC section 21069 and CEQA Guidelines section 15381 because it must issue a Combined Development Permit for the project to proceed. Under CEQA Guidelines section 15096, a Responsible Agency does not prepare or re-adopt its own negative declaration. It must consider the Lead Agency's environmental document before acting on the project, reach its own conclusions on whether and how to approve the project, and adopt and enforce mitigation measures that address the effects of activities within its responsibility and jurisdiction. Where the Responsible Agency adopts mitigation measures, Public Resources Code section 21081.6 requires that it also adopt a monitoring or reporting program for those measures.
Staff has independently reviewed the Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration and the whole of the record before the County. Resource areas analyzed in the Initial Study included aesthetics, air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, energy, geology and soils, greenhouse gas emissions, hazards and hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality, land use and planning, noise, public services, recreation, transportation and traffic, tribal cultural resources, utilities and service systems, and wildfire. Potentially significant effects were identified for biological resources, cultural resources, hazards and hazardous materials, and tribal cultural resources, each of which is reduced to a less-than-significant level by the mitigation measures incorporated into the project: MM 4.4-1 (protection of trees and vegetation), MM 4.4-2 (protection of raptors and other protected avian species), MM 4.5-1 (previously unknown or subsurface archaeological and tribal cultural resources), MM 4.5-3 (discovery of human remains), MM 4.9-1 (construction-related spills), and MM 4.9-2 (contaminants from parked vehicles). Each of these measures is carried into the conditions of approval and into the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program attached to the draft resolution.
Staff finds no substantial evidence in the record of any of the circumstances described in CEQA Guidelines section 15162 that would require a subsequent or supplemental Mitigated Negative Declaration: there are no substantial project changes, no substantial changes in circumstances, and no new information of substantial importance showing new or substantially more severe significant effects or newly feasible mitigation that the project proponent declines to adopt. On the basis of the whole record, there is no substantial evidence that the project as designed, conditioned, and mitigated will have a significant effect on the environment. The County's conclusion reflects its own independent judgment as a Responsible Agency.
Prepared by: Taylor Price, Senior Planner, (831) 784-2179
Reviewed by: Fionna Jensen, Principal Planner
Approved by: Melanie Beretti, AICP, Chief of Planning
The following attachments are on file with HCD:
Exhibit A - Draft Resolution, including:
• Conditions of Approval and Mitigation Measures
• Project Plans
Exhibit B - Detailed Discussion
Exhibit C - Draft Access Management Plan
Exhibit D - Draft ISMND
Exhibit E - Final ISMND
Exhibit F - Transportation Impact Analysis (County of Monterey LIB240317)
Exhibit G - Vicinity Map
Exhibit H - Preliminary Storm Water Control Plan (County of Monterey LIB240316)
Exhibit I - California State University Monterey Bay Visitation Impact Study
Exhibit J - Land Use Advisory Committee minutes (Carmel Unincorporated/Highlands and Carmel Valley)
Exhibit K - 1979 Point Lobos State Reserve General Plan
Exhibit L - 2021 Carmel Area State Parks General Plan
Exhibit M - Public comments received prior to the Planning Commission hearing
cc: Front Counter Copy; HCD-Engineering Services; Environmental Health Bureau; HCD-Environmental Services; HCD-Building Services; Carmel Highlands Fire Department; California Coastal Commission (Central Coast District Office); California Department of Transportation, District 5; Monterey County Sheriff’s Office; California Highway Patrol; Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District; Fionna Jensen, Principal Planner; Taylor Price, Senior Planner; State of California Department of Parks and Recreation, Applicant; John Hiles, Applicant; Tyler Potter, Agent; Oliviya Wyse, Agent; The Open Monterey Project (Molly Erickson); LandWatch Monterey County (Executive Director); Christina McGinnis, Keep Big Sur Wild; Interested Parties; Project File PLN180431.