Updates on DEIR

Following a meeting of the Carmel Valley Road Committee on 19 July, the issue of action on the "intersection improvements" threatening the trees has been put on hold pending further review of the DEIR.  At that meeting it was determined the topic would be revisited at the next meeting, (date yet to be determined). All interested parties are encouraged to remain alert for the announcement of the coming meeting and to attend in support of saving our historical heritage.

Status Report

A number of folks have noticed the signs and engineer tape at the site have been taken down. Please be assured this was done by the committee, and all the materials and signs have been carefully stowed for possible future use. Following a very productive residents' meeting brilliantly  orchestrated by member Dr. Susan Moein with Mr. Yazdan Emrni, Director of Public Works, and members of his staff on May 8th, it appears the project has "gone back to the drawing board." Until we hear more, the signage has been removed so the beauty and majesty of the trees can be enjoyed by all. Thank you all for your support of this effort and please check back with us at this site regularly as it will remain active.

Committee Meeting With Public Works

The "Save the Boronda Trees" Committee met with Public Works Director Mr. Yazdan Emrani and members of his staff on 8 May at Carmel Valley's Trail and Saddle Club. While the meeting was "open-to-the-public," it was not a "public meeting" per se, rather it was designed to establish lines of communication on this matter. A more complete report will be published here shortly, however all parties left the meeting with better understanding of each other's concerns, a new spirit of cooperation, and a harmonious relationship that has heretofore been missing in this process (since 1985!).  Our thanks to Mr. Emrani for his time and insights on this whole issue.

Petitions Being Signed at Mid-Valley Safeway

This weekend and next (Saturday and Sunday April 18, 19, 25 & 26) volunteers will be manning tables at the entrance of Mid-Valley Safeway to seek signatures of support on petitions to save the trees. Assistance in this project will be most welcome. Coming out to sign on will also be welcome and appreciated. These petitions do help as evidenced in the appendices to the draft EIR showing the signatures collected in round one of this episode (response to the Notice to Prepare a Draft EIR (NOP).

Actions Being Taken - Updates on Further Action

More and more residents are taking action. Our thanks to Joe Hertlein for his outstanding job of marking the bulk of the trees "doomed to destruction" by this project.  Throughout the Valley outraged citizens are circulating or setting up booths to collect names of those who wish to save this key feature of Carmel Valley's rural heritage. These will be submitted with commentary to the County before the end of the Public Comment period of May 4th as specified in the Draft EIR.

An action group of affected citizens met with Public Works' project personnel on Friday, April 3rd. We came away with the following intelligence:

1. The project calling for the destruction of the historical site is not the final design, simply a reiteration of the one proposed earlier that most of us thought was a "dead" issue.
2. The planning group tasked with preparing the Draft EIR (EMC) developed the document based on the County's "project," addressed at our meeting as "one of the alternatives."
3. Other alternatives  to "the project" offered by EMC were:

• "No Project," that would obviously save the site,
• "Realignment of the project to the North side of Carmel Valley Road," which again would not impact the site, or
• "Roundabout," which would still impact the site.

Although the petitions currently circulating vary slightly (due to the urgency perceived by area residents), the push is for the "No Project" alternative, or as an option, the "Realignment to the North" alternative, in that order.

Additionally, the project people with whom we met again pointed out they were "just following orders." The final authority for this remains the County Board of Supervisors who will ultimately have to make the decision whether to go forward with "the project," or one of the alternatives. Therefore, a letter/e-mail/phone call campaign to each and every member of the Board of Supervisors to save this site is crucial.  Look for the forthcoming article on details for this communications campaign.

The Campaign Continues

In the ongoing campaign to stop the senseless destruction of the historic Tree Row site a banner is now prominently displayed at the junction of Carmel Valley Road and Boronda Road. Petitions are being circulated through out the Valley, as are fliers calling the folks to action. While it seems inconceivable that after almost a quarter of a century of being told "No" by the residents and citizens of this area, Monterey County Public Works seems hell-bent on this ill-conceived project! Note in the second photo of the banner that was set up yesterday the posting by Public Works of their notice of the draft EIR stapled to one of the trees they hope to destroy! Insult to injury!

Public Outcry to County's Attack on Historical Site

The public groundswell against the Monterey County Public Works plan to effectively destroy the Carmel Valley Road-Boronda Road Eucalyptus Tree Row, the Valley's first, and to date only, site on the State and the National Registers of Historic Places is well underway. Shortly petitions will be circulating, along with the flier pictured here. We ask everyone to once again jump on the "bandwagon" to stop this ongoing (since 1985) threat to our rural "neighborhood. The County's Draft EIR is at:

http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/publicworks/projects.htm.