MONTEREY – With the next California Coastal Commission meetings scheduled for Sept. 11-13 in Monterey, the Monterey-Salinas Transit Board of Directors Chair and the General Manager and CEO of MST have sent a letter to the commission in response to its staff report recommending denying permits to build the SURF! Busway, saying it has identified 42 omissions, errors and misunderstandings of facts in the Commission staff report.
The Coastal Commission was to hear two items pertaining to the Monterey-Salinas Transit’s proposed SURF Busway and Bus Rapid Transit Project between the cities of Marina and Sand City at its meeting earlier this month, but MST requested a postponement after the staff report was published where it recommended denial of both Coastal Development Permits.
In a combined staff report on the two related items issued in late July, the California Coastal Commission’s staff recommendation was “substantial issue and denial of both CDPs (Coastal Development Permits).”
The Coastal Commission staff recommendation summary said in part, “The Coastal Commission fully supports many of the goals and objectives underlying the proposed project, including facilitating less car-centric transportation options, particularly in terms of enhancing transit options for lower-income riders, environmental justice communities, and the general public, but that this particular proposal is not approvable in dune ESHA (environmentally sensitive habitat area) under the law, and alternative projects that avoid dune ESHA need to be pursued instead.”
But Monterey-Salinas Transit says it is correcting the record “over flawed Coastal Commission review of SURF! Busway Project.” MST says it has “identified 42 omissions, errors and misunderstandings of facts in the Commission staff report of the SURF! Busway Project released last month.”
The letter was sent by MST Board Chair Mary Anne Carbone on behalf of the Board of Directors, and MST General Manager and CEO Carl Sedoryk.
MST’s letter says it notes most flaws in the staff report fall into three general categories, conflict resolution issues, purpose and need for the SURF! Project and alternatives evaluation.
On the conflict resolution issue, the letter says, “Approving the SURF! Project after a conflict resolution analysis is consistent with prior Coastal Commission approvals of similar transit projects. Indeed, the Commission has many times approved highway construction projects which permanently impact ESHA under a conflict resolution analysis. The SURF! Project, being a public transportation project with verifiable GHG (greenhouse gas) emission reductions, should be analyzed consistently with highway projects that primarily benefit passenger car transportation.”
Under the purpose and need for the SURF! Project, it says, “While the staff report acknowledges that they support the social and environmental goals of the SURF! project, it minimizes the actual positive outcomes that will be achieved….The purpose of the project is integrally related to problems MST experiences operating in unpredictable and unreliable stop and go traffic. The purpose of the project is to take the vagaries of traffic congestion out of the equation and provide high-quality public transit for those who need it most, including those who wish to access coastal recreational resources.”
In the evaluation of alternative design routes for the SURF! Project, the letter states “It should be noted that the SURF! project has undergone several design changes before project approval by the MST Board of Directors in July 2021. Some early design ideas impacted more ESHA than the project proposed today. Throughout project design and planning, the MST design and project team were very thoughtful and careful about minimizing impacts to ESHA. Over the project development phase, MST already significantly reduced ESHA impacts before even submitting the SURF! project to the Commission in March 2023.”
The next California Coastal Commission meetings will be held at the Portola Plaza Hotel and Spa in downtown Monterey where the two items are scheduled to be heard at the Sept. 12 meeting.
The two items scheduled for a Coastal Commission’s hearing that were previously postponed are first, an appeal by Keep Fort Ord Wild and Margaret Davis of the city of Marina decision granting permit with conditions to Monterey-Salinas Transit to construct an approximately 500-foot-long segment of a 30-foot wide two-lane bus road (part of a larger nearly 4.5-mile long bus road project) and associated development within the Monterey Branch Line rail corridor and in the dunes under Highway 1 near the Del Monte Boulevard southbound onramp in Marina.
And second, an application by Monterey-Salinas Transit to construct a nearly 4.5-mile long, 30-foot wide two-lane bus road and associated development (including retaining walls, grading, lighting, and drainage features) within the Monterey Branch Line rail corridor and to construct an approximately 700-foot long extension of Beach Range Road, seaward of Highway 1 and in the dunes between the cities of Marina and Sand City within unincorporated Monterey County.
MST says SURF! is a five-mile, two-lane busway proposed along the rail corridor parallel to Highway 1 that will integrate with existing Line 20 Salinas-Monterey service.
The Transportation Agency for Monterey County purchased the unused line from the Union Pacific Railroad to preserve it as a transportation corridor for mass transportation purposes only with a grant from State Proposition 116 funds in 2003.
Proposition 116 of 1990 enacted the Clean Air and Transportation Improvement Act, designating $1.99 billion for specific projects, purposes, and geographic jurisdictions, primarily for passenger rail capital projects.
The California Transportation Commission approved an allocation of $9,370,000 Proposition 116 funds for the acquisition of the Monterey Branch Line right of way for the purpose of establishing passenger rail in the corridor. The allocation of funds was approved with the condition that TAMC establish passenger rail within ten years, but the ten-year requirement was not met and TAMC will be required to refund the money or issue the state a credit for the present value.
Todd Muck, executive director of TAMC said since the 10-year grant requirement expired “we’re going through the process of rectifying that so it is no longer a conflict,” adding the issue needs to be resolved regardless of the outcome for the SURF! Busway project.
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