Like the wind and rain that whip the orange netting draped from its story poles, worries about the project’s size continue to swirl around Monterey’s planned Public Service Center.

If given the green light by City officials, the new center will be built in the parking lot behind the existing City Hall, on Madison and Van Buren Streets.

Despite a marked reduction in size and a new design, which would divide the public service center into three buildings to better fit the campus environment of the Civic Center, historic preservationists remain concerned about the new structure’s impact on Monterey’s National Landmark Historic District.

“The one building on Dutra Street is still much too high—a whole story too high,” says local preservationist Enid Sales. “It’s not an old building and everything else in the area is, but as far as that particular plan, I think it’s an improvement. The changes they made are better.”

The southern building is comprised of two, two-story structures connected by a one-story element. The northern building, which is approximately 54 feet from historic Vasquez Adobe (built in 1840) and 112 feet from Colton Hall (built between 1847 and 1849), is a two-story structure with a large, landscaped plaza.

Councilman Jeff Haferman, who has been publicly critical of earlier service center designs says he was “very impressed” with the new plans drawn by architect Dan Fletcher and landscape architect Mike Bellinger.

“They have done a good job of opening up the space and added a ‘green’ garden component that preserves trees and adds more landscaping and opens up the views to the surrounding historic structures,” Haferman says.

But Haferman says he has heard complaints about parking, and that some of the proposed two-story buildings are still “a bit on the massive side.”

The original plans drew sharp criticism not only from Monterey residents, but also from state and national organizations, which argued that the huge new buildings would hurt Old Town Monterey’s historical significance.

Because of the new design, Monterey Senior Planner Kim Cole says the planning department is now supporting the project.

“The new design represents a 36 percent reduction from the original design,” Cole says. “The original proposal was 55,000 square feet.”

The plan has gone through two significant redesigns since it was originally proposed, in 2002. The first redesign reduced the design to 41,000 square feet. The new design is 35,000 square feet, 9,000 of which are a subterranean basement in the southern building.

If the Historic Preservation Commission, Architectural Review Board and the Planning Commission all approve the design, City Council members could vote on the project by late May.

“I think they’re moving in the right direction,” says Sales. “I think it would be almost acceptable if they took a story off that building. We’ll have to wait and see how the plans actually turn out. Of course, I’d still like to see it somewhere else entirely.”

THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION WILL VOTE ON THE PROJECT AT 7PM, THURSDAY, MARCH 2. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS, PACIFIC AND MADISON STREETS, MONTEREY.