News Blog
Supes Overturn Planning Commission on MST/Whispering Oaks Decision
June 15, 2011
Testimony from an adamant group of environmentalists didn't stop a development project slated to cut down thousands of oaks on the former Fort Ord.
The Board of Supervisors last night overturned the county Planning Commission's rejection of the Whispering Oaks business part project, which includes a new 24-acre headquarters for Monterey-Salinas Transit.
The revised proposal scaled back the number of oaks to be removed from 4,400 to 3,400.
“We’ve attempted to do it in the most environmentally sensitive way possible, given the real estate that’s been transferred to the County of Monterey," said county Redevelopment Director Jim Cook.
The supervisors' vote was 4-1, with Supervisor Jane Parker dissenting.
"I don't feel it's appropriate to rush into this location," she said. "We can have both jobs and trees; we don't have to pit one against the other."
She preferred the idea of siting the new MST headquarters at the already blighted Marina Airport site, an alternative advocated by environmentalists and Marina Mayor Bruce Delgado.
The board is scheduled to consider final approval of the Whispering Oaks project July 12.
Comments
It's a former landfill. The activists consistently and conveniently forget to mention that. They also consistently and conveniently forget that former Fort Ord wasn't "Public Lands" until not so long ago. And they ignore the economic and financial benefit that will be brought to the area.
So what if it used to be a landfill? It is now oak woodland, which has been set aside to remain habitat/open space since 1995. It is a central link in a trail system, enjoyed by hikers, bikers, and horseback riders, which connects the ocean front rec. trail to 82 miles of Bureau of Land Mgmt. open space to the east. MST already owns other, already blighted property on the former Fort Ord where they could build their facility, but if they don't want to build there the City of Marina would love to have them build at the Marina Airport site. Jobs and economic benefits are not reliant upon trashing now-healthy habitat.
Hello, I'm Justin Ebrahemi from the Otter Realm at CSUMB. I'm writing an article about the Whispering Oaks project and I'm in the process of collecting opinions for this piece. If you'd like to get your voice heard in our paper, please email me at JJustin408@yahoo.com. Thanks, Justin
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