Helping Our Peninsula's Environment

Monterey County Supervisors Sued for Illegal Approval of Pebble Beach Company Forest Destruction Project

April 12, 2005 (Monterey) Monterey County Supervisors were sued today by Helping Our Peninsula's Environment for violating California's Environmental Quality Act in approving the Pebble Beach Company Forest Destruction Project.

"This project is a slow-motion ecological train wreck." Said HOPE's Executive Director David Dilworth.

Pebble Beach Company "Ecological Improvement" Equipment. March 1989

He continued "The project would destroy at least 17,000 trees in our Peninsula's magnificent dark green iconic cloak, our imperiled Monterey Pine Forest. It would extinguish one quarter of our few remaining local endangered orchids, and kill many of the now imperiled frogs that made Mark Twain famous."

Yadon's rein Orchid or Yadon's Piperia (Piperia yadonii) was federally listed as an Endangered Species in August 1998

HOPE's Attorney Alexander Henson observed "Most importantly, the County refused to acknowledge where endangered species actually live and to protect their habitats."

California Red-Legged Frogs (Rana aurora draytonii) were officially listed as a federal threatened species on May 23, 1996

"How can they even consider a project of this magnitude when the Holman Highway is already in daily gridlock?" asked HOPE Trustee Ed Leeper.

Daily Holman Highway Gridlock at Skyline Forest - A Full Mile from Highway One.

HOPE Trustee Vienna Merritt-Moore said "The County refused to seriously analyze an alternative that would fully protect our imperiled forest and its endangered animals, and not increase traffic or water use - the alternative of buying a nearby golf course.

Even though the project itself requires mitigation in Monterey, they already bus spectators in from Fort Ord for golf events, Pebble Beach Company already owns a championship golf course in Monterey and there are 14 golf courses within 15 minutes of downtown Monterey that PBC could buy."

HOPE Trustee Terrence Zito added "Pebble Beach Company has a long history of reneging on their promises. In return for the Spanish Bay resort approval PBC was required and agreed to restore the former quarry - but they didn't and now they want to develop it. To protect sensitive environment the Haul Road was supposed to be closed for the past 20 years - but instead Pebble Beach Company has used it for mining trucks and golf event traffic for two decades."

Pebble Beach Company Allowing Dump Trucks in an Environmentally Sensitive Area. They were required to Close this Road 20 Years ago.

Dilworth concluded with "In my 20 some years of fighting for environmental protection I've never seen such strong agency letters, as the ones from the Coastal Commission and other resource protection agencies, warning that a pending project approval would flat out break the law."

Lawsuit (100k PDF) 

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