East Garrison Project Wins OK from County PlannersBack to News

Monterey County planners on Wednesday enthusiastically endorsed a unique subdivision in the East Garrison section of Fort Ord that would incorporate an arts colony and a town-center into the 1,400-home project.

“By far, this is the best project that has come before us on the Planning Commission,” said Commissioner Keith Vandevere, who joined in the unanimous commission vote that moves the East Garrison development to the Board of Supervisors.

Supervisors will consider the proposal during a special meeting at an undetermined date later this month and are expected to vote on the project Aug. 16.

The East Garrison project would establish a village-style retail center, an arts district, fire station, several parks and the preservation of about two dozen historic Army buildings along with a residential subdivision on 244 acres on a bluff above Reservation Road at the north edge of Fort Ord.

For the consortium of developers—Woodman Development, William Lyon Homes and Urban Community Partners— the commission approval represents a huge step. The group has spent almost $10 million over the past seven years refining the project and working through complicated agreements with county planners and the county Redevelopment Agency.

For local artists, East Garrison represents a decades-long dream to establish a colony that will give artists a low-cost place to live and work. The design includes 114 “live-work” units in the center of the new community designed for artists and their studios, along with rehabilitation of old Army buildings that can be used for businesses and cultural centers to support the artists.

“This project is an opportunity to demonstrate how a significant large arts community can facilitate development itself,” said Richard Mayer of Arts Habitat, which has been involved with the effort for more than a decade.

Planning commissioners viewed the project as an opportunity to provide a fresh supply of affordable homes in a county where the median price of houses is approaching $700,000. Thirty percent of the units will be deed-restricted to be affordable for low- and middle-income families.

“For years, we’ve been told don’t put (housing projects) here, don’t put it there, put it on Fort Ord,” said Commissioner Juan Sanchez. “Well, here it is. It’s show time. And this is a viable project… and I think it will be a jewel in the community.”

“This is Fort Ord,” said Commission Laurence Hawkins. “This is where everyone said projects should go when they didn’t want development to sully their own neighborhoods. I just wish it could have happened earlier, because maybe my daughter would not have had to move to North Carolina… to buy a home she could afford.”

Compared to most large development projects in Monterey County, East Garrison encountered little resistance from slow-growth advocates Wednesday.

Several groups complained by letters to the commission that the environmental impact report was released just two weeks ago, which they said did not give them enough time for a thorough review. But representatives of those groups did not attend the hearing Wednesday.

However, representatives from The Bluffs Homeowners Association told commissioners that the project would aggravate traffic problems along Reservation Road, the intersection of Reservation and Davis Road and the Davis Road crossing at the Salinas River.

The Bluffs is a condominium and townhouse complex to the south along Reservation Road.

“We believe any number of units above 750 is far, far too many,” said Richard Breien, association president.

Those road and traffic issues will be resolved — eventually — after the Fort Ord Reuse Agency accumulates enough money to pay for improvements along Reservation and Davis roads, according to county public works officials. The East Garrison developers will spend almost $40,000 in fees to FORAfor every unit — and that money will be used to improve roads.

The developers said they are anxious to begin work. “We need this project and we it now,” said Tony Lombardo, the Salinas attorney representing the partnership.

But even if the Board of Supervisors approves the project next month, developers must still wait for the transfer of land before grading and construction can begin.

At the moment, East Garrison is still owned by the U.S. Army, which must transfer the property to the Monterey County Redevelopment Agency, which in turn will sell the land to the partnership.

Terms of the sale and the redevelopment arrangement are still being negotiated between county officials and the developers.

The county’s associate planning director, Alana Knaster, said that deal is expected to be completed by the first of August.

Under the deal, the county would sell the property to the developers and property tax revenues generated from the new development will be used to fund rehabilitation of the historic buildings and to maintain other public services at East Garrison, such as the park that would be located near the community center.