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Greetings!
This is the second in a series of Updates that my family intends to send to keep the community informed about Monterey County's review of our proposed shopping village at the corner of Corral de Tierra and Highway 68. We want you to know exactly what we are proposing. We also want to let you know how you can help in getting this project perfected and approved, so that, at long last, our community can shop locally and have a place to gather with friends and family. Please forward this to your neighbors.
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County Publishes Draft EIR
LEED Silver Alternative Benefits Groundwater and Traffic
 On May 28, 2010, the county published a two-volume, 1500+ page Draft EIR on our application. The
community is invited to review and comment on the report by July 16th. To download Volume I of the DEIR, click here. To view the county notice or download the appendices in Volume II, go here.
My family has embraced one of the alternatives outlined in the DEIR. Under the LEED Silver Alternative, our project will actually have a net benefit on the groundwater basin. At page 382 of Volume I, the DEIR also finds that the ability to shop locally will result in a
net reduction of 3,470 vehicles miles traveled per day on Highway 68 reducing the community's carbon footprint.
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Getting the Word Out
Project Design Fits Community Needs and Character
 "For 40 years, my family has owned 11 acres at Corral de Tierra Road and Highway 68. We don't believe in taking any action without careful and proper planning. In 2002, we submitted an application for a rural, village-style shopping center on this sole remaining commercially zoned site in the 74-square-mile Toro planning area." This is the introduction to an Op-Ed article in the Monterey Herald on June 16, 2010. We go on to explain that our project is and has always been about meeting community needs. We are local residents ourselves. We want to create a place where the community can gather. We asked our neighbors what they wanted to see on our property, and then we directed the world renowned firm Hart Howerton to create a project that meets community needs. The resulting rural village design fits with the character and scale of our community, and offers a wide range of shops and services that local residents wanted.
Now, we need for everyone to get involved in making sure that something good happens on this property. It's been a long time in the making.
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Just so you get a sense of the timing, here's a general outline of where we've been and what's ahead. My family has owned the property for 40 years. In 1992 and again in 2002, we polled the community to see what they wanted to see on our 11-acre site. In 2004, the county accepted our application for a village. A long list of water, traffic and environmental experts studied our application for the last six years. Now, the county has the information it needs to make some decisions. Public comment on the DEIR closes July 16, 2010. Afterward, the county staff will work with the experts to complete a Final EIR. Sometime this Summer, the county will hold public hearings to receive additional input on the merits of the project. We hope that by Fall, 2010, the county Board of Supervisors will have enough information to take a vote on our proposal. We need your help in letters and future testimony. In the meantime, please tell your friends and neighbors about the project. Forward this Update to them. Invite them to join our mailing list. Ask them to visit us at corral de tierra.com. Feel free to contact me directly if you have questions or comments about the proposal. Thank you.
Regards on behalf of the Phelps Family,
Eric Phelps
phelpsfamily@corraldetierra.com
831.484.8100
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