City Leaders’ Greed Affecting Quality Of Life

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Residents be dammed, we want the tax money.

After 4½ hours of public comment and debate about if and how short-term rentals should exist in Pacific Grove, the City Council voted 4-3 to continue to allow them.

That decision was just the first followed by a series of amendments discussed to determine future standards and restrictions on the complex topic.

Among the changes to be instituted are:

• Safety and health inspections will be required of short-term rental applicants.

• Neighbors within 300 feet be notified about a short-term rental.

• A cap of 260 short-term rental units in the city was agreed upon. There are currently more than 180 registered units in town.

“The task force doesn’t safeguard the quality of life of residential areas,” said resident Regina Doyle. “… Instead of seeking (transient occupancy taxes), please ask residents if (short-term rentals) are in our best interest.”

City Leaders’ Greed Affecting Quality Of Life

Don’t Be Stealing Hearts

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Burglars tried to leaf, but were pickled up by cops.

Four suspects in the burglary of The Giant Artichoke restaurant on Cannery Row were arrested Wednesday.

At about 3 a.m., Monterey officers responded to a report of suspicious persons outside the restaurant. They discovered the restaurant had been burglarized and observed four subjects fleeing the area. Officers created a perimeter and conducted a search.

The four suspects — Michael Lopez, 26, Juan O’Brien, 23 and Melissa Canales, 20, all of San Jose and Adina Jimenez, 18, from Morgan Hill — were found hiding nearby and were arrested and booked into the Monterey jail police said.

Don’t Be Stealing Hearts

P.G. Cougar Gets Evicted

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Frightened resident calls 911 to report a wild animal.

Mountain Lion If Attacked

On Monday morning, residents were surprised when they spotted a cougar climbing up trees and over the rooftops of homes along Acacia Street, Eardley Avenue, and Line Street. The mountain lion chose a large oak tree to lounge in.

Some observers were nervous, because a day care with small children inside was nearby. “When I called 911, the first dispatch operator told me to call a biologist! I kept calling back,” resident John Kendrick said.

Pacific Grove police officers were eventually dispatched, and wildlife wardens decided to tranquilize it.

“The mountain lion was unharmed and transported away from the scene for relocation,” Acting Police Chief Rory Lakind said.

P.G. Cougar Gets Evicted

Limits On Roach Coaches

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Become a destination. Enjoy food trucks, sidewalk vendors, street artists, etc.

roach-coach

Debate about food trucks on Cannery Row has been ongoing. In October, the Monterey city council and members of the public voiced their ongoing concerns over increased traffic hazards and the impact of the trucks on the city’s limited on-street parking. Restaurant owners also squawked at the potential of the mobile vendors taking their business away.

“This ordinance was very intensely discussed late last year and early this year in front of council several times,” Assistant City Manager Hans Uslar said.

Limits On Roach Coaches

Reason To Skip The Salad #34565346

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Testing has pointed toward a vegetable mix from Taylor Farms as the source of E. coli in Costco chicken salad that has been linked to an outbreak that has sickened 19 people in seven states, a Costco official said Wednesday.

Craig Wilson, Costco vice president of food safety and quality assurance, said he was told by the Food and Drug Administration that the strain of E. coli seems to be connected to an onion and celery mix.

The company uses one supplier for those vegetables in the chicken salad sold in all its U.S. stores, Wilson said.

Wilson identified the supplier as Taylor Farms in Salinas.

Reason To Skip The Salad #34565346

E. coli Outbreak In Vegetables From Taylor Farms

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Poo salad fixings came from Salinas

Craig Wilson, Costco vice president of food safety and quality assurance, said Wednesday he was told by the Food and Drug Administration that the strain of E. coli seems to be connected to an onion and celery mix.

Wilson identified the supplier as Taylor Farms in Salinas.

E. coli Outbreak In Vegetables From Taylor Farms

Like An Envelope Of White Powder

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You never know what you’re gonna get.

Forrest Gump

An employee of the restaurant at 720 Cannery Row opened an envelope, which was hand addressed to her and delivered to the restaurant, while standing at the podium on the patio in front of the building, Monterey Fire Chief Gaudenz Panholzer said.

“When the employee opened it, some white powdery substance came out of the envelope, and it got on three of the employees,” he said.

A hazardous materials team came to the restaurant and tested the substance on site, determining it was powdered sugar.

Like An Envelope Of White Powder

Fruit Cheese Goes South

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Brought us that disaster called Project Bella and the sewer vapor Fiber Internet SiFi Network.

City Manager Tom Frutchey will leave his job with Pacific Grove for a similar position in Paso Robles, Mayor Bill Kampe announced Saturday.

Frutchey has been Pacific Grove city manager since October 2009. Under Frutchey, the city has seen a budget surplus each year for six years and has made progress in finances, services and operations, Kampe said.

Fruit Cheese Goes South

Homeowners Sue Builders

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Said to be 176 Sloat. Probably just going to sell it in a few years.

The lawsuit identifies 167 “defects and damages” in the
construction, and the plaintiffs say it will cost $1.3 million
“to pay another contractor to complete, correct and repair
[the contractor’s] work.”
Craig Holdren told The Pine Cone he is aware of the lawsuit, and predicted his firm will be vindicated.
“While disappointing, this is not surprising,” Holdren
explained. “This is part of a larger lawsuit that the Gerstens
filed against the general contractor and all sub-contractors
almost three years ago.”
Holdren said the court has already denied the Gerstens’
attempt to add Holdren + Lietzke in that lawsuit.
“The Gerstens now filed this new lawsuit in order to avoid
the statute of limitations and to increase the demands that
they are making against the general contractor and subcontractors,” he added. “The allegations against Holdren + Lietzke have no factual merit whatsoever and we intend to vigorously assert our rights.”

Homeowners Sue Builders

When The Fish Fight Back

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Fish kicked three fishing buddies butts.

The three men, who were not injured, fell from the dinghy after failing to navigate the beach’s rocky outcrop, said Suzanne Guzzi, a schoolteacher from Modesto who witnessed the accident. The passengers were not identified.

The men managed to carry their fishing gear ashore, though the boat remained in the water, bobbing upside down, hooked on a rock about 11 a.m. The Pacific Grove Police Department responded to the call, and was followed by the Monterey Fire Department.

When The Fish Fight Back