Neighborhood Issues

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Click here for Neighborhood Schools (MHS, Colton and Monte Vista Schools)

Wildfire Ready Monterey
Jean Rasch elected to City Council
Cielo Vista Dr. and Viejo Rd. Safety
Undergrounding utilities
Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR cameras)
Pickleball at Via Paraiso Park
Cellular and Wireless
Water
Quarry to Veterans Park Trail

NEW: Questions for MVNA (with answers)

MVNA members can email questions to the MVNA Board at mvneighborhood@gmail.com anytime. We will compile all questions and periodically answer them here.

• From our 2021 election (16 questions)

• NOTE: All topics regarding MPUSD and the three schools within Monterey Vista are now on the new Schools Tab

Wildfire Ready Monterey

Wildfires are an increasing risk for most or California, including much of our Monterey Vista Neighborhood that is in a “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone” as shown by all the houses in red on this map of MVNA. MVNA and NCIP have long been supporting fuel-reduction in our open spaces and encouraging undergrounding our overhead utilities.

• Town Hall was held on February 27th, 2025. See Video here.

• New Fire Hazard Severity Zone map is out. Click and zoom to find your home.

• Home inspections will start in Very High Severity Zones this year.

• Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Carmel-by-the-Sea created a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (Feb 2024).

• How Vulnerable is the Monterey Peninsula to a Wildfire?
  Article by Ray Meyers.

• Als see montereyundergrounding.net.

• MVNA hosted an evening of education about WILDFIRE DANGERS About 100 residents attended and had all their questions answered
  MVNA CWPP presentation - 8.12.2024
  CWPP Handout

• Firewise Communities. One direct effect is that Homeowner Fire insurance is rapidly increasing in cost, and even getting to be unaffordable to many new homeowners. To combat these significant price increases, Monterey could become a Firewise Community. MVNA had an excellent talk at our April Board meeting by MVNA member Jeanne Clark, who recently moved here from Nevada City that has done so. Her overview can be read here:

  • Gaudenz Panholzer talks about Fire Safety in Monterey (MVNA meeting June 2022)
    Audio link and Video link

  • All About Firewise USA Communities by Jeanne Clark

  • Fire Insurance information by Jeanne Clark

Jean Rasch elected to City Council

Our own MVNA President was elected to City Council and sworn in on December 17th. She replaces Alan Haffa, also an MVNA member, who served 12 years on the council before stepping down. Leon Panetta was also present to swear in the Mayor, Tyller Williamson.

• 2 incumbents, one new member for Monterey (Monterey Herald, Dec 2024)

TRAFFIC ADVISORY:

Please avoid Madison, Herrmann and Larkin streets, M-F, 7:30-9am and 2:30-4pm.

• Due to the closure of the Monterey High School entrance and parking lot off of Martin Street, all school drop-offs and pickups, as well as school buses, will be on lower Herrmann Dr.

• Student with cars have been asked to park at the old Monte Vista School.

Undergrounding utilities:

• On June 6th, 2024, NCIP voted on a combined Undergrounding Program as their #2 priority!! See the NCIP tab for the updated project description. The City Council still needs to approve this year’s NCIP projects sometime in September.

• NCIP receives three Undergounding Projects (see NCIP tab). The submitters are working to combine these into one project before voting night (May 2024).

• Undergrounding Committee presents “Learn about Undergrounding: How to underground overhead utilities within Monterey, the urgency, the process and how to pay for it” at Hilltop Center and CONA Community Center.

  • See undergrounding presentation here.

• Monterey City Council recognizes Undergrounding Committee and City Manager suggests NCIP invest $2M to get started (Feb 2024)

• Monterey Undergrounding wants your opinion!!
  Monterey Undergrounding has put together a survey of what residents want to do about Undergrounding out utilities, how important it is to them, and what they think about possible funding sources. Please read the background information on this page and then learn about funding options and then take the survey here. (October 2022)

• Undergrounding Committee (Since 2018)
  See MonteryUndergrounding.net
  Monterey Vista and Old Town Neighborhood Associations have formed an Undergrounding Committee to learn and educate residents and our elected officials about undergrounding utilities within our neighborhoods and throughout the City of Monterey. Increased safety, reliability and beauty are main drivers, yet funding is the obstacle that needs to be overcome. Check out their website here.

• Mayor Roberson pushes for undergrounding (July 12th, 2018)

• PG&E Overhead to Undergrounding Program

• San Diego master Plan for Utilities Undergrounding Program

  • San Diego Resolution E-3788 (raises utility fess for undergrounding)

• San Francisco Coalition to Underground Utilities

  • San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Handbook On Undergrounding Utilities

• Del Mar Undergrounding Project

• Anaheim Underground Conversion Program

• Rancho Palos Verdes Underground Utilities in Residential Neighborhood

• Dig Once Policies

  • Dig Once and Work Together (Kanakis, 2017)

  • Dig Once: Policies and Best Practices (Hughes)

Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR cameras)

The City council has narrowly approved a request by the Police Department to install cameras within and around the City of Monterey to record license plates of cars passing them. Due to the tradeoffs between catching bad guys and privacy issues, the City looked to get feedback from residents.

Watch: City Council meeting from Nov 21st, 2023 and scroll to 3 hrs. and 56 minutes

• Police Department puts in NCIP project to for Citywide ALPR License Plate Reader Cameras ($130k). See MN-01 near bottom of NCIP tab.

• The Monterey City Council voted 3-2 to approve the installation of Flock surveillance cameras throughout the city (April 4th, 2024).

• March 19, 2024 The follow-up Monterey City Council meeting to update and discuss ALPRs.

• Monterey Police held two Town Hall Meetings to discuss Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) on January 22 and February 8, 2024

• Suggested Police Department Policy re: ALPRs

• How ALPRs work (Electric Frontier Foundation)

• California ALPR FAQs

• How to Pump the Brakes on Your Police Department’s Use of Flock’s Mass Surveillance License Plate Readers (ACLU)

• Flock is Building a New AI-Driven Mass-Surveillance System (ACLU)

Pickleball at Via Paraiso Park

Aug 2022 Update: City finalized rules for Tennis and Pickleball at Via Paraiso Park

Pickleball has rapidly become popular across the US, as well as on the Monterey Peninsula. Since the game uses smaller courts, two pickleball games can generally be played on a single tennis court. As local games have increased over time (promoted by NCIP that funded painting Pickleball lines at Via Paraiso Park and the Monterey Pickleball Club with MVNA members), the games have become a staple at our beloved Via Paraiso Park. The increasing popularity of the sport has been met by pushback from nearby residents who object to the noise created by the hard balls and wooden paddles and when larger groups gather to play, as well as parking issues. This issue is also a national phenomenon, and will only be fully resolved when larger Pickleball facilities without nearby neighbors are built (e.g., like the successful Basketball court NCIP funded near the Coast Guard Pier). After petitions with many signatures on both sides of the issue were submitted to our Parks and Recreation Committee, the City offered to fund Mediation Sessions between residents on both sides of the issue to work out a compromise. With the help of a professional negotiator, a pilot agreement was reached that was on trial for several months and is now permanent.

• City makes Pilot Program guidelines permanent (Aug 2022)

• City creates Pilot Program; to run from May 2nd to Aug 2nd (Mar 2022)

• Mediated Pilot Program proposal between neighbors (Jan 2022)

• In A Pickle: Pickleball, which might be the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., is both loved and hated in Monterey County (David Schmalz, The Monterey County Weekly, Dec 2021)

• Monterey Pickleball Club

Monterey High School Field improvements (2019-present)

• Note: This item has been moved to the new Schools tab.

Cellular and Wireless:

The Monterey Vista Neighborhood Association (MVNA) strongly supported the majority of residents opposed to the 13 closely-spaced cellular antennas proposed by Extenet for Verizon within our neighborhood in September of 2017. The large number of residents that submitted comments to the City and spoke at multiple City meetings convinced the Planning Commission to deny these permits.

To avoid a repeat of this significant effort, the MVNA formed a Wireless Committee of dedicated residents to study the issue. The results of this work convinced the City Council to form an official Wireless Subcommittee to update Monterey's outdated Wireless Ordinance to better address future Telecom applications.

See latest updates on City website here

Links to documents and articles
re: Cellular Antennas within Monterey

Residential Cell Towers – The Science Behind the Concern?
By Ray Meyers - Monterey Vista Neighborhood Association Board Member

Wireless Subcommittee formed to study and revise Wireless Ordinance
     (Meetings are open to the public)

• First Meeting scheduled for Thursday, Aug 13th at 2-5pm (Council Chambers)

Redrafting Monterey's Wireless Ordinance

• Residents suggested edits to current Wireless Ordinance (May 2018)

• Van Eaton's (city-hired attorney) suggested edits to current Wireless Ordinance (July 2018)

• Table of Draft Comparisons

Effort to regulate cellular antennas in other cities:

• Petaluma: Draft of new Ordinance

• News article (July 2018)

• Scientists for Wired Technology (advocacy group)

Links regarding cellular antennas in Monterey:

• City of Monterey website on cellular antennas

• Overview of Verizon/Extanet application (Sept 2017)

• Monterey Herald (Oct 2017)

• MVNA Letter to City (Nov 2017)

• Public comments re cellular antennas within Monterey Vista (Nov 2017)
  (Note: The first comment was officially withdrawn by it's author)

• Monterey Herald (Nov 2017)

• KSBW (Mar 2018)

• Presentation by Best Best & Krieger in PDF (city-hired attorney, June 2018)

Research and further reading

• Captured Agency: How the FCC is dominated by the Industries It Presumably Regulated (Norm Alster)

• National Toxicology Program (US Dept of Health and Human Services)

• Center for Family and Community Health, School of Public Health, UC Berkeley

• C. Russell (2018) 5 G wireless telecommunications expansion: Public health and environmental implications, Environmental Research 165, 484–495.

• EM Watch

• Sue Halpern (2019) The Terrifying Potential of the 5G Network, The New Yorker

Quarry to Veterans Park Trail and Parcel B (2003-2009):

• History and court decision supporting full public access