PROMPTED BY the California Coastal Commission’s June 13 decision that native Monterey pine forest qualifies for special protection under the Coastal Act, county planning officials have begun subjecting single-lot developers to tougher habitat-protection requirements, meaning more out-of-pocket expenses and delays for home builders.

The Monterey County Planning and Building Inspection Department is now requiring all property owners applying for building permits to pay for a biological report — a document formerly requested only under special circumstances.

“We have stepped up what we have asked for,” said Carl Holm, the county’s acting planning manager.

Holm said the new requirements were drawn up to ensure the long-term protection of the Monterey pine forest, which the California Coastal Commission decided is “environmentally sensitive habitat.”

Formerly, single-lot developers were only required to conduct a forest management plan, which assesses the types of trees on a parcel and how many are to be removed.

Now, developers will need a biological report, which identifies plant and animal species on a site, where they’re located and whether they are endangered or threatened.

“The reason to ask for the biological report,” Holm said, “is to see if an environmental impact report is needed.”
Holm said the county began looking into more stringent requirements as soon as he became the planning department’s acting manager about one year ago.

“It really has been developing over the past year, but the June coastal commission meeting gave us more of a focus relative to the Del Monte pine forest,” he explained. “We said, OK, we definitely need to start implementing this.”

At the June 13 meeting in Santa Rosa, the coastal commission rejected a ballot measure approved by Monterey County voters in November 2000 that would have facilitated P.B. Co. plans for a new golf course, equestrian center, hotel rooms and employee housing, while putting hundreds of acres of pine forest currently zoned for homes into open space preserves.

But while company officials, including Clint Eastwood and Peter Ueberroth, agree that the pine forests of Pebble Beach need protection, they have long argued that Monterey pines, which number in the millions in Monterey County and billions worldwide, are not ESHA.

The new county building rules will help firmly identify whether a new home is encroaching on sensitive habitat.

“It’s asking for another pair of eyes to take a look at it and assess what’s happening out there biologically,” Holm said.

So far, about 15 to 20 developers have had to comply with the new requirements, Holm said.

Biologist Vern Yadon, for whom the Yadon’s orchid is named, hadn’t heard of the new county rules but said they seemed reasonable. Yadon said he has prepared biological reports for about a decade.

“If we are truly interested in protecting the rare things in the environment, I think that it is a good idea in my estimation,” Yadon said. “On the other hand, if someone has to pay a huge sum of money for me to look over something to say there’s nothing rare, that doesn’t sound logical.”

While most applicants in Del Monte Forest now need to obtain a biological assessment, Holm said there may be a few instances — when there is a barren parcel of land with no apparent plant species, for instance — when it might be unnecessary.

“There are some [cases] where it’s not warranted,” Holm said.