The Phelps Family first purchased the commercially zoned property in 1970. They started working almost immediately on plans for development. The county’s very first Environmental Impact Report (EIR) addressed this property. Now, 40 years and three general plans later, Monterey County is scheduled to vote yes or no in Fall 2010 whether to approve at long last a local neighborhood-serving village for the Highway 68 community.

The first step in the approval process is environment review. The county has published a Draft EIR for the Phelps project. The public is invited to review and comment on the environmental impacts and community benefits described in the report. The county also has a hydrology study to review before it can remove the B-8 overlay zoning district covering this 11-acre site and nearly every other parcel in the Toro Area.

Once the community has given its input on environmental and water issues, the Monterey County commissioners and supervisors will take votes to decide whether or not to:

• Rezone the subject property to remove the B-8 overlay zoning district from the property’s overall LC-D-B-8 zoning designation.

• Approve a standard subdivision tentative map for the division of two existing lots of record of 5.3 and 5.6 acres into 7 lots of approximately 2.4, 1.3, 1.6, 0.9, and 0.7 acres respectively.

• Issue a Use permit for the development of a new approximately 126,500 square foot community shopping center, including approximately 114,185 sq ft of retail space and 12,388 sq ft of non-retail space, 508 parking spaces and landscaping areas.

• Approve a General Development Plan.

• Issue Design approval.