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Our community is educated and involved. We have retirees and
young families, single people and large households. We all
share a love for this place and we all want to ensure that our
quality of life and our environment are protected.
The local Phelps family has owned the property for 40 years.
They worked with world renown architects to create a village
that will serve the community with great tenants and an
experiential village with amenities like open air plazas, a
picnic area and pedestrian paths.
Some frequently asked questions are answered below.
Q. Is it too BIG? Why not a smaller project?
A. Even
though the 2000-page EIR found that the original village plan
takes cars off Highway 68 and that visual impacts of project are
“less than significant,” there are those who “feel” it’s still
too big. In an effort to accommodate these concerns, the Phelps
have reduced the project size twice. Economic experts say that
additional reductions would threaten the project’s ability to
deliver shops (like a grocery anchor) and services the community
wants, and that a smaller project would not be economically
viable.
The Revised Hybrid LEED plan now before the county supervisors:
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Reduces retail space at the village to under 100,000 square feet
(sf) to 95,070 sf.
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Removes all towers and many second stories.
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Pushes all buildings 100 feet away from Corral de Tierra and 68.
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Lowers the height of
the anchor grocery and reduces its size to 25,150
sf.
Q. How
does the village protect the area’s rural character and scenic
corridor?
A. Designers Hart
Howerton have gone to great lengths to preserve rural character
and protect scenic corridor views. The village is a series of
domestic scale and quality buildings arranged around grand oak
trees, open air plazas and pedestrian paths. Materials, colors
and architecture mirror nearby historic agricultural barns and
buildings. Under the revised plan, most buildings are
one story and all structures are
at least 100 feet from the frontage roads.
Parking
is subdivided into 12 landscaped parking zones with 27% of the parking hidden behind the buildings. There
are heavily planted berms along both frontage roads creating a
green visual screen to passersby. Below are renderings of
offsite views of the flat developed site.
The
view today looking at the site traveling on Highway 68 toward
Salinas
click to enlarge
The
same view 5-7 years after the project is developed on the 11-acre
flat site
click to enlarge
The view today looking at the site traveling north on Corral de
Tierra Road toward Highway 68
click
to enlarge
The same view along Corral de Tierra 5-7 years after the project is
developed.
click to enlarge
Q. What will happen to the existing gas station?
A. Once the village project is underway, the Phelps family will
submit an application for improving the gas station site to
complement the village project’s architecture and use. The gas
tanks and surrounding soil were removed and cleaned in
accordance with state regulations over a decade ago.
click to enlarge Q. What kind of shops and services will go into the
village?
A.
The Phelps family set out to bring the community great tenants
that meet the residents’ needs. In the community-wide poll
taken in 2002, residents said their number one need was for a
full-service, family style market. So, the shopping village has
a market as its anchor. Ten smaller village-style buildings
could include a post office, pet store, sporting goods, hardware
store, a drug store, copy shop, coffee shop, dry cleaner, retail
shops and restaurants. The Phelps hired an economist to study
the economic feasibility and sustainability of the village. The
firm found that the village design and size was ideal for
attracting and keeping quality tenants.
Q. Will the project hurt groundwater supplies?
A. We all share a concern over groundwater supply in the Toro
Area. The proposed Hybrid LEED plan would actually benefit
groundwater supply. How is that possible? Today, rainfall that
hits the vacant site mostly runs off as stormwater and flows
away in creeks toward the Pacific Ocean. Just .9 acre feet a
year percolates down through the site to recharge the
groundwater supply. The proposed project incorporates a
rainwater harvesting and recharge system, that collects, retains
and recharges rainwater tenfold, or 10.9 acre feet a year. And,
by installing LEED water conservation measures and xeriscape
landscaping, the project’s water usage drops to 7.5 acre feet a
year. The result is a net benefit of 3.4 acre feet a
year for the local groundwater basin.
Q. Will the village make traffic on Highway 68 worse?
A. No, the village will IMPROVE traffic on Highway 68 by shortening
shopping trips by local residents by an average of 10 miles per
trip. As a result, the village saves almost 3500 vehicle
miles traveled (VMT) every day, mostly on Highway 68.
Q. Who provides water and sewer to the village?
A. The
project is currently served by existing water and sewer utility
lines and has three hydrants. The Phelps have contributed to the
development of the water supply and storage system owned by
California American Water Company. The project’s water would
come from Ambler Park water supply wells within the Corral de
Tierra sub-area 500 feet southeast of the project site.
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