Please view our July 2025 newsletter HERE.
| PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE We just had our third annual neighborhood get together in Oak Newton Park. And as was the case last year, Board Members Alecia Hull and Arleen Hardenstein generously sponsored this catered event. Thank you so much! The food, the conversations and the connections made were all excellent. The weather…well, it didn’t rain. I met people who were new to our neighborhood as well as the seasoned multi-decade neighbors and it was great to see the connections that were formed. And this is one of the reasons for your NMNA. But why else do we exist? One reason is to inform you, our residents, about events and information that other platforms such as Nextdoor just aren’t as good at doing. We also provide the conduit by which information and input from our neighborhood is gathered so that we can help voice the concerns of our neighborhood. The more of you we hear from, the better. So please don’t be shy and let us know what’s on your mind. What would you like to learn about? Let us know and we can see if we can organize a membership meeting to become educated. In the latter part of July, we’re planning on holding a general membership meeting with our representative to the Monterey Peninsula Airport District, May Ann Leffel as our guest speaker. Tom Reeves NMNA President |
| How To Know What to Do in an Emergency Tom Reeves As most of you have probably know, David Avenue was closed due to construction within Pacific Grove. This resulted in increased traffic on Prescott Avenue. Fortunately, Forest Avenue/Highway 68 wasn’t closed. But what happens in the event of an emergency closure of Forest Avenue between Pacific Grove and Highway 1 or Lighthouse Avenue? If you smell and/or see smoke rising, where do you find information about evacuation routes or should you even evacuate? The answer is Alert Monterey County. With Alert Monterey County, you’ll receive up to the minute information about emergencies in your area. By registering your smart phone with Alert Monterey County, you will get information from our local emergency services staff about whether to evacuate, what route to take in the event of an evacuation and where to evacuate to. Or, hopefully, it’s just smoke from one of your neighbor’s barbeques. To sign up with Alert Monterey County, follow this link: https://alertmontereycounty.genasys.com/portal/en/register |
| NMNA Picnic – A Windy Success! Roberta Myers Our NMNA Third Annual Community Picnic was held at beautiful Oak Newton Park on Friday June 20th from 4:30- 6:30 PM. In spite of cool and gusty winds, more than 50 New Monterey members and their families gathered to enjoy being together on the sunny longest day of the year. There were 60 RSVPs honoring the park limit of 55-60. Hats off to Arleen Hardenstein and Alecia Hull of Sotheby’s International Realty/Canning Properties who sponsored this event. Once again Joanne Garden created elegant calligraphic name tags for folks at the registration table where volunteers handed out tickets for a taco truck – a new offering this year. The food truck, Bliss Harmony Café, offered a wide variety of scrumptious food on its menu. In addition to the food truck, we noshed on fabulous strawberries and snacks placed on tables as we enjoyed one another’s company. Again, thanks to Alecia Hull and Arleen Hardenstein of Sotheby’s International Realty/Canning Properties for sponsoring a wonderful community event and to the volunteers: Chinyere Ogbonna, Joanne Garden, Tom Reeves, Roberta Myers, Mark Andrews. President, Tom Reeves said, “this year’s even was off the scales, as it’s been every preceding year. The caterer was excellent, the company was excellent, the weather was… well, it was okay. A GIGANTIC THANK YOU to Alecia and Arleen for finding the caterer and funding the party. I can’t express what a generous and memorable gesture this is.” |
| 4th of July Successful Celebration Alecia Hull On July 4, 2025, the festivities in Monterey kicked off with the popular Firefighters’ Charity Pancake Breakfast at Fire Station #11, raising funds for MY Museum and bringing the community together over breakfast and conversation. At 10 AM, the annual parade paraded through Old Monterey, drawing around 15,000 cheering spectators, featuring colorful floats, cars, Rotary Club and various other clubs. The parade was followed by the “Big 4th Celebration & Backyard Food Fest” on the Colton Hall lawn from 10:45 AM to 4:30 PM, where families enjoyed live music by The Pfeffers, Carnaval!, Wild at Heart, and Foreverland, The entire day was alcohol-free and dog-friendly (only service animals), wrapped up in a warm, patriotic atmosphere with plenty of dancing, good food, and community spirit. |
| The City Council Has Been Busy! Bob Evans At the June 17th meeting there were proposals to combine the Architectural Review Commission (ARC) with the Planning Commission (Planning), that Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) be combined with the Museum and Cultural Arts Commission (MACA). After considerable discussion and input from community members at the meeting and attending remotely, the Council voted to combine ARC with Planning. Most projects have in the past been considered by both commissions, this new combination may be more efficient for both developers and City staff. HPC and MACA were not combined. The HPC works primarily with the Planning Department and property owners who are seeking Mills Act tax relief for maintaining and/or improving historic buildings. The MACA works with the Library Director to maintain, improve and staff Colton Hall, the old jail, the Lower Presidio Museum, the Pacific Biologic Lab and to sponsor events for the benefit of residents and visitors. Another much discussed issue was changes to the way Commissionaires are interviewed and recommended to the Council for appointment. In the recent pass applicants for Commissions and the Community and Neighborhood Improvement Program (NCIP) have been interviewed only by the Mayor who then recommended candidates to the Council for approval. Council members Rasch and Smith brought the issue to the Council after meeting with neighborhood representatives. After much public input and considerable discussion, the Council voted to have the Mayor and the Vice Mayor interview all candidates for Commissions and NCIP and make recommendations to the Council for appointments. Serving on Commissions or NCIP is interesting and a great way to both serve your community and learn about the innerworkings of local government. Finally, the Council considered the request to extend the expiration of the Vesting Tentative Map for the Ocean View Plaza Project. Without another one-year extension, the developer would have to start the approval process over. The project is located between El Torito and the Chart House on both sides of Cannery Row. The project was originally approved 21 years ago in 2004 and has had 19 extensions to keep it alive without any positive progress. In fact, progress has be negative in that the historic San Xavier warehouse was torn down and the old Stohans gallery (https://www.flickr.com/photos/st33vo/15008640640) has been allowed to deteriorate. The project was disapproved by the Coastal Commission two year ago due to “changed circumstance.” However, without discussion, Council member Barber moved to extend the project, and the measure passed. For more information visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfZUzdYqWM4 and https://www.canneryrowplaza.net/created- by#:~:text=RUBY%20FALLS,that%20Cannery%20Row%20currently%20offers.’ |
| NCIP Nomination Deadline Tom Reeves Have you taken a walk in our neighborhood and noticed that for some reason a sidewalk ends and then picks up again further down the block? Or maybe there is no sidewalk, and you’d like to have sidewalk. Perhaps there’s worn play equipment in a park, or you have an idea about how to make your neighborhood a better place to live. There’s a solution to that! It’s called the Neighborhood and Community Improvement Program or NCIP. The NCIP is funded through the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT). You can put your thoughts down on the downloadable form that you can find HERE. The rules are quite simple. The proposal must be for a “capital improvement” which basically means anything that is affixed to the ground (so it can’t pay for programs or movable items like vehicles). It can be of neighborhood or community-wide benefit. So, give it some thought and get your nominations in by no later than July 31, 2025. Here’s what’s been turned into date: 1. Irving Ave Stairway and Walkway Path Reconstruction 2. 398 Belden St Vacant Lot (purchase) 3. Street Signs – Requesting Street Noise 4. Hilltop Park Center Renovations Phase 2 5. 499 Drake Ave Sidewalk Install 6. 800 Block Pine Sidewalk Repairs 7. New Public Restroom on Cannery Row |
| Upcoming Events CAR WEEK – Here Comes the Action-Packed Peninsula! Here’s a curated overview of the Monterey Car Week 2025 schedule in Monterey and surrounding areas (Aug 8–17), showcasing top automotive events throughout the week: Friday, August 8 — Monterey Car Week KickOff: Classic car cruisein on Alvarado Street in downtown Monterey (5—7 PM) Saturday–Sunday, August 9–10 – Monterey PreReunion & Corkscrew Hillclimb: Historic racing practice and qualifying at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, finishing with the dramatic Corkscrew Monday, August 11 – Automobilia Collectors Expo (Day 1): Vintage automotive memorabilia show in Seaside; plus Central Coast Poker Rally and the free Porsche Monterey Classic Tuesday, August 12 – Automobilia Expo (Day 2) and Concours for a Cause, celebrating rare cars and local arts Wednesday, August 13 – Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (Day 1) at Laguna Seca, alongside Automobilia Expo, Astons on the Avenue, The Little Car Show, BMW M Sport Event, and the launch of Motorlux and Pebble Beach Motoring Classic Thursday, August 14 – Racing continues with Rolex Reunion Day 2, plus scenic events like Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance, Legends of the Autobahn, Ferrari Owners Club Concours Carmel, Mecum Auction, and women-focused Prancing Ponies Show Friday, August 15 – Highlights include Werks Reunion Monterey (Porsches), final day of Rolex racing (Day 3), The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, RM Sotheby’s Auction, and a family friendly Pacific Grove Rotary Concours Auto Rally Saturday, August 16 – Action-packed with Rolex Reunion Day 4, quirky Concours d’Lemons, Concorso Italiano, Exotics on Broadway (featuring 40k+ spectators), Monterey Motorsports Festival (supercars + live music), and Mecum Auction Sunday, August 17 – Grand finale: Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on the 18th fairway, alongside Pebble Beach RetroAuto In addition, high-profile auctions like Bonhams Quail Lodge, Broad Arrow, RM Sotheby’s, Gooding & Company, and Mecum run throughout the week, primarily mid-week (Aug 13–16). |
| Want to see what’s new in our very own Lighthouse District? Click HERE to check it out! |