Pacific Grove council will vote on public hearing timeline for district maps

CITY COUNCIL

Pacific Grove council members Luke Coletti, Lori McDonnell and Joe Amelio have a discussion during a regular meeting Feb. 14. The Pacific Grove City Council will continue the discussion for vacating the city’s rights to a section of Sloat Avenue during Wednesday’s meeting. KYARRA HARRIS — MONTEREY HERALD

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By Kyarra Harris

kharris@montereyherald.com

PACIFIC GROVE >> The Pacific Grove City Council will continue moving forward with plans to vacate a portion of Sloat Avenue and begin setting dates for future public hearings about creating districts for the city’s election system.

Foursome Development Company, the developers working on the hotel at the site of the American Tin Cannery, is purchasing a section of Sloat Avenue from Pacific Grove for $1,917,665.

When the city council approved a conditional development permit for the 225-room hotel back in 2022, that included the six-acre site of the American Tin Cannery and portions of Sloat Avenue and Ocean View Boulevard.

The agreement will allow the developers to include Sloat Avenue and Ocean View Boulevard in hotel plans and any needed commercial spaces and secure funding to move forward with construction.

The city staff will present a proposed timeline of public hearings that will focus on formulating draft maps and election sequencing for Pacific Grove to move to a by-district election system.

In previous council meetings, the city attorney suggested the council request an extension on the public hearings and start the process after the holidays. The proposed timeline would go as follows:

• Nov. 20 — first public hearing on the composition of possible districts before draft maps are drawn.

• Dec. 18 — second public hearing on the composition of possible districts before draft maps are drawn.

• Jan. 8 — staff will conduct a community workshop formatted meeting to educate residents on how to use the map drawing tools. The meeting will be noticed as a special meeting of the City Council to allow council members to attend if they choose, but no hearings will be held at this community workshop.

• Feb. 5 — third public hearing on draft maps submitted by Pacific Grove residents.

• March 5 — fourth public hearing on draft maps submitted by Pacific Grove residents, and First Reading of an Ordinance to adopt a district map and sequencing in which districts will be implemented.

• March 19 — second reading of the Ordinance adopting the district map and sequencing which districts will be implemented.

If approved by the council, the city could have finalized district maps by March 31.

The Pacific Grove City Council will meet 6 p.m. Wednesday at Pacific Grove City Hall, 300 Forest Avenue. You can watch the meeting online via Zoom at cityofpacificgrove.org/Zoom_CC.