Forest and Beach Commission outlines priorities for master plan, wildfire guidance and beach maintenance; staff summarizes June operations

At its July meeting, the Forest and Beach Commission of Carmel-by-the-Sea discussed priorities for the coming fiscal year'from finishing the forest master plan to coordinating beach capital projects'and heard a monthly operations report from Public Works.

Key priorities

Commissioners said the commission should "pick some things that we might be able to advance in the next fiscal year," including finalizing a vetted forest management plan, clarifying roles shared with the Planning Commission, preparing resident education materials for private parcels, and integrating wildfire guidance and the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) into forestry work. Commissioners emphasized moving some items forward before the master plan is fully complete, citing tree fines and wildfire guidance as examples.

Commissioner and public comments stressed practical priorities: the forester'and commissioners noted insurance cancellations tied to trees close to homes, changing state requirements for stormwater capture that affect planting areas, and the need to balance tree canopy with ocean views. Commissioners proposed clearer definitions and published terminology for "tree health" and "risk" to make enforcement and public-facing materials consistent.

Planning coordination

Evan Court, the city's senior planner, told the commission that the municipal code requires Forest and Beach to hear projects involving trees before planning action but that timing is not specified. "One thing that we could do in the future is not sending those plans to you once or until the plans are deemed complete," Court said, noting the common tension that applicants often seek early feedback before investing in full architectural sets.

Public Works and Forrester report

Public Works staff delivered a June summary: crews removed five trees, planted one, and pruned 20; staff addressed approximately 208 tickets and cleared many Freshdesk entries during a data cleanup effort; the department submitted 30 permits and issued 22. Staff said June tended to be slow at the end of the fiscal year but that activity will increase after the bird-nesting season ends in September.

Staff also reported a nearly $1 million combined CIP and operating allocation for tree work in the new fiscal year and said plans include more aggressive planting (with multi-year establishment contracts) and continued stump removal and fuel-management tasks.

Beach priorities

Commissioners recommended clearer prioritization of short-term versus long-term beach capital items, including rock-wall repair, stair replacement and drainage. Staff said some budgets are for design and engineering rather than full construction, and that certain stairs will require higher engineering standards than earlier maintenance work.

Customer service and data handling

Commissioners and staff discussed tree-related customer service burdens. Public Works staff said the office receives an average of three to four in-person walk-ins and about 13 phone interactions daily related to trees, plus many Freshdesk tickets; one commissioner said past internal tracking showed staff were spending roughly four hours per day addressing resident interactions on tree issues. Commissioners suggested improved website navigation and simplified "top-10" FAQs and considered temporary customer-service support or volunteers to help filter routine inquiries.

Public comment

Maria Sutherland (Friends of Carmel Forest) raised soil compaction from construction and urged stronger root-zone protections. A commenter urged adherence to the Coastal Act because Carmel sits in the coastal zone and has special requirements.

Ending

Commissioners instructed staff to continue editing the draft forest master plan and to begin scheduling working-group sessions in the fall, said they will follow up on process clarifications with planning staff, and supported forming subgroups to advance specific policy work such as fines and wildfire policy. Public Works said more detailed monthly metrics and a CIP dashboard will be provided in subsequent reports.