Board continues Harper Canyon subdivision hearing to June 17 after agencies raise wildlife‑corridor concerns

The Board of Supervisors continued deliberation May 20 on the Harper Canyon (Encina Hills) subdivision after the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and local conservation groups said additional time is needed to refine wildlife‑corridor mitigation.

Lede: Supervisors set a new hearing date of June 17, 2025, to allow Monterey County staff, the project applicant and CDFW to consult further on proposed mitigation to preserve connectivity between Fort Ord National Monument and the Santa Lucia Mountains via Toro Regional Park.

Why it matters: The 17‑lot proposal on about 344 acres has been entangled in litigation and environmental review for years. A Court of Appeal remanded the case to the county to address wildlife‑connectivity issues; the board is now considering updated analyses and mitigation measures focused on wildlife corridors and camera‑trap findings.

Background and recent work Planning staff told the board the project was previously approved in 2015 but the approval was rescinded after appellate litigation required additional wildlife‑corridor study. The county contracted Denny, Duffy & Associates to run a camera‑trap study that recorded focal species — bobcat, coyote, fox, deer, mountain lion and wild pig — and produced a heat map of detections. Staff said mitigation revisions require dedicating about 54 acres as open space for Toro Regional Park and establishing corridor easements with building envelopes shifted to maximize permeability. The revised mitigation language lowered discretionary phrasing in places — replacing “should” with “shall” — and added specific measures such as wildlife‑friendly lighting criteria, homeowner education to reduce wildlife attractants, and prohibitions on livestock like chickens and pigs where they would undermine the corridor.

CDFW and conservation concerns Jeremy Pullman, a senior environmental scientist with California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told the board the site sits within an essential corridor connecting the Fort Ord National Monument and the Santa Lucias and warned that development within that corridor could “completely isolate wildlife populations and disrupt this critical habitat linkage.” Pullman said the proposed footprint and narrow corridor segments increase the potential for human‑wildlife conflicts and that the measures in the supplemental EIR “do not adequately address CDFW’s concerns.” He recommended continued discussion and, if needed, consolidation or relocation of the development footprint to avoid long‑term population level effects.

Applicant and other perspectives The applicant’s counsel, Matt Francois, said the project would leave roughly 90% of the overall property undeveloped and that mitigation in the supplemental EIR, along with the 54‑acre dedication, would create a corridor approximately 1,500 feet wide at key points — “about five football fields laid end to end,” he said in his presentation. The applicant also offered to record easements on adjacent lots of record to extend and protect the linkage.

Public comment and conservation groups Conservation organizations including Big Sur Land Trust and The Trust for Public Land urged the board not to approve the project as proposed and asked for more time to refine the corridor plan; Big Sur Land Trust staff said their group is working with partners to acquire nearby parcels (Farini Ranch) to protect the same corridor. Members of the community raised concerns that the camera‑trap sampling window did not cover known seasonal dispersal months and asked for additional, longer‑term monitoring.

Board action After discussion, supervisors voted to continue the public hearing to June 17, 2025 to allow additional consultation between county staff, the applicant and CDFW and to give the agency more time to review the revised mitigation language and conceptual corridor figure. The board instructed planning staff to return with updated mitigation language and any revised maps in advance of the continued hearing.

Sources and attribution: Monterey County planning staff presentation by Craig Spencer; applicant presentation by Matt Francois (counsel); comment letter and in‑person remarks from California Department of Fish and Wildlife (Jeremy Pullman and Zach Mills); public comments and letters from Big Sur Land Trust, The Trust for Public Land and other conservation stakeholders.