ITEM: VI PUBLIC HEARINGS
 
  1. REQUEST TO RECONSIDER OCTOBER 26, 2000 DENIAL OF WATER USE CREDIT TRANSFER REQUEST FOR ROBLES DEL RIO LODGE, LLC, TO MONTEREY COUNTY


    2.  
    Meeting Date: November 20, 2000 

    Staff Contact: Gabriela Ayala 

    General Counsel Approval: N/A  
    Committee Recommendation: N/A 
    CEQA Compliance: Negative Declaration 

    		 Budgeted: N/A 
    Program/Line Item No.: N/A 
    Cost Estimate: N/A 
     
     

SUMMARY: At its October 26, 2000 meeting, the Board voted 3-4 on the motion to approve the request to transfer water use credits from Robles del Rio Lodge to Monterey County. As a result, the transfer request was denied. The four Board members who voted against approval included Directors Chesshire, Erickson, Henson, and Lindstrom. Formal requests to place this item on the November 20, 2000 agenda for possible reconsideration were submitted by Directors Chesshire, Pendergrass, and Potter, pursuant to District Meeting Rules #12 and #23 (Exhibit 1). Only a Board member who voted on the prevailing side on October 26, 2000 may make a motion for reconsideration. If the motion for reconsideration is approved, then the previous action on October 26, 2000 would be nullified. The public hearing would resume at the point at which the last vote on October 26, 2000 was taken, with the public comment closed. The Board could, following a motion and second, vote again on the application to transfer water use credits from Robles del Rio Lodge to Monterey County. Alternatively, the Board could reopen the hearing to receive public comment before voting again or could continue the matter to a future meeting. The District website www.mpwmd.dst.ca.us has information for the public hearings of October 26, 2000.

RECOMMENDATION: If the water use credit transfer request is reconsidered and approved, staff recommends that approval of the transfer be conditioned upon the property owner's consent to allow the District to record a deed restriction confirming that the transfer of water credit is irrevocable. The deed restriction will also acknowledge that any intensification of water use through a water distribution system on the subject property, as defined by District Rule 11, will require prior written authorization from the County of Monterey and prior written authorization and permits from the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, in accord with then applicable provisions of law.

BACKGROUND: Robles del Rio Lodge, LLC, successor in interest to Ron Gurries Family partnership in the ownership of a motel in Carmel Valley, has applied under District Rule 28-B to transfer 7.827 acre-feet of water use credits from the property to the County of Monterey. In addition to the water use credits that are proposed for transfer, the District would retain 1.381 acre-feet of the annual water use that was calculated for the site to meet its long-term water conservation goals. The water use credit was established in June 1998, following a permanent disconnection from the California-American Water Company system. The reduction in use occurred on May 22, 1998, and is valid until May 22, 2003, unless extended for an additional 60 months at that time. The motel and related facilities uses continue to operate on the site utilizing a private water system.

DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: District Meeting Rule 23, Reconsideration, states:

At the meeting succeeding that on which a final vote on any question has been taken, said vote may be reconsidered on the motion of a member of the Board who voted on the prevailing side. A motion to reconsider shall be in order only if that item had been timely placed on that agenda. It shall not be in order for any member to move a reconsideration at the meeting at which such final vote was taken. Said motion of reconsideration shall have precedence over every other motion.

It is notable that any member of the Board can request that an item be placed on the agenda, but only a member of the prevailing side can make a motion for reconsideration.

PRIOR BOARD ACTION: The Board considered the Robles del Rio Lodge water use credit transfer request on June 29, 2000, and continued its consideration until after the Monterey County Board of Supervisors had granted final approval of the transfer. The Board denied the transfer request on October 26, 2000.

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