PRESERVE AMERICA’S LAST HOMETOWN, PACIFIC GROVE, CALIFORNIA
PRESERVE AMERICA’S LAST HOMETOWN, PACIFIC GROVE, CALIFORNIA
SAVE HARBOR SEAL PUPS, SAVE 79 MATURE TREES AND SAVE THE HISTORIC AMERICAN TIN CANNERY FROM DESTRUCTION
The American Tin Cannery (ATC) located across the street from the Hopkins Marine Station and the Monterey Bay Aquarium is under the threat of development for a massive hotel.
From around the world, visitors come to see “America’s last hometown.” The proposed massive size of the American Tin Cannery hotel will dwarf low-scale buildings in the surrounding neighborhood, and increase traffic at the entrance to Pacific Grove, block precious coastal views, and threaten the natural environment. It’s not compatible with the charm of what Pacific Grove is - a small, iconic, coastal community.
If you love the beautiful Monterey Cypress trees which form our Urban Forest, please sign this petition.
If you love seeing the harbor seal pups adjacent to the Hopkins Marine Station, please sign this petition.
If you are a birdwatcher and love seeing Oystercatchers and other birds nesting in the Rocky Shoreline, please sign this petition.
If you care about the preservation of PG’s heritage, its Tribal and Asian cultural sites and historic connection to Cannery Row, please sign this petition.
Tell our Decision Makers that the proposed American Tin Cannery Hotel is too destructive to our environment and the historic roots of Pacific Grove, California.
We need your voice:
We are resisting a massive hotel and commercial development that proposes to engulf the entire American Tin Cannery (ATC) block and property uphill from that, including taking over Sloat Ave. The historic American Can Company buildings (now called American Tin Cannery, or ATC) located at the entrance to Pacific Grove, California would be largely demolished and all 79 healthy, mature, trees would be removed including 52 supposedly protected Monterey Cypress trees. The project proposes 347,376 square feet of three-story and four-story buildings, with 2 separate hotel structures, entrances and lobbies, 2 swimming pools, retail space, and 260 underground valet parking spaces excavated out of solid granite, plus 44 street-level valet spaces off Central Ave.
WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
Harbor Seals pups threatened. Our community takes pride in the fact the beaches across the street from the proposed American Tin Cannery Hotel have provided safe space for Harbor Seals to haul out and to raise pups. Noise pollution and underground drilling & excavation vibrations are expected to significantly stress the Harbor Seals, which are known to be very sensitive to even normal construction noise. The granite is so hard and dense that conventional excavation methods cannot be used. Construction is estimated to last two years, with demolition of the reinforced concrete buildings and excavation of granite bedrock lasting an estimated 2 and 1/2 months, including removal of over 6,500 truckloads of granite, building debris, and pavement. Serious impacts on the seals have NOT been adequately addressed by the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
Extreme tree removal. The proposed ATC hotel project is so massive that it requires the removal of 79 trees (including “protected” Monterey Cypresses), which comprise the entire tree population of the property. The iconic native Monterey Cypress trees are irreplaceable and a precious part of our community. The beautiful scenic vistas and natural habitat that all these mature trees provide is proposed to be replaced with non-native, decorative landscape trees.
Destruction of historic resources. This is a culturally rich area of Pacific Grove. Indigenous people lived and camped all along Pacific Grove’s shoreline, and there are identified Tribal cultural sites in the immediate project vicinity. Across the street from the American Tin Cannery was an early Chinese fishing village from the 1850’s to 1906. Artifacts have been found at Hopkins Marine Station, and there’s a memorial plaque along Hopkin’s fence with historic photographs. The ATC buildings were originally the American Can Company factory, offices, and warehouse built in 1928, and provided the cans for Monterey’s canneries; they are an important part of the history of the Monterey Bay’s sardine industry and Cannery Row. Their historic significance and qualification for the City’s Historic Resources Inventory (from which they’ve been surreptitiously deleted) and for the California Register of Historic Places are documented in the EIR. All the existing historic buildings are well-designed and well-built reinforced concrete structures that are adaptable for hotel and commercial uses. It’s foolish to demolish them and haul them to the landfill instead of celebrating Pacific Grove’s heritage with a sustainably designed, modest scale project.
Tell our Decision Makers to scale back the project.
Protect the Harbor Seals
Protect the 79 mature trees
Protect the historical Tribal and Asian cultural sites, leave them undisturbed.
Protect Pacific Grove’s historic connection to Monterey Bay’s sardine industry.
Protect America’s Last Hometown
Forward this petition to everyone you know who loves Pacific Grove, California. Thank you for signing and forwarding to your family and friends for their support.
For more information: