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Extracted from Consolidated Report

This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.

Score: 0 (1/1/1)

Monterey County Grand Jury • 2024-2025

Monterey’s Deteriorating Wharves:*

Published: December 23, 2024 21 pages

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⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.

⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.

Findings 5 findings

The City of Monterey has failed to maintain the structural integrity of its wharves for many years, resulting in the wharves' classification as being in "Poor" condition, according to ASCE standards. Several structural elements have been identified as requiring immediate repair, yet little action has been taken. This neglect poses serious risks to public safety, the City's historic structures, and the assets of leaseholders.

Under the 1991 leases, the City of Monterey cannot require leaseholders to undertake structural repairs identified by the City's inspection reports unless the leaseholder's engineer agrees those repairs are necessary. This allows the leaseholders to avoid making immediate and critical repairs identified in the City- commissioned wharf-wide inspections.

The six-month timeframe for repair completion specified in the 1991 ground leases is unrealistic in today's regulatory environment. Currently, the permits alone, required from the City of Monterey, Army Corps of Engineers, Regional Water Quality Control Board, and California Coastal Commission, cannot all be obtained in six months. Consequently, the City allows the leaseholders to delay these repairs without a required completion date or a penalty for noncompliance.

The City of Monterey has not informed all ground leaseholders regarding their ability to use the City's Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND), which could significantly expedite the permitting process. This has resulted in delays in leaseholder-initiated repairs. By employing the MND, leaseholders can streamline the permitting process, reduce costs associated with delayed repairs, and ultimately shorten the time required to mitigate risks to the public.

In 2019, the City of Monterey commissioned a consulting firm at significant expense to create an ongoing maintenance program. This was intended to streamline structural repairs to the wharves, replacing the less efficient project-by-project method. The City of Monterey has yet to implement the Program, delaying work by at least three years, which is equivalent to the length of one maintenance cycle, jeopardizing public safety.

Recommendations 9

R1

The City of Monterey prepare and publish a report analyzing the discrepancies between leaseholder inspection reports and the 2024 COWI/Foth findings of "immediate" or "critical" repairs. The report must specify the necessity of each repair in accordance with ASCE standards and shall be made public
R2

The City of Monterey include any necessary repairs identified by the City's analysis of discrepancies between leaseholder inspection reports and the 2024 COWI/Foth
R3

The City of Monterey repeat the analysis of discrepancies between leaseholder inspection reports and the 2024 COWI/Foth findings and incorporation of discrepancies into the Capital Improvement Programs (as specified in R1 and R2) every three years.
R4

The City of Monterey develop a policy to provide a reasonable timeframe for leaseholders to complete repairs, accommodating the current permitting demands, instead of the six months as specified in the 1991 ground leases. The policy shall be implemented
R5

The City of Monterey develop, communicate, and implement a more proactive process for monitoring and enforcing required leaseholder repairs in a reasonable timeframe for leaseholders to complete repairs, accommodating the current permitting demands (as specified in R4),
R6

The City of Monterey notify leaseholders of the existing Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for use in expediting repair permits
R7

The City of Monterey update and publish a wharves maintenance plan that prioritizes and schedules "immediate" and "critical" repairs in accordance with ASCE standards.
R8

The City of Monterey identify funding sources to ensure ongoing structural integrity of the wharves as outlined in the report developed by ESA in 2019
R9

The City of Monterey complete triennial comprehensive structural inspection schedule for both wharves by November 30, 2025, and share resulting findings with all ground leaseholders within two months of receipt.

Conclusions 1

CL1

The Monterey wharves, still in “Poor” structural condition, require repairs that have yet to be addressed. Ultimately, the City of Monterey is responsible for maintenance, while leaseholders share the responsibility for repairs. Multiple inspections and reports have documented the necessary repairs at significant cost to the taxpayers. Discrepancies between evaluations by certified engineers for the leaseholders and the City have hindered progress. Additionally, a complex permitting process has further hindered the completion of those repairs. At the June 4, 2024, Monterey City Council meeting, staff reported that $17 million is needed over the next five years to finish just the City’s identified portion of the work. However, the current funding projections are significantly less than this amount, further complicating repair efforts. While the City has taken steps to address maintenance challenges, substantial repairs are needed, and long-term solutions remain unidentified. 15

Agency Responses 2

Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.

City of Monterey's Response to Monterey's Deteriorating Wharves, A Concern For Public Safety

June 26, 2025 • 8 pages • 3 responses • Score: 0 (+1, 1, -1) View Details ▾

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3 responses to findings and recommendations

The City of Monterey prepare and publish a report analyzing the discrepancies between leaseholder inspection reports and the 2024 COWI/Foth findings of "immediate" or "critical" repairs. The report must specify the necessity of each repair in accordance with ASCE standards and shall be made public

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

Lessees are required to obtain a structural inspection report and to make the necessary repairs pursuant to their lease agreement. The City provided a copy of the 2017 COWi findings to each lessee so that their engineer could consider these findings in their inspection and report. Lessees are at various stages of completing these improvements. The City will not include the lessee's repairs in the Capital Improvement Program, as the repair areas are located on leased land. R3. The City of Monterey repeat the analysis of discrepancies between leaseholder inspection reports and the 2024 COWi/Foth...

The City of Monterey include any necessary repairs identified by the City's analysis of discrepancies between leaseholder inspection reports and the 2024 COWI/Foth

Response: Will Implement

Score: +1

above, lessees are required to obtain a qualified structural inspection report and to make the necessary repairs pursuant to their lease agreement. The City provided a copy of the 2017 COWi findings to each lessee so that their engineer could consider these findings in their inspection and report. Lessees are at various stages of completing these improvements. Therefore, it would be impractical, unnecessary, and in conflict with the ground leases for the City to add the lessee repairs to the City's Capital Improvement Program. R4. The City of Monterey develop a policy to provide a reasonable t...

The City of Monterey develop a policy to provide a reasonable timeframe for leaseholders to complete repairs, accommodating the current permitting demands, instead of the six months as specified in the 1991 ground leases. The policy shall be implemented

Response: Implemented

Score: 0

above. In the past 12 months, 10 building permits have been processed and three have been finalized for structural repairs completed pursuant to lease agreements on Wharf I and Wharf II. R6. The City of Monterey notify leaseholders of the existing Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for use in expediting repair permits by September 30, 2025 The City Council accepts this recommendation and will provide a copy of the Mitigated Negative Declaration to all Wharf I and Wharf II ground lessees by September 30, 2025. R7. The City of Monterey update and publish a wharves maintenance plan that priorit...

Spanish - Monterey's Deteriorating Wharves, A Concern For Public Safety

April 22, 2025 • 21 pages View Details ▾

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No Responses Found 1

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

Monterey City

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.