By PAUL MILLER

A MONTEREY county supervisor said this week thecounty would not try to force the owner of a 40-acre ranch inCarmel Valley to remove a modest wooden cross he erectedseven years ago on top of a hill above Carmel Valley Road.

Supervisor Dave Potter also said Monterey County willconsider changes to ordinances that require complicated per-mits for very simple structures.

“I talked to [county administrator] Lew Bauman, and weagreed it’s ridiculous to take an enforcement action againstthe owner of the cross,” Potter told The Pine Cone. “The

county will stay enforcementwhile we work on an ordinancethat would set up an administra-tive process for things which arede minimis.”

According to Potter, afterconsulting with the head of thecounty building department,Tim McCormick, he realizedthat, “technically, the cross is inviolation” of the county code,along with numerous otherstructures around the county,such as treehouses, swing setsand flagpoles.

Last fall, after a complaintfrom a neighbor — whose nameis being kept confidential by thecounty — the county buildingdepartment told the owner ofthe cross, Larry Scholink, he

would have to get a permit for it, including site plans, set-backs and permit fees of up to $1,000.

But Scholink questioned the permit requirement, because

Learning how tocook well with theright ingredients

A busy, busyweek at

Peninsula galleries

You can neverhave enough brass— INSIDE THIS WEEK

Volume 94 No. 14 On the Internet: www.carmelpinecone.com

Y O U R S O U R C E F O R L O C A L N E W S , A R T S A N D O P I N I O N S I N C E 1 9 1 5

April 4-10, 2008

BULK RATEU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDCARMEL, CA

Permit No. 149

See WATER page 12A

See CRASH page 10A

See CROSS page 14A

See PBF&W page 27A

See ART FEST page 10A

PHOTO/PAUL MILLER

A wooden cross on aCarmel Valley hilltopdoesn’t have to beremoved, a county super-visor said this week.

PHOTO/PAUL MILLER

Pebble Beach Food and Wine festival co-founder David Bernahl (right) celebrated withSan Francisco chef Gary Danko at a tastingevent Sunday.

PHOTO/JERRY GATT

Skid marks dramatically show the path of a large truck as it careened off CarmelValley Road after colliding with an SUV Friday. Remarkably, no one was killed.

PHOTO/KELLY NIX

These reverse osmosis units at the Carmel sewage treatment plant will puri-fy water for use on the golf courses and athletic fields of Del Monte Forest.

Get your complete Carmel Pine Cone every Friday morning in convenient pdf format as an email attachment. Free subscriptions available at www.carmelpinecone.com.

POTTER: THECROSS CAN STAY

Advanced treatment plant ready for testing■ A drought-proof water supplyfor Pebble Beach’s golf courses

By KELLY NIX

AFTER YEARS of planning, fundraisingand construction, testing will begin this week ata new sewage treatment plant on the south bankof the Carmel River to convert wastewater intopristine irrigation water for the famed golfcourses of Pebble Beach.

The new treatment plant, located just acrossthe Carmel River from the Carmel Mission,will be turned on for the first time Friday, asworkers from the Carmel Area WastewaterDistrict test a reverse osmosis filtration systemthat will reduce the mineral content ofreclaimed wastewater used to irrigate DelMonte Forest’s golf greens and athletic fields.

Previously, golf greens that were irrigatedwith recycled water from CAWD had to beperiodically flushed with drinking waterbecause the salt content of the recycled waterwas too high.

By making it possible to eliminate use ofdrinking water, the new reverse osmosis systemwill save about 270 acre-feet of preciouspotable water every year, which amounts toabout 88 million gallons, said CAWD generalmanager Ray von Dohren. And that’s on top ofthe recycled water that’s already being used.

With the Monterey Peninsula facing strictnew water conservation limits, the savingscould be significant.

“Altogether, about 316 million gallons per

By MARY BROWNFIELD

A 25-YEAR-OLD Seaside manis making a surprising recovery fol-lowing a collision with a tractor-trail-er that should have killed him,according to California Highway

Patrol public information officer JimCovello.

Heading eastbound on CarmelValley Road just before 8 a.m. March28, Jerrick Catugda sat in the passen-

Council may revive art festival with $30,000

Food and wine fest a hit in its first yearBy MARY BROWNFIELD

ORGANIZERS OF last weekend’s Pebble BeachFood & Wine only got about five hours of sleep dur-ing the week leading up to it, cofounder and vicepresident David Bernahl speculated. And, by allaccounts, their hard work paid off in the form of sati-ated participants, pleased chefs, satisfied vintners andcontented sponsors. Many have already pledged toreturn for the 2009 event next April — and they planto bring their friends, too.

“We had more than 3,000 people for the weekend.It’s pretty amazing,” Bernahl said this week, includ-ing 2,000 attendees of the Lexus Grand Tasting in thetwo-acre tent at the Pebble Beach Equestrian CenterSaturday and Sunday.

“For a first year event, we couldn’t be morepleased,” said Pebble Beach Company PresidentCody Plott.

“Next year, you ride in on a white horse,” saidJessie Sartain of Chefs in America, to Bernahl, whowas wearing a white suit Sunday.

The four-day PBF&W, which was staged at theresort’s five facilities, included wine tasting seminars,chefs’ demonstrations, lunches, dinners and theGrand Tastings. The most exclusive offering of the

By CHRIS COUNTS

JUST A week after this year’sCarmel Art Festival was canceled,Mayor Sue McCloud said the citycouncil will consider contributing$30,000 to the event. If the councilapproves the bailout at its meetingThursday evening, the art festivalwill likely return this spring for its15th year.

“We’ve offered to bail them out Driver barely survives collision with big rig

because we think think this is anevent that should go forward,”McCloud explained.

Whether the money will be aloan or a gift is unclear. McCloudmet this week with city administra-tor Rich Guillen, Carmel Chamber