Good News

For the past couple years, I’ve been following 94-year-old Carmel resident Hans Lehman’s Substack blog, Walking My Ways (hanslehman.substack.com). Twice a week, Hans writes about his adventures in Carmel and beyond, finding interesting and positive things in ordinary life. Reading his posts lets us tag along with one of Carmel’s busiest people.

Hans inspired me to try something different this week. City government spends much of its time solving problems, something I happen to enjoy. But good things are happening around town every day, and sometimes it’s nice to stop and notice them.

The Pit is Gone

If you were downtown last week, you may have seen the enormous concrete pumper at the former “Pit” near the Post Office. The good news? That was the last major concrete pour for the project’s “podium,” essentially the structural base. Framing is rising at the rear of the project. The Pit has disappeared and apartments and businesses will now take its place.

The project is scheduled to be completed by October 2027.

Next door, the Carmel Art Association building has been shored up and is standing strong as the association enters its 100th year. Stop and check out the wonderful local art.

I bumped into Patrice Pastor on Dolores last week and thanked him for persevering through the Pit project’s twists and turns. A man of few words, he said he loves Carmel, things sometimes take longer than expected, but improving the village makes him happy. That’s good, because he has several important projects ahead.

The Forge

A couple of blocks away, controversy has emerged around another Esperanza project at the former Forge in the Forest restaurant site. Rather than revisiting the disagreement, here’s the good news: concerned residents and the business owners are talking. The building requires more rehabilitation than expected, but the main non-historic building and cherished blacksmith equipment will hopefully be preserved as much as possible, and plans to create a high-quality, reasonably priced restaurant, the Corner Market, are underway.

PG&E Situation

Other good news came last week when a resident sent me a thoughtful email after PG&E cut down part of an oak tree on City property. PG&E was preparing to place new infrastructure on a power pole in front of her house. Within two days, City staff, PG&E, and its contractor had worked out a simpler solution that everyone supported. This Monday, work crews were onsite.

Two Forest & Beach Commissioners are reviewing communication protocols for situations like this. This is how these things should work: calmly raising a concern, listening by all parties, effective communication, and finding a better outcome.

The Mole Hole Finds a New Home

A longtime Carmel fixture, the Mole Hole, has received its permit to relocate behind the Tuck Box. Keeping distinctive local businesses in Carmel matters. Its new location will include outdoor space, giving this venerable business more flexibility. I’m sure Peter will soon turn it into another quintessential Carmel treasure that you should check out

Public Works Leader

Our new Public Works Director, Yanni Demitri, started this week at an important moment for Carmel. This Council has made rebuilding our aging infrastructure a major priority. With new leadership, added project management capacity and upgraded equipment, we are prepared for substantial work in the coming years.

Yanni brings experience managing large public projects and is also a traffic engineer. Parking, traffic, and pedestrian circulation have resisted easy answers for years, and we're looking forward to a fresh set of experienced eyes to help us tackle them.

There will always be problems to solve in Carmel. But Walking My Ways has reminded me that, every once in a while, it’s worth looking around the village and noticing what’s going right.

To hear a podcast generated from this column, go to cli.re/goodnews.

You can hear a song I put together about Walking My Ways at cli.re/walking.

Dale Byrne, Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea

dbyrne@cbts.us