Is This the Year We Choose Our Future?

As we enter 2026, I’ve been reflecting on a year of listening to our community. After dozens of Council meetings, 27 Pine Cone columns, and hundreds of conversations, one core question keeps surfacing: What do we want Carmel to look like in the future? Today, many of our challenges are being managed by momentum. To keep Carmel special, shouldn’t we be making intentional choices rather than letting the future simply “happen” to us?

The Traffic and Tourism Gap

Every year, our businesses and the City spend millions inviting the world to our village. It’s working—people are coming. But we are doing this without a clear plan to manage the impact of their cars and their presence. The gridlock after Christmas wasn’t a one-time event; it was a sign that we are inviting guests to a house that isn’t quite ready for the crowd, leaving little room for residents.

The Competition Is Moving Fast

While we deliberate, neighboring communities are not standing still. They are investing heavily in new hotels and retail to attract the same visitors who support our economy, while also building housing for the workers we all depend on. If we don’t address our aging infrastructure and housing needs, we risk losing both our competitive edge and the employees who keep our businesses running.

The Reality of Housing and Parking

“Doing nothing” is no longer a viable option. To meet state mandates, we are on record to provide 149 affordable housing units on three City-owned parking lots. If we build these without replacing the parking, we lose essential spaces. Worse, our current backup compliance approach could force up to 300 additional cars onto already crowded side streets. We need a strategy that meets state requirements without degrading our quality of life.

Two Paths Forward

The last serious conversation about adding parking ended in 1990 with a Pine Cone cover story showing lots on the north and south Sunset Center sites. Then…nothing happened for 35 years. To restart the discussion, here are two broad paths to consider.

A Bold Vision: We could create village “gateways” by building discrete underground parking at Vista Lobos and Sunset Center to intercept cars before they reach downtown, paired with electric shuttles for local travel. Through Public-Private Partnerships, developers could fund the parking lots while also building affordable, senior, and market-rate housing, high-end hotel rooms, and even reconstruct aging Police and Public Works facilities through leaseback agreements. These projects would generate significant revenue through parking, TOT, and property tax revenue but would require broad community support and, in Carmel, be a very heavy lift.

A Step-by-Step Approach: Alternatively, we could focus on smaller, incremental fixes: freeing up downtown parking, identifying offsite lots, expanding shuttle use, and addressing housing through the revised Housing Element. We could also scale back promotional spending during peak periods to manage demand. This approach may feel less disruptive, but it would likely require voter approval of new local taxes to cover rising maintenance costs and pension obligations as traditional revenues plateau, potentially requiring a supermajority vote and require us to become a Charter City.

Setting Our Priorities

There are other options as well. But whether you favor bold action or smaller steps, we should be having an open conversation about what it will take for Carmel to remain a beautiful, livable, and sustainable village. On January 22, the City Council will hold a Strategic Planning session to set priorities for the year ahead. If an issue isn’t on that list, it likely won’t get addressed. Please join us, speak up, or email your thoughts to cityclerk@cbts.us. To hear a podcast generated from this column, visit cli.re/ourfuture.

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

dbyrne@cbts.us