In July 2019, TAMC staff received an unsolicited proposal from Mason and Todd Clark of the Museum of Handcar Technology to use three miles of the Monterey Branch Line rail corridor (Marina to Seaside) for a one-month demonstration of tourist handcar operations in the summer of 2020. Upon direction by the TAMC Board of Directors at its October 23, 2019 meeting, Todd Clark submitted a detailed proposal and signed an advanced funding agreement to reimburse TAMC for staff time expended in the review of the detailed proposal. The full detailed proposal is online as a web attachment. On January 8, 2020, the Executive Committee discussed the detailed proposal and directed staff to negotiate a temporary demonstration operations lease agreement (attached).
The handcar demonstration operations would run approximately three miles between the Highway 1 overcrossing in Marina (to the north) to the balloon spur tracks in the Fort Ord Dunes State Park. The project proponents are requesting to fence off a 50 foot by 10 foot area of the tracks within the Monterey Branch Line right-of-way near to the 5th Street underpass in Marina to store their vehicles. They also propose to have employees and customers park on TAMC property at 5th Street, using the existing highway undercrossing path to access the tracks. They will have a pop-up tent for sign-in and safety briefing, a portable restroom, a garbage bin, and they propose to use the tracks in the parking lot to do a short demonstration prior to the tour. The proposers will do brush and weed clearance, debris removal, and upgrading of railroad switches during the two months prior to beginning the operations.
After the one month of demonstration operations, the proposers would take approximately one month to clean up and remove the fencing and other associated equipment.
Under the draft lease, the actual demonstration is contingent on the proposers securing the necessary permits. The project proponent would be responsible for obtaining all reviews and permits, including, as appropriate: County and City of Marina (branch line is in the County, parking is in the City), and Coastal Commission. The Lease Agreement is clear that this is for demonstration/proof of concept purposes only, and that any possible future request to use TAMC property is to be considered independently, and in light of future planning efforts by, and staffing resources of, TAMC.
For the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), TAMC is the "lead agency" because it is acting first and because it is most involved with the demonstration project. Staff and legal counsel agree that the project is categorically exempt, since it would be operating on an existing right-of-way and is only for a 30-day trial period to gather information as to the feasibility of such a use.
While it is unclear if the demonstration project will be financially successful, if a future, longer term use were proposed, TAMC would need to conduct more extensive work, possibly a negative declaration or mitigated negative declaration. Such a possibility is speculative at this time, however, and no additional action is currently contemplated.