Carmel Valley | Monterey County | California
Friends of the
Village Airfield
FOVA 911 is a grassroots coalition of Carmel Valley residents working to ensure that any development on the historic Village Airfield is safe, sustainable, and properly evaluated - starting with fire evacuation, water supply, and sewage infrastructure.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
How we got here
In January 2026, nursery owner Ken Griggs and local developer Patrick Orosco filed an application to build 90 units on Carmel Valley Village's historic airfield using California's Builder's Remedy, a provision that strips communities of normal planning protections when a county fails to certify its housing plan on time. Monterey County missed that deadline by over two years.
Under normal circumstances this project would be rejected outright: the Carmel Valley Master Plan reserves this exact site for a maximum of 24 units. But Builder's Remedy changes the rules.
California law still requires the county to conduct an environmental review before approving any project. Without community pressure, the county may simply accept the developer's own studies, commissioned by the person who stands to profit.
FOVA is requesting independent analyses of the adequacy and safety of fire evacuation, water supply, and sewage. The community deserves honest answers, not a rubber stamp.
Our concerns
Wildfire Evacuation
Carmel Valley Village's ZIP code, 93924, is ranked in the worst 1% of all California ZIP codes for population-to-evacuation-route ratio in very high fire hazard areas. Carmel Valley Road is the only way in and the only way out. The only open space for staging fire response near the Village is the Village Airfield. When a wildfire hits, there will be no Plan B.
We have all watched Paradise, Coffey Park, and Pacific Palisade burn. We know what happens when thousands of people, many of them elderly, try to flee a single road at the same time: panic, breakdowns, gridlock, and tragedy. Emergency vehicles heading in cannot pass cars fleeing out.
Tularcitos Elementary School alone has 520 students and staff in the evacuation zone. Any new development should not exacerbate these risks, especially when they are well understood now.
Questionable Water Supply
Mr. Orosco claims he has access to sufficient water through private wells and water stored between rock layers. He has yet to show scientific evidence to support his claim that he has "plenty of water". What would happen in a drought year?
The Carmel Valley alluvial aquifer provides approximately 65% of all water used across the Monterey Peninsula. It is small, shallow, and unconfined, meaning it is highly vulnerable to both depletion and contamination. Groundwater pumping has already depleted storage, reduced river flow, and damaged critical habitat for steelhead trout. New wells in this area, along with new septic runoff, could affect this fragile system.
An independent study is needed to properly analyze how 90 new units would affect the water table, existing private wells, and the Tularcitos well serving the surrounding community.
Sewage
Carmel Valley Village has no municipal sewer system. A 90-unit development would require building an entirely new sewage treatment facility, in an area the Carmel Valley Master Plan specifically identifies as having a documented history of drainage and runoff problems, which ultimately killed several previous development proposals. That challenging geology hasn’t changed.
When sewage systems fail or are poorly designed in areas with unstable drainage, the consequences are serious: pathogens and pharmaceuticals can enter the soil, nitrogen levels in groundwater can exceed safe thresholds, and contamination can spread to nearby wells and waterways. The Carmel River runs below this site. Tularcitos Elementary School is nearby.
The developer has proposed no credible plan for where this facility goes, how it will be built, who operates it long term, or what happens when it fails.
What about affordable housing?
FOVA strongly supports the creation of genuinely affordable housing in Carmel Valley: the kind that serves the teachers, nurses, farmworkers, emergency responders, and others who are the backbone of our community. We also believe that new housing must be planned responsibly, with the infrastructure, safety systems, and environmental review needed to protect both existing and incoming residents.
Mr. Orosco's Airfield Park proposal does neither. Of its 90 proposed units, 70 are large market-rate homes and only 20 or fewer carry an 'affordable' designation. This is not the affordable housing our community needs. It is high-end residential and 2nd-homes development using the language of community benefit to bypass the planning process that exists to protect everyone.
We urge the County to require a development plan that delivers housing our workforce can actually afford, in a location that can safely support it.
Connect with us
Sign up for updates on hearings, legal developments, and how you can help.
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Donations
We are raising funds for the expert analysis and professional resources needed to challenge the proposed airfield development and ensure our community’s concerns receive the scrutiny they deserve.
FOVA is entirely volunteer-run, with no formal nonprofit status. If you'd like to make a financial contribution to the efforts to protect the Village Airfield, you can donate to the CV Airfield Defense Fund through the Carmel Valley Association (CVA) by clicking on the button below, or mail check to CVA, PO BOX 157, Carmel Valley CA 93924.
The Carmel Valley Association is the oldest residents' association in Carmel Valley and one of the most effective citizens' groups in Monterey County. CVA is actively working with Mr. Orosco to ensure the public’s voice is heard.
Your full donation goes straight to the CV Airfield Defense Fund. Donors who are not yet CVA members will be given a free one-year membership.
Note: CVA is a 501(c)(4) organization; donations are not tax-deductible.
What's at stake
OUR CONCERNS
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Join Our Cause
Everything You Need to Know About the Big Night
Where
The Old Courtyard
500 Terry Francine street
San Francisco CA 94158
When
August 31st, 2035
Saturday evening
From 18:00, Until 22:00
The Impact We Make
Join Us to Celebrate and Fund Essential Programs That Transform Lives and Create Lasting Impact
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Airfield History
In 1940, visionary real estate developer Byington Ford purchased acreage in Carmel Valley with a bold dream: to create the world's first residential airpark, where pilots could land their planes and be home within minutes.
He called it Airway Ranch, designing 'hangar houses' where residents could taxi directly from the runway to their front door.
Ford chose December 7, 1941 for his grand opening. Hours later, Pearl Harbor was bombed and America was at war. Civilian flights along the West Coast were immediately grounded. Locals nicknamed the project 'Ford's Folly' — but the dream survived.
After the war, the airfield thrived. The State of California licensed it in 1949. The Ford brothers developed Airway Village around it - including a general store, a barbershop, and a liquor store - all within walking distance of the runway.
That village became what we know today as Carmel Valley Village.
The California Historical Resources Commission later recognized the Carmel Valley Vintage Airfield as a State Historic Resource, the first airpark ever built in the United States and the world.
The airfield closed in 2002 after over 60 years of operation. But it never stopped serving the community. Residents walk its runway daily.
And when the Soberanes Fire raged in 2016, emergency crews used it as a critical staging ground, with as many as 19 helicopters operating from it at one time.
The airfield is a part of the very identity of Carmel Valley Village. It is not a vacant lot waiting for development. It is the heart of our community, and it deserves to be protected.
Not a registered nonprofit · Community grassroots group