East Garrison, California

East Garrison is a planned community in an unincorporated area in Monterey County, California. It is located on Reservation Road (County Route G17) east of Marina and west of the Salinas River on the former Fort Ord. The community has 929 taxed parcels (779 single family homes and 150 single family attached properties). The community contains many parks including dog parks, the 5-acre Lincoln Park with sports field as well as West Camp Park, McArthur Park, Arts Park which are approximately one acre each. East Garrison is part of Monterey County's Fourth District and, as of January 5, 2021, is represented by Supervisor Wendy Root Askew.

Permit PLN030204 was approved by the County of Monterey Board of Supervisors in 2005. This allowed development of the East Garrison project, a mixed-use residential development consisting of up to 1,470 dwelling units. The project is also subject to a Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) approved by the former Redevelopment Agency for the County of Monterey (now Successor Agency) which requires Agency financial assistance to pay for a portion of certain aspects, including public facilities, affordable housing and historic preservation and renovation.

As of January 2023, East Garrison has developed into a community consisting of:


 * 994 homes with supporting infrastructure and public improvements, including:
 * 808 market-rate units
 * 65 affordable apartments (very low and low-income) Manzanita Place, an affordable-housing apartments managed by MidPen Housing was built in Phase 1.
 * 51 moderate-income units
 * 70 work force II units
 * Fire station
 * 37 acres of community, neighborhood and dog parks, open space and trails.
 * An additional 65 affordable apartments are under construction and anticipated to be completed spring of 2023.

Remaining housing and public facilities to be built (not-yet-under construction) per the development approvals at East Garrison include:


 * 1) 341 housing units
 * 2) * 172 market rate
 * 3) * 70 work force II
 * 4) * 33 moderate-income
 * 5) * 66 very low and low-income apartments Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association (CHISPA) will soon construct 66 units in the Phase 3 area
 * 6) * plus 70 optional ADUs
 * 7) Library with Sheriff sub-station
 * 8) A minimum 34,000 sf Town Center (of which 4,000 sf is the Library/Sheriff sub-station)
 * 9) The 1-acre Town Center Park
 * 10) Rehabilitation and reuse of 23 historic buildings."
 * 11) * Planned, but not yet started, is conversion of historic buildings into 55,000 sq. ft of artist studios.

On January 24, 2023, the builder, Century Communities, requested adjustments to the existing approvals:


 * 1) Re-locating the 66 Artspace rental affordable live/work units to an existing parcel on the south side of the Town Center Park and replacing the two Artspace building parcels flanking the Arts Park with compact single-family homes.
 * 2) Create a fully integrated mixed-use commercial/residential 3-4 story building consisting of the 66 Artspace affordable units above 30,000 square feet of flexible commercial space on the ground floor.
 * 3) Infill of the existing north parcel adjacent to the Town Center Park with Rowhouses, with the units facing the park having “flex workspace” and shopfront facades.
 * 4) Infill of the High-Density Condominium site with compact high density 2-3 story Single Family homes.

Construction status
At least 20,000 square feet of retail use space in the mixed-use Town Center must be built by the time the 200th lot in the third phase is sold. And, all 34,000 sq. ft of retail space must be built by 2025. But, construction schedule of the Town Center, a critical element of the community, fell behind due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Arts Historic District plan to renovate and convert 23 historic World War II-era buildings for use by Artspace, Inc. as 100,000 square feet of affordable art studio space has also not started yet. As the last funding priority in the East Garrison development agreement, the district will wait until after the affordable apartment complexes are fully funded."

Infrastructure funding
East Garrison infrastructure (water pipes, drainage, parks and roads) construction and maintenance is funded by "Mello Roos fees" consisting of the Community Facilities District (CFD) $27 million bonds and Community Services District (CSD) fees collected as Special Annual Taxes included in East Garrison homeowner property taxes. The CFD will disband in 30 years (approximate 2036) when the CFD No. 2006-01 (EGCFD) bond is paid off. In 2005, formation of the East Garrison CSD (EGCSD), a community services district, was approved.

The EGCSD is responsible for maintenance and operation of various facilities, including the on-site drainage facilities and basins, the community park, neighborhood parks, and the open space areas. The CSD is also obligated to reimburse the County costs for maintaining the County roads providing immediate access to East Garrison, including pavement, striping, street lighting, landscape medians, and traffic signals. The CSD is also required to pay for the cost of County Sheriff's operations within East Garrison. Funding for the maintenance of these facilities and services comes from the Special Tax collected by the EGCFD. Homeowners may choose to pay off their Facilities special tax (CFD No. 2006-01) obligation. As of June 30, 104 parcels have paid off their obligation.

The CFD and CSD fees are increased annually per the rules governing the district; the CFD is increased 2% each year and the CSD is increased by the consumer price index, not to exceed 4%. East Garrison has a master Homeowners' Association (HOA) called East Garrison Community Association and a sub-HOA for the Townhomes called Liberty at East Garrison Homeowner Association No. 1.

As of 2022, typical HOA fees for a single family home are $125/month. HOA fees fund Front Yards of Private Homeowner Property; Private Roadways; Transit Services; Entry Statement; Drainage and Stormwater Systems in Private Rights of Way or Easements.

Historic Arts District
The Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) requires the 23 historic buildings be redeveloped to establish a Historic Arts District at East Garrison. Artspace and Arts Habitat are the non-profit partners identified by the DDA to restore the historic buildings and serve as owner-operator for 20 of the buildings and may serve as operator for the remaining 3 County-retained historic buildings. At this time, Monterey County anticipates pre-development activities for the Historic Arts District could begin once the Artspace Affordable Rental Apartments construction is underway. Century Communities will fulfill its obligation towards the Historic Arts District as required in the DDA.