A little seaside town in California is starting to fight back against a property tycoon’s latest plans. Patrice Pastor has been buying up properties in Carmel-by-the-Sea in California for almost a decade, and the town has finally had the last straw.
The billionaire real estate titan had plans for a 13,400sq ft development but these were axed by the town’s Planning Commission which accused him of having “no respect” for his neighbours.
Pastor, from Monaco, attended the Zoom meeting with the Commission, where he was told to start his planning from scratch.
Earlier this year, he bought at least 15 of the town’s iconic properties which left locals “terrified” that their town is being “handed over to one person who’s doing what he wants to do”.
Long-time resident Kristi Reimers, whose family home would be overshadowed by Pastor’s latest project, told SFGate: “Ever since the flagging went up last week, I have felt incredible anxiety and, to be honest, grief at the notion of having the home I’ve lived in for almost two decades turn into a cave.”
“This project as it stands will cause a substantial adverse change in two historic resources: one actual and one eligible,’ she added. “Because two of the three lots are deemed historic, additionally, this needs to be reviewed in the context of the Reimers’ Stonehouse Terrace.”
Frustrations erupted into violence in October when police were called to a fist-fight between a small business owner and a village administrator after Pastor demanded permission to override planning laws so he could move a historic wall.
“What’s going to happen as he spends so much money on the building, the property tax goes up and the rents go up and the only people who can afford it are chain stores?” one business owner told SFGate at the time.
“What’s going to happen to our mom-and-pop shops? What’s going to happen to our local feel?’”
Pastor’s relationship with the town worsened further after he made a controversial statement in March, threatening to maintain a historic home “only to continue to bother those jealous people who will never have access to it”.
