Carmel Highlands History
The Carmel Highlands is endowed with one of the most beautiful locations on earth, at the juncture of its granite cliffs, the blue sea and sweeping ranges of the Santa Lucia Mountains. It is not surprising that over seventy years ago this community began as an artists’ colony, and has attracted lovers of natural beauty ever since.
Frank Devendorf developed the Highlands as a residential community with a keen appreciation of its unique setting, after founding Carmel-By-The-Sea a few years earlier as a community of creative workers dedicated to the arts. Devendorf and his longtime foreman, Frank DeAmaral, planted pine trees and laid out the roads and building sites to be in harmony with the natural surroundings.
For its first decade, the Carmel Highlands stood on the edges of the wilderness. Access to the outside world was by means of the old county road which connected the Highlands with Carmel, Monterey, and other communities to the north. Southward, the road narrowed to a single lane as it wound up and down canyons and mountain ridges for thirty miles where it stopped in Big Sur. It mainly served local ranchers and farmers who used it to drive their range cattle, crops and timber to market. The building of Highway One in the 1930’s finally opened up the Central Coast to through traffic from Southern California, and tourists soon discovered the area. Point Lobos, which borders the Highlands on the north, became a State Park in the mid-1930’s, and it became a mecca for nature lovers throughout the world. The frontier days of the Carmel Highlands were over…
When there were no more than a few dozen households, clustered mainly around the Highlands Inn, there was little need for a formal community structure. After the end of World War II, it became clear that better organization was needed to bring residents together to deal with the complexities of a rapidly growing community. The population of the surrounding area had multiplied, and the structure of county government grew accordingly. The preservation of the beauties of our environment could no longer be taken for granted. To meet our common needs, the Carmel Highlands Association was established.
CHA Geography
The Carmel Highlands Association geographical area is defined generally as that area between McDougal Creek on the south and San Jose Creek on the north, and inland, from the ocean to the Mount Diablo Meridian.
CHA Organization
The Carmel Highlands Association is a non-profit corporation, established under the laws of the State of California on December 2, 1936, and was initially formed to support a local post of the Monterey Peninsula volunteer fire district out of concern for the densely-wooded, higher-than-normal fire dangers in this area. The CHA differs from a Home or Property Owners’ Association in that it is organized by a set of Bylaws, rather than being more strictly governed by a set of Covenants, Codes and Restrictions (CC&R’s).
The Carmel Highlands Association was formed with the following key objectives:
To enhance the quality of life and spirit of community
To provide relevant information on issues and events
To manage, maintain and promote the assets of the Carmel Highlands Association
To act in the best interest of the residents and property owners of the Carmel Highlands
The Carmel Highlands Association provides a number of services to the local community, including the following:
The promotion and sale of annual and three-year memberships to residents within the boundaries of the Carmel Highlands Association geographical area, and the management of CHA assets
The management and maintenance of the beach easements at Yankee Point, and the sale and issuance of gate keys for the enjoyment of all residents in the Carmel Highlands
The publication of The Piper newsletter, which covers news of general interest and topics of special concern to the Carmel Highlands, approximately four to six times each year; and the management and maintenance of the Carmel Highlands Association website – www.carmelhighlands.org.
The Piper newsletter and access to in-depth CHA website information beyond its homepage is a benefit of CHA membership
With its regular Board and general membership meetings, the CHA provides a forum to members to discuss issues of importance to the Carmel Highlands community
Community liaison services with key public service organizations such as police and sheriff departments, the Carmel Highlands Fire Department, the Red Cross, and Monterey County agencies
The sponsorship or support of social events throughout the year. Carmel Highlands Association member benefits include free or reduced admission prices to these events for members and their guests
Standing Committees of the CHA Board of Directors provide leadership in directing amenities and needed services to our community.