Our annual King City Beautification Week is a good time to pause and reflect on what has happened in the past year as it relates to the appearance of our town.
Let me outline for you what I see that encourages me regarding individual residents and businesses taking pride in our community.
Just last month on May 7, it was great to see the long-awaited opening of the new Grocery Outlet at 1015 Broadway. Once the home of L.A. Hearne Company, it has been vacant for more than 20 years but now joins Dutch Brothers at the western end of town across from our beautiful King City Cemetery.
We’ve also spent the last year watching the transformation of the old Days Inn Motel just around the corner as it became the Casa de Esperanza permanent supportive housing project at 1130 Broadway at San Antonio Drive. It now offers 46 rooms for people in need.
If you haven’t taken a walk through the King City Cemetery lately, the staff there continues to do a superb job caring for our headstones and landscaping. With more than 150 plants and trees, it has been referred to as the most beautiful garden in King City. Look for tree identification tags to learn more about individual trees.
Another big project in that Broadway Circle area is the Rotary Club Peace Project celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Rotary Club in King City. With the help of grants administered by Denise Mercado with Ecology Action, the area next to Taco Bell and the CHP office is now a showcase for drought-resistant plants, such as salvia, roses and leucadendron, surrounded by a rock-lined walking path.
As you leave the circle, it is wonderful to see the stone-covered area that greets those exiting Highway 101 at Broadway. Remember how it was covered in weeds a few years ago? We owe thanks to Cal Trans for help in using rocks that many call “Greenfield Potatoes” to make that area cleaner and more attractive.
Also on that end of town, there has been a major improvement at the Monterey County Courthouse building at 250 Franciscan Way just before you enter the shopping center. The parking lot has been paved with new curbs and landscaping added, as well as a ceramic mural representing family values. This building holds our Sheriff’s Department substation, District Attorney’s office and victim services.
On Canal Place across from Carl’s Jr., the city staff was able to work with Ecology Action to remove turf and install drought-resistant bark and shrubs. This area gives travelers off the freeway at Canal Street one of the first good impressions of our town.
Another partnership of government and volunteers has been the landscape at the U.S. Forest Service at Division Street and South Mildred Avenue. The original landscaping for that project was intended to replicate a mountain meadow but more accurately became a mountain weed patch. Thanks to the work of Chevene Simmons, Recreation Officer, he has been able to harness grants and volunteers he estimates to be worth $35,000 to transform the landscaping of the USFS District office into a demonstration garden of drought-resistant plants and hardscape. Progress continues.
Across the street at the entrance to the Salinas Valley Fair at 625 Division St., the vision of Kim Schmidt and Phoebe Cheney from King City in Bloom has brought color to the landscaping there, including red and orange gaillardia (also known as Blanket Flower) and purple perennial statice.
The same is true of the flowers in the planter at the Mee Memorial Healthcare System mural at Canal and Bassett streets. The yellow yarrow compliments the beautiful colors of the mural.
And speaking of purple, have you noticed the blooming Jacaranda trees? Some people believed the King City climate might not support Jacarandas, but that might not be true if the ones across from the high school auditorium and at the corner of Seventh Street and Luckett are thriving. It might be time to beautify the town with more Jacarandas.
It was 34 years ago in 1992 that King City began the promotion of Beautification Week in partnership with the King City Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, King City Rotary Club, City of King and Waste Management (now known as WM). It was a simple request for everyone who worked and lived here to do one thing to improve the appearance of our town during that week.
Let me outline for you some other changes I’ve noticed in town during the past year.
IN OUR HISTORIC DISTRICT
Currently under construction is outdoor seating for El Sinaloense restaurant at 231 Broadway. My favorite guacamole can be found at this place.
Our Downtown Plaza at the corner of North Vanderhurst Avenue and Broadway has a lovely array of flowers that have flourished since the plaza was dedicated last May 31, 2025. The yellow yarrow, purple red salvia, purple catmint (nepeta) and white Iceberg roses create an eye-catching arrangement.
The King City Union School District office at 104 South Vanderhurst Ave. recently got new pavement that extends clear to Bassett Street.
Magnolia trees at 415 Broadway were recently pruned by Martinez Tree Service and look great! Another example of beautiful tree grooming are the trees at Taylor Farms on First Street.
ON WEST BROADWAY
It has been fun to watch the transformation of the former Benson Plumbing operation at 630 Broadway into Pollos La Lena El Zapoteco (wood-fired chicken). The business owners have taken the historic house and opened a restaurant featuring eat-in and take-out meals. Next door, the former beauty shop has returned to a residence (originally built by the Dedini family). The property is now owned by GIS Families Properties LLC and the GIS Plumbing business is located toward the back of the lot.
Next door at Fireside Inn, there is more colorful lantana in planters along North Mildred Avenue, which helps keep the area weed-free. We thank the owners for that improvement.
King City High School maintenance staff has made significant efforts to make our campus on the 700 block of Broadway look appealing with regular mowing and edging of turf. I am reminded of college campuses where regular maintenance routines ensure a campus looks and feels attractive. High school students (and the community as a whole) also benefit from the positive impact of a well-maintained learning environment.
Just across the street, the roses and lantana in front of 7-11 and the King Coin Laundromat and Retail give our main street a splash of beauty.
OTHERS WORTH MENTIONING
- The turtle mosaic in the sidewalk of the King City pool was completed by Amy Burkman and her volunteers using local rocks.
- There is nice new blue paint at the Jardin Apartments at Division and First Street.
- Northgate Apartments on North Vanderhurst Avenue has new green paint.
- KFC on the Broadway Circle is getting new electric charging stations.
- Contractor Tom Salcido transformed the Raschella property at 501 North Vanderhurst Ave. and Ulrey Street into a lovely yellow home featuring a white picket fence, artificial turf and new trees.
- Salcido also upgraded three small homes at 516, 520 and 524 into pleasing houses with upgraded features.
- Near the post office at 311 Bassett, an historic house that had fallen into disrepair has been painted a light shade of green and accented with a red door turning it into a pleasing home by the new owner.
- The home at 210 Villa Drive by the golf course is a lovely example of the use of rock and decomposed granite (DG) and a tractor. Edwin Mendoza is the owner.
- 230 Seventh St. continues to be a showcase for how a little bit of gardening everyday can make a home look clean and fresh.
Since 2016, the volunteer group King City in Bloom has worked to improve the community landscape one small space at a time. One of their latest efforts was producing a brochure that features 20 of the town’s murals. Copies are available at the King City Visitor and History Center next to the Downtown Plaza.
SAVE WATER AND WEEDS
If you look around town, it has been great to see residents reducing the amount of turf in their yards and using drought-resistant landscaping with shrubs and rock to cut down on weeds and water use.
Those of you who want to install drought-resistant plants can check the list in front of the King City entry sign at the corner of Broadway and San Antonio Drive, brought to us by Cal Water.
If each of us does one thing this month to improve the appearance of our homes or businesses, King City will be an even greater place to live. Please do your part and ask your neighbors to join in.
Most of what one needs for beautification can be found in your garage (gloves, shovels and clippers). There are many local landscaping companies that can also help with your bigger project. Please support them.
And, remember that the City of King offers free mulch to anyone who wants to include wood chips in their landscaping. Just call City Hall and the staff can tell you how to arrange for a delivery.
Karen Jernigan is chairperson of the 34th annual Beautification Week, scheduled for June 20-28 in King City.
