Town Council turns its back on public in choosing Resort zoning for open space

 

By Lara Kirkner
Mammoth Times Staff Writer

The General Plan was adopted and the Final Program Environmental Impact Report was certified at last week’s Town Council meeting, but overshadowing the milestone  was the Council's decision regarding the Bell Shaped Parcel.

Council decided to zone the BSP as Resort, but plans to have staff prepare a focused special conservation easement study for the BSP to see what to do with it in the future. The vote on this particular item was 3-1-1, with council member Kirk Stapp abstaining and council member John Eastman voting no. Eastman wants the special study to explore all options for the parcel, not just a conservation easement, because he feels a 10-acre portion of the easement could be used for development such as affordable housing.

When it comes to a conservation easement, in order for someone to want to buy a parcel to put into an easement—for example the Eastern Sierra Land Trust—there must be some demonstration that the parcel is desired for development. Leaving the parcel zoned Open Space as the Planning Commission had suggested and as members of the community clearly have stated they want, would not show this desire of development and the Town would most likely not be able to sell it into a conservation easement and thereby reap fiduciary benefits.

Eastman threw his development hat in the ring at just the right time. It is interesting to remember, however, that the parcel consists of over 45 percent wetlands, which means development may not even be feasible as the State of California and the Army Corps of Engineers have very strict rules about developing wetlands.
Stapp waffled, agreeing with the Resort zoning while disagreeing with the narrowness of the study, and abstained from the vote, being able to get what he wanted but not having to put his foot down.

Council member Neil McCarroll, Mayor Pro Tem Wendy Sugimura and Mayor Skip Harvey all voted yes on the Resort zoning and the study. Staff and Council both indicated that doing the special study will allow the community to tell them how they want the Bell Shaped Parcel. In essence, the Town will pay a consultant to come in and go through the same public process that the community has been going through during the four years the General Plan Update has been going on. At the end of the GPU process, the community was still stating that they wanted the parcel to be zoned Open Space. Perhaps with the new consultants some of the constituents that Councilman Eastman keeps referring to will come forward and speak against zoning the BSP as Open Space.

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