July 17, 2008

Coldwell Banker office, Mammoth Lakes,CA

Already there is too much concrete in view when entering the Town of Mammoth Lakes. The plan includes changing Highway 203 to come down to 2 lanes (one each way), starting at Meridian Blvd.

There would be a town square at Old Mammoth and Highway 203 which will include a gondola station. Several gondola stations throughout town; in the town square, at the hotel district, on the east side of The Village and in the locals neighborhood in the center of town.

Parking would be arranged on the interior of a block building so that commercial/retail stores face the streets and the parking is hidden, but still available. Also, parking would be shared by businesses rather than each business being responsible to provide a certain number of parking spaces based on their type of business.

Building transportation system affects value and creates a ‘downtown’ and cuts down on heavy traffic flow. Transportation system will include service between Mammoth Lakes and the Mammoth Yosemite Airport.

The plan is not to go entirely ‘upscale’, but rather create a balance of services/products at all levels. In addition to a hotel district, which would be considered a 3-4 star, there would also be a motel district to serve to the lower end lodging needs. This would cater to the bus tours by locating it near the athletic fields in order to provide adequate parking for buses.

The hotel district is envisioned between Old Mammoth Road and Minaret off of Main Street. The high end hotel district is envisioned from Minaret up to Canyon Blvd.

The retail district would be in the downtown area where the norm would be retail on the first floor and residential units up above for locals housing. There would be surface level parking and a level for short term parking. This creates an area to live and work while proving plenty of parking.

Affordable housing in locations convenient to the transportation system emphasizes pedestrian traffic. Gas stations would be relocated just outside of town to serve fuel needs for arriving and departing visitors.

A land trade of Shady Rest for the Bell Shaped parcel would provide for a locals walking park in a similar style of Central Park in New York. Paths through the park would be integrated into the walking/bike paths available. Then, the Bell Shaped parcel could be developed on the backside so that most of the buildings are shielded from view, keeping the front of the property as wetlands. Problem with keeping the Bell Shaped parcel as open space for a park is that parking is needed because it is not on any transportation route and does not provide for vehicular traffic without creating a concrete jungle. This would allow for Shady Rest to serve as the open space/park because it would be much more accessible to foot and bike traffic.

The key component to this entire plan is the Town being able to take back Highway 203 from Cal Trans. On a recent visit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger offered his assistance on this.

Gregory is very optimistic, saying “if we can get neighborhood districts and specific neighborhood plans going, we could be ready to receive capital next summer”.

On a side note, it was stated that the future of June Mountain in June Lake California is dependent on the village’s ability to create more transient occupancy lodging.

Howard Pickett, Chief Marketing Officer for MMSA, previously of J Walter Thompson and Disney, is planning to launch the new branding for the mountain this fall. For a sneak peak at the new Mammoth Mountain logo click here.