Dog tethering, Krabs, and more Matt Lehman
Dog tethering laws tangle
Dear Editor:
This is in response to Therese Hankel’s assertion (The Sheet, February 6, 2010, Letters to the Editor, page 4) that “sled dogs are considered ‘working dogs’ and are, therefore, exempt from the Health and Safety Code section” regarding tethering dogs. The anti-tethering law is crystal clear as to which dogs are exempt from the law.
California Health and Safety Code Section 12235.5 provides for “tethering dogs while actively engaged in any of the following:
(A) Conduct that is directly related to the business of shepherding or herding cattle or livestock.
(B) Conduct that is directly related to the business of cultivating agricultural products, if the restraint is reasonably necessary for the safety of the dog.”
The law does not make general exceptions for “working dogs” and certainly does not exempt sled dogs used in money-making, recreational business ventures. The law has been in effect for three years and I have often wondered, during that time, when Mono County would address the issue of the Mammoth Sled Team’s 40 chained dogs. In fact, Mono County Animal Control’s website contains a link to an excellent summary of the law and its full text at www.monocounty.ca.gov/departments/animal/documents/antitethering.pdf
Sled dogs can be humanely kenneled and don’t have to spend their non-working lives chained to a doghouse. Surely we Eastern Sierrans are more humane than that.
Lisa Schade
Bishop
Do you smell it?
Dear Mr. Lunch:
As a regular Sheet reader for the past several years, I have always enjoyed the quotes (often translated into a language other than their original) which appear under the publishers/editors/writers info block on your editorial page.
But I must admit that the Latin translation of a quote attributed to the cartoon character Eugene H. Krabs of “Spongebob Squarepants” has me a bit baffled as to its correct translation and meaning. Perhaps this should come as no surprise, as my two years of high school latin are pretty rusty by now.
The closest thing that I can recall this character ever saying is from an early Spongebob episode from 1999, which (in English) goes something like:
“Do you smell it? That smell. A kind of smelly smell. The smelly smell that smells … smelly. “
Was this what you were aiming at? (Perhaps directed at the taxeaters and developers in the town of Mammoth Lakes?) Or have I missed your intent completely? Please respond in the manner of your choosing, if your busy schedule permits.
Sincerely,
Michael R. House
Paradise
P.S. Re: the Feb. 6 editorial, Matthew Lehman may claim that he “knew what he had bought,” in regard to the Rock Creek Ranch development in Paradise, but that didn’t keep the number of proposed houses for Rock Creek Ranch from increasing steadily right from the inception of the project. Here in the south end of Mono County, Mr. Lehman may suffer from an image problem in which I believe he is seen as less than forthcoming, with most of what he does say to the community eventually proving to be false. It also hasn’t helped his reputation any that the well-drilling operations at Rock Creek Ranch were largely conducted in violation of the terms of the applicable permits (24-hour drilling creating noise and dust outside of the normal working hours permitted at the job site), or that the amount of dust raised by the well-drilling operations was so large as to be repeatedly mistaken for a brush fire by passing motorists on U.S. 395. Paradise is pretty clean and quiet, and most of us seem to like it that way. (“Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.”)
Editor’s reply. First things first. The Mr. Krabs quote, in English, is “I smell the smelly smell of something that smells smelly.” It is derived from a playing card from the Spongebob Squarepants edition of the Parker Brothers board game “Sorry” which Santa Claus gave my daughter for Christmas.
Good luck translating the next quote (also from the Spongebob edition) in this week’s paper, courtesy of Squidward.
As for the observations about Mr. Lehman’s Rock Creek Ranch development, I forwarded them to Mr. Lehman for a response, which is printed below:
In response to the comments made about the Rock Creek Ranch project in Paradise, The project is roughly a 54.67 acre parcel of land that was zoned Estate Residential which would essentially allow me to encumber the entire site with 54 one-acre parcels. Because there were a number of changes being made to our project vs. what was outlined in the general plan I did file for a “Specific Plan,” however the changes were not for more density or harsher environmental impacts.
It’s true that our density exceeded the 54 units originally allowed, but this was not due to my desire of creating a larger project. The additional density occurred because Mono County implemented affordable housing requirements after I bought the property. The variance in the number of allowable units (54) vs. the number of approved units (60), was due to 5 affordable housing units and 1 additional market rate unit given to me to help offset the additional cost of having to provide affordable housing.
What is not mentioned in your reader’s letter is that my project leaves about 21 of the 54 acres as dedicated “open space”; never to be developed. It also doesn’t mention that I have designed the project to recycle effluent water in order irrigate common grounds and reduce impact to local aquifers. My project was also moved to the south of the parcel as a means of lowering visual impacts from local roads and Highway 395. We have included a private club house, with solar, that has been dedicated as a part-time meeting place for residents of Southern Mono County. .
I also “GAVE” an easement to the Paradise community for the storage of the Mutual Water Company’s water storage tanks, and designed a water system that will merge with Paradise for the sole purpose of helping all of us with needed fire protection.
I’m sorry if this reader may be upset with me or my project, but it’s a good project and I’m proud of it!
Our drilling operations were challenging at the very least but they were unavoidable and completed with permits from Mono County.
More from Matthew …
Dear Editor:
Last week’s Sheet referenced a full page article on Meb Keflezighi which appeared in Sports Illustrated and made prominent mention of Meb’s living and training in Mammoth Lakes. The article stated that the advertising value of such coverage amounted to $336,000, the price of a full-page ad in S.I.
I think that we are very fortunate to have all of these world-class athletes call Mammoth home, bringing such positive attention to our community.
There is, however, another person who deserves a sincere ‘thank you’ from our Town for all the positive attention and effective free marketing he has generated, and that would be Steve Searles (as well as those who have supported him all these years).
For those who are unaware, Steve has a new show on the nationally televised Animal Planet cable channel. The name of the show is “The Bear Whisperer,” a name coined by one of the many local residents who was advocating to protect Steve’s job.
I find it interesting that a man, and his community, had to fight their own town to protect a valued individual’s job, an individual that has worked so hard to protect one of our precious environmental assets and an individual that has brought so much positive mention to the town of Mammoth Lakes.
Look up Steve Searles or the Bear Whisperer on the Internet and see just how difficult it is to NOT find a reference to Mammoth Lakes in the same article.
Steve, just in case you have not been thanked publicly … I for one am glad that you are such a strong presence in our town and I hope that you keep up the good work. Congratulations on your show!
Matthew Lehman
Mammoth Lakes
