Supe-R Tuesday
Redistricting, Crowley cell tower appeal promise fireworks on Tuesday
Don’t look for much in the way of harmony when the Mono Board of Supervisors takes up redistricting during its meeting this coming Tuesday in Mammoth. Though it’s agendized as a workshop with public comment … discord is already bubbling to the surface over the three concepts selected as templates for new county supervisorial boundaries by Mono County’s 10-member Redistricting Committee on June 29.
While none of the alternatives are set in stone and all will be open to Board input, District 4 Supervisor Tim Hansen has already expressed deep concerns about all three options.
A1 calls for a long, agrarian-based corridor, running from Topaz down the California-Nevada state line and picking up Benton, Hammil, Chalfant, Swall Meadows and Paradise, and 3 core Mammoth districts. B1 sets up 2 core Mammoth districts, a core unincorporated district and 2 split districts. C2 contains 1 core Mammoth district, and 4 radiating split districts.
Redistricting drew fire last week from Mammoth’s Town Council, which thinks the town might be getting shortchanged of its proper representation, and asked for a joint meeting with the Board as part of Tuesday’s business. Some comments expressed dissatisfaction with the idea that there was considerable resistance to splitting up outlying communities such as June Lake, but it’s apparently okay to splinter Mammoth.
That position drew the ire of Supervisor Vikki Bauer, who currently represents June Lake and parts of Mammoth. She also took exception to being referred to in the discussion as “3/4 of a supervisor.”
The item is set for 10:30 a.m. in the BOS Conference Room, 3rd Floor of the Sierra Center Mall.
Cell-ing the Supes on towers
Later in the day, the Board will adjourn its meeting to the Crowley Lake Community Center, where supervisors will hear an appeal filed by developer Incline Partners over a denied use permit for a controversial pair of cell towers. The “Mono Pine” towers were proposed on a site zoned mixed-use residential/busines, but the Mono Planning Commission denied a use permit application for the towers in April on a narrow 3-2 vote.
Planners cited grounds of gross violation of design and setback guidelines, a poor location, aesthetics and conflicts with the General Plan.
Developer Incline Partners had inked a lease agreement on a 6.4-acre, 2,400 square foot rectangular property across from the Verizon switching center and next to the Wash All Laundromat site, owned by Tommy Czeschin.
Off the table is basing any denial on the grounds of EMF radiation, over which the Federal Communications Commission maintains sole jurisdiction.
The Board has requested a recap of other sites that had been previously considered for the towers. The evening’s adjourned agenda item starts at 5:30 p.m.
