Mono County briefs
County Assistant Planner Heather DeBethizy updated the Mono Tourism Commission on the status of the Final Draft Mono Basin Community Plan. The document, she said, was borne out of a Mono Basin RPAC desire to update the Land Use Element of the Mono Basin Area Plan part of the County General Plan. “The community felt they were reacting to agencies coming to them,” DeBethizy assessed.
The Final Draft plan will go before the Mono Planning Commission and then on to the Board of Supervisors for adoption during August. “We can look back 10 years, 20 years from now, and see what happened after we enacted these policies.”
Tourism Chair wanted to know how “the great document with all the great ideas and policies doesn’t get put on a shelf to gather dust for 10 years and becomes an actionable item.” DeBethizy said part of the document includes an Action Plan and Capital Facilities Matrix that would be annually updated with action items to be spearheaded by the RPAC, once the County governing bodies adopt the document. “If no one pays attention, it does just sit there,” she agreed. “One of their goals is to make sure it is an actionable document.”
She also updated the Commission on the status of the Eastern Sierra Regional Trail, a proposed soft-surface trail, potentially both foot and motorized, which would span the entire length of Mono County. The trail would also be split in terms of two different tracks, one historic in nature, and another connecting various communities.
A grant proposal, authorized by the Board of Supervisors, is in the works petitioning for assistance from a surface trail group, which usually focuses on trails relating to national parks, that could help with a “model” or pilot section of trail, starting at the Mono Visitors Center through Lee Vining and terminating at Yosemite National Park.
Alicia Vennos said that figures are being compiled in advance of a Tourism workshop with the Mono Board of Supervisors on Aug. 21 regarding economic impact dollars following the filming of the Tom Cruise “Oblivion” movie, as well as how to fund making the Mono County Tourism site more mobile friendly and utilizing the latest in platform technology.
Also scheduled for August: a pitch to the Board of Supervisors by Mammoth Lakes Tourism Director John Urdi for pitching in to support air service, and an item by Supervisor Byng Hunt regarding authorizing $5,000 in support funding for the Interagency Visitors Center.
