SMELLS LIKE HOUSING
Published in the Feb. 14, 2026 issue.
What’s that saying again? Don’t sh*t where you eat?
Well, on Wednesday night, Lee Vining residents gathered to discuss what, if anything, could be built on what one attendee described as “a very small, very strange parcel on the bluff overlooking the sewage ponds.”
The roughly one-acre site, adjacent to the Lee Vining Community Center, is the only Mono County-owned, unused parcel in town. As a result, county officials are exploring a housing development there to help address unmet housing needs.
Mono County recently completed its first housing project, the Bridgeport Apartments, and is working on several assistance programs. Still, compared to the Town of Mammoth Lakes, the county has moved slowly on constructing affordable housing, making the prospect of building on its own land appealing.
To assess the site’s potential, development consultant Shellan Rodriguez of SMR Development (who also worked on the Parcel project in Mammoth Lakes) conducted a yield study and presented her findings to about 20 residents at the Mono Basin Regional Planning Committee meeting. Under current standards, the parcel could accommodate 14 units, or 25 with density bonuses.
What gets built would depend largely on funding.
At the lower end, the county could develop up to 13 two-bed, one-bath manufactured homes at roughly $450,000 per unit including developer fees. At the higher end, it could construct up to 20 stick-built townhomes (three-bed, two-bath) costing about $1 million a pop.
Officials have yet to decide whether the units would be rentals or for-sale housing, how they would be managed, or what amenities they might include. Storage? Patios? Parking?
Several attendees advocated for designating a unit as an in-home childcare center, potentially subsidized through local partnerships.
While there’s a preschool in operation for children aged roughly 2.5 to 4, there is no established childcare for younger children, one mother noted while bouncing a baby on her hip.
Then there’s the sewage ponds.
“As a bird watcher, I love the view of the sewer ponds,” one resident pitched in. “Smelling the sewer ponds, though, is a consideration […] during the summer, especially on hot days, there’s some funk in the air.”
This was, in the words of Mono County Supervisor McFarland, “one of the biggest drawbacks of the site.” But, he rationalized, that when it stinks at the community center, it stinks everywhere in town.
Rodriguez floated the idea of fencing or screening to buffer views of the ponds as an amenity to prioritize.
A preschool employee said odors are rarely noticeable during the school year. “Most days I don’t smell the ponds,” she said. “And when there is a smell, it’s not so bad that the kids are asking about it. But I haven’t been here in the summer.”
In the end, officials agreed to survey residents and return with a more defined proposal shaped by community priorities.
But questions about smell, scale and amenities are only part of the equation. Housing proposals in Lee Vining have struggled before.
“This project specifically is one of those perennial things that every now and then pops back up,” McFarland told The Sheet. “A decade ago, it was discussed at RPAC and the County was going to put out a request for proposals to hire a development consultant, but it just didn’t go anywhere.”
More recently, Tioga Gas Mart owners Dennis and Jane Domaille were denied approval when they attempted to add workforce housing to their property.
The Mono Lake Committee opposed the housing, citing concerns about water and energy use and warning it could create a “company town” disconnected from the broader community. The Kutzadika’a Tribe objected to what it described as insufficient consultation and called for formal meetings and protections for tribal heritage.
In 2021, the Mono County Board of Supervisors deadlocked 2-2 on the housing component, effectively denying it. Supervisors Jennifer Kreitz and John Peters voted in favor, while Bob Gardner and Rhonda Duggan opposed. Supervisor Stacy Corless recused herself. Without a majority, the project could not proceed.
This proposal may follow a different path. The parcel is County-owned and located within an already developed area. And with Paul McFarland and Lynda Salcido now on the Board, the political dynamics may have shifted, potentially improving the project’s chances for approval.
