Envisioning new futures for Bishop, June
Bishop holds Open House on economic development, while June turns its eye to Maine Street.
It may have been raining in Bishop on Wednesday during the City’s Open House on economic development, held at City Hall, but it did not dampen the enthusiasm of those attending. If there is anything that the City of Bishop needs more than rain, it would be bringing more businesses and visitors to the area.
The man putting the event together, Gary Schley, Bishop’s Public Services Officer, was very pleased with the attendance, as was outgoing City Administrator Keith Caldwell.
“It’s an outstanding turnout,” said Caldwell. “I am very happy to see so many people showing an interest in bettering our community.”
The new appointed City Administrator, Jim Tatum, echoed Caldwell’s view. “It is what I love about this community; it cares. We want to keep the businesses that we already have here and keep them successful, as well as attract new ones.”
The Open House, which ran for four hours, had interactive stations where community members shared their views on the city’s economic future. Those attending were asked, “What do you like about Bishop?” as well as “What don’t you like?”
Aside from the “growing tourism dollars,” many were excited about the future of Bishop Airport now that there is a long-term lease agreement with Los Angeles that will allow the County to apply for grants to improve and expand the runways so that larger planes can land there.
Hopes are that it will become a regional airport that will be an alternative for Mammoth Airport on days when planes cannot land due to bad weather.
Concerns ranged from downtown revitalization and how the city can preserve and protect local businesses, to more affordable housing and better services for seniors.
County Administrator Kevin Carunchio spoke about how Digital 395 and an improved, expanded airport could work together in supporting light industry and many other types of businesses. District 2 County Supervisor Jeff Griffiths agreed that the area would benefit from reliable air service and that the airport and Digital 395 go hand-in-hand. He lauded the cooperation between the City and the County as being the best that he’s ever seen it.
Wesley Bloom, a resident of Bishop who works in Mammoth Lakes and is also a pilot, said that the airport idea is a good one, but cautioned that planners should thoroughly explore the cost-benefit before going full-steam ahead with the proposal. “Make sure there is a demand before you spend a lot of money,” he said.
Future meetings will focus on narrowing changes the people of Bishop would and would not like to see in their city.
While Bishop considered its economic development, Mono County held a Design Fair Workshop for the June Lake Main Street Project at the June Lake Community Center on Wednesday July 30.
Despite Mono County Associate Planner Courtney Weiche’s efforts to hand deliver invitations to June Lake businesses, there were only a handful of business owners present at the meeting.
Weiche is the project lead for the National Scenic Byway Program in Mono County and has secured a grant “to fund a future National Scenic Byway designation, which included an inventory of the corridor communities’ main street character and to develop voluntary design guidelines,” Weiche said. “It’s important to note the National Scenic Byway Designation does not come with any new regulations but would allow for additional funding sources for future corridor improvement projects.”
As part of a grant through the program, Mono County hired Berkley based company Opticios Design to conduct workshops, provide design advice, and report their ideas to the Board of Supervisors. Opticos, which specializes in designing and developing unique and sustainable urban plans, has been working on this project for about a month and will work until October. Stefan Pellegrini and Malia West of Opticos Design were in Mono County all week conducting workshops.
“This is the phase of the project to learn as much as possible,” Pellegrini said at the meeting Wednesday night. Becoming a National Scenic Byway is a “long-term mechanism to bring people to the area for tourism. It is a vehicle for bringing in funding for future projects.”
The workshop was conducted to identify positive existing qualities in the community, as well as “identify design-related issues and opportunities for help,” Pellegrini said. “There are real opportunities where improvements can be made.”
Pellegrini and Wise will present their findings from visits to Walker, Coleville, June, Mammoth and Crowley at the June Lake Community Center on Friday August 1 from 6-7:30 p.m before officially submitting a report to Mono County soon after.
In Walker and Coleville, Pellegrini said he discussed private property improvements with the residents, including the frontage space between buildings and the highway and possibilities for updating buildings. They also looked at connecting properties so that people can “access more than one business without getting into their car and driving,” Pellegrini said.
Pellegrini then asked the business owners to think about positive things in June Lake. Attendees agreed that the area around the balancing boulder at the entrance to town, with the exposed sewer pipe and large sign about keeping dogs on a leash, could be updated. Attendees also agreed that creating a vista point with interpretive information at Oh Ridge would capitalize on the first view of June Lake as people drive into town.
Attendees also suggested widening the shoulder and including a bike lane on highway 158 past June Lake Village and down into the canyon. “We could have more of a sense of connectedness,” said Double Eagle Resort and Spa owner Ralph Lockhart. “Something saying that we down here belong to those people up there with the Mountain in between.”
As for Main Street, Pellegrini said, “What I perceive here is that rents are really low; businesses are living day to day. They are income generating but not a lot.” He suggested to “start with the small stuff which leads more people into stores, income goes up, rents goes up, and it’s easier to get loans and make investments.”
Pellegrini said the other option is that “stuff really has to bottom out before there is change.” In his estimation, June Lake is “Somewhere in the middle. At a real crossroads.”
“The market is showing that there is pent up demand for places like this with eclectic character, [where people have] the ability to walk to different destinations and have a different experience than they would in a place that is more of a resort,” Pellegrini said. “They are looking for something authentic. But what does that mean for June?”
