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Future of Chalfant lies in the hands and hearts of its residents |
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Thursday, 28 February 2008 |
By Stacey Powells
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
During the course of a six-month period, several meetings between Chalfant Valley community members, Mono County staff and Caltrans officials laid down the groundwork for what is to become the road map to the future of Chalfant Valley. The process resulted in the creation of a 31-page vision statement and set of guiding principles that will help guide County land use planning decisions through 2030, including where and how future growth should occur, as well as the effect of related highway and safety improvements and access management on Hwy 6.
“This was funded by Caltrans in collaboration with Mono County in order to do long term envisioning,” said Mono County Planner Greg Newbry. “We wanted to do visioning in relation to transportation and design so Caltrans and the County can plan for the future for the entire area as a whole instead of parcel by parcel.”
With help from MIG, a consulting firm based in Berkeley, Calif., that designs and facilitates public involvement processes, the community members of Chalfant were able to give the County what it needs in order to work toward a general plan in relation to what the community wants to be. “It turns out that the community of Chalfant didn't want much in change, but we wouldn't have found that out if we didn't do this process,” Newbry said.
According to the vision statement, a related goal of the process was to gauge community interest in the release of lands currently held by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) for community development. The BLM and LADWP participated in the process, since these agencies may sell, trade or transfer surplus lands to public or private interests for future development.
During a series of interviews conducted by Joan Chaplick of MIG and Newbry so as to gain insight into the issues facing the community, they identified several issues facing the community:
- Access and safety issues on Hwy 6
- Water supply
- Limited developable land
- Proposed school
- Impact of growth on existing services
Cat Connor Spradlin has lived in Chalfant Valley for almost four years. “We are not really sure what our long-term status is in Chalfant, so we're not sure we would be here to see the vision happen.” If she remains for the long haul, however, Spradlin said would like to see some of the properties cleaned up. “There are a lot of dead trees which need to be removed and properties that have been lacking in attention, said Spradlin. “A cap on population would be great because we don't want to see it become another Mammoth. At night we hear lots of animal noises but that's better than sirens and helicopters. Finally, I do not want the big wind generators like they have near Mojave so research into alternative energy sources would be great.”
Chalfant community member Roberta Lagumarsini thought the outreach conducted by Caltrans and Mono County was a good process. “The community has definite ideas about how they want this place to be and hopefully the powers that be will listen,” she said. “We want this to cement our ideas for the future. Coming from Stockton, all the planning was done and there is no more open land out there so to come here where there is a lot of land to work with is great. If you don't participate you can't complain later, that’s why I went to a lot of meetings.”
Four-year Chalfant resident Peter Pumphrey thought the process had value. “It could have been a bit more challenging or thought provoking but people got a tremendous opportunity to speak their minds and many people did,” stated Pumphrey.
In a very eloquently worded statement, Janet Deflyer had this to say: “I do appreciate Mono County's attempt to address Chalfant Community members’ ideas and desires for the future of our community. It is sad that this study was not done a few months later, as our community has been fortunate to attract five new families — with 2 to 4 children each — in the last few months. They are a group of intelligent, proactive individuals who might very well have changed the tone of the study. The ‘pull up the drawbridge’ mentality seemed to magically emerge from the comments from a very few people. I believe that our new residents would be more interested in Chalfant's infrastructure, park revitalization and our future school. The school bond was passed two years ago, and we have yet to see any progress toward this new grade school.
“This is a fine Community, but not reserved for the ‘chosen few’ as [they] would like to believe. Overall, most Chalfant community members are polite and reserved, and don't want to engage in arguments with the 'drawbridge few.' We are happy that our new residents can also enjoy the magnificent views, the peace and quiet, and starlit skies that we cherish so dearly. Chalfant is one of the few places where it is still possible to find a nice home without endangering a family's financial security, and these young families are the 'future' of Chalfant. I don't believe that Chalfant will ever be a 'city,' but we definitely are a very desirable caring 'community.'
“Finally, the vision statement says that, 'while the community desires additional services, most are unwilling to encourage the type and quantity of development that might make these services feasible.' Residents continue to desire safety improvements on Highway 6; however, based on the lack of support for increased growth it is unlikely that future scenarios will merit significant changes to Hwy 6. As the population of Chalfant ages and more families with more children move to the area, perceptions about the need for services may change. Future residents may be willing to evaluate new development scenarios to have these needs met.”
Copies of the Chalfant Community Vision Statement can be obtained from Mono County by calling (760) 924-1800.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 06 March 2008 )
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