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Attorney Rick Wood plans a vigorous defense of his clients
By Catherine Billey
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
 MAMMOTH TIMES PHOTOS/ERICK SUGIMURA
This action was confirmed by attorney Rick Wood, who represents many of the merchants. For confidentiality reasons, Wood could not disclose the names of the merchants. “In the event that litigation is actually filed by either CNL or Intrawest,” Wood said, “those names will become public.”
Merchants at Lingerie Lounge, First Street Leather, Gallerie Barjur, and the Side Door confirmed that they were among the 14 served.
Wood said the notices were authored by counsel for the landlord, CNL Income Mammoth LP (CNL), by Intrawest U.S. Commercial Management Property Inc. (Intrawest). The primary owner of the Village is CNL, but Intrawest manages it.
“CNL bought an 80 percent interest in the Intrawest assets,” Wood clarified. “They continue a partnership consisting of CNL and Intrawest owning the asset.” Because CNL is a real estate investment trust and is a publicly held company, it can't manage its own assets, so in the instance of the Village, Intrawest is the property manager.
Byron Carlock, President and CEO of CNL, did not return calls for comment. In a statement issued under his name, he said although the company has tried to reach a “mutually beneficial solution for the leasing challenges at the Village,” none had occurred. “Accordingly, CNL Lifestyle Properties has followed the terms stated clearly in each tenant's lease. CNL Lifestyle Properties and Intrawest continue to review all reasonable offers from potential purchasers who have expressed an interest in the property, and remain in discussions with interested parties about other topics important to the health of the Village.”
Green “For Lease” signs are visible in the windows of stores that have closed in recent months, scattered among the businesses that remain open and are now threatened by eviction.
“I would not expect any of my clients to quit,” Wood said. “We will present a vigorous defense to any action that is taken by Intrawest to evict the tenants. We remain hopeful that we're going to be able to resolve it. But their actions as of a couple of days ago suggest that they want to create vacancies in the Village.”
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MT News Briefs |
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Friday, 28 March 2008 |
Support local wildlife management efforts
The Town is inviting interested citizens to participate in a Wildlife Management Community Workshop on April 9 at Fire Station 1 on Main Street from 4-5:30 p.m. The creation of a local volunteer, community-based, nonprofit organization, similar to the Tahoe Bear League, will be a subject of discussion at the workshop, which will be facilitated by Sergeant Karen Smart of the Mammoth Lakes Police Department. For additional information, contact Sgt. Smart at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or (760) 934-2011, ext. 82. -MT/TOML/MLPD
Mono supervisors' Sierra Center contractor selection still in question
At the March 18 Mono County Board of Supervisors meeting, Rasp Construction was awarded the contract to reconstruct the Sierra Center Mall.
According to Assistant Public Works Director Kelly Garcia, Rasp Construction had the low bid at $645,300; however, on Thursday, March 20, the second lowest bider, Desert Ranger Construction, protested, saying Rasp Construction did not include a fire sprinkler subcontractor on their provider list. The County must now decide whether to keep Rasp Construction or go with the second lowest bidder, which came in at $709,000. Based on recommendations from County counsel, the Board will decide how to proceed during its April 1 meeting.
Construction is projected to start 15 days after the award and will be confined to the southern section of Sierra Center Mall on the third floor. -MT
County Assessor's seat up for grabs
The upcoming June election will not only see candidates running for County Supervisor and Mammoth Lakes Town Council, but also the County Assessor's seat, as well. Four candidates are in the running: Robert Musil, Jody Henning, Keith Cook and M. Stuart Bownes. -MT
Human skull discovered in Death Valley
On Thursday, March 20, the Inyo County Sheriff's Department received a report of a human skull discovered in Death Valley. Sheriff's Department investigators responded to the location along with Inyo County Search and Rescue personnel and a Level 2 certified Human Remains Detection dog.
Investigators initiated what they described as a "thorough and systematic grid search" and subsequently discovered additional remains. After processing the scene and cataloging evidence, the remains were turned over to Inyo County Deputy Coroner Jeff Mullenhour.
According to the Inyo County Sheriff's Department, the coroner's office will attempt to identify the remains and determine if they belong to one person or multiple persons, as well as determine a manner and approximate time of death. At press time, the investigation was said to be "ongoing" and no further details were available. -MT/ICSD
Appeals/Building Advisory Committee vacancy
Town Clerk Anita Hatter announced last week that the Town will seek to fill four terms of office on the Board of Appeals/Building Advisory Committee that will open effective April 1. The term of these offices is four years, expiring April 1, 2012. Desired qualifications for members of this committee include knowledge of and experience in the areas of construction and/or code compliance.
The Building Advisory Committee/Board of Appeals meets once each quarter, in January, April, July and October.
Interested parties may file an application with the Town Clerk on or before Wednesday, April 9, at 5 p.m. Application forms may be obtained at the Town Offices, Minaret Village Shopping Center; or by writing to P.O. Box 1609, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546; or by phoning (760) 934-8989, ext. 227. They are also available on the Town’s Web site, www.ci.mammoth-lakes.ca.us, under the title “Application for Public Service Appointment.” -MT
Ice rink celebrates first season, closes for spring
Mammoth Lakes' newest amenity, the long-awaited ice rink, celebrated its first successful season March 19 with a small ceremony. Mayor Skip Harvey was on hand to thank the Mammoth Unified School District (MUSD) and Mono County Office of Education (MCOE) for partnering with the Town to find a permanent home for the ice rink, as well as acknowledge the many contractors and suppliers, including Town of Mammoth Lakes staff and Mammoth Mountain Ski Area personnel for their contributions. Due to warm conditions, evening ice skating was not on the menu, but complimentary hot chocolate, light refreshments and snacks were, as those in attendance talked about the winter season past and what's in store for the rink's future.
The rink officially closed out its winter season on Easter Sunday, March 23. -MT
Trails Bridge to nowhere
The bridge that Tallus owner Eric Fishburn was supposed to install over the creek along the bike path that runs up and down Joaquin Road is still incomplete. Ray Jarvis, Public Works Director for the Town, came to Town Council last week with a resolution to amend the fiscal year 2007-08 budget in order to appropriate funds to put the bridge in place.
"Fishburn would then pay back the Town at a later date," Jarvis said.
It was, however, announced at the meeting that Fishburn, who has suffered bankruptcy issues with his project, now has the funding to complete the project.
Jarvis felt that Council should still appropriate funds even if they end up not needing to use them. Council asked why they should believe that the bridge was going to happen now when Fishburn has been promising it would be in place for years now. The Council decided to hold the discussion over to their next meeting in order to receive more information on the subject. -MT
Water water everywhere
Mammoth Community Water District is concerned that if the Town of Mammoth Lakes moves forward and gives maximum density to developments coming online in Mammoth's future, such as the Mammoth Crossing project, it will cause problems with the town's water supply and especially with the collection of wastewater.
The District plans to bring up its concerns at the next MCWD-Town liaison meeting. The Board will explain to the Town that they will have to put the Dry Creek water study back on the table, which would increase connection fees again, something developers argued with last year.
The discussion arose as part of the District's approval of a water supply assessment for Mammoth Crossing. -MT
Cost of cutting projects
"Stopping Capital Improvement Projects won't save the Town money; it would actually cost the Town money," said Public Works Director Ray Jarvis at last week's Mobility Commission.
Stopping capital improvements has been one solution discussed for the Town's budget shortfall, but Jarvis explained that since a lot of the projects are funded mostly by grants and only a small portion funded by Developer Impact Fees, stopping projects such as the Lake Mary Road Bike Path would cause the Town to lose the grant money, and could hinder them from receiving future grants.
The Town hosts a Capital Improvement Projects workshop this Saturday, March 29, starting at 8:30 a.m. in Suite Z. -MT
Who's in town?
Weekend occupancy held its own, but the big surprise was the upturn for midweek, likely fueled by spring breakers on vacation. According to figures from the Visitors Bureau, estimates indicated an occupancy rate of 78 percent for the March 21-22 weekend, a increase of seven percent from the previous weekend. Midweek figures, however, were a different story, coming in at 74 percent for the March 23-27 period, a jump of 23 percent from the week before. -MT
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 03 April 2008 )
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