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Tuolumne River Plan may impact Mono Basin |
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Thursday, 28 August 2008 |
By Stacey Powells
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
Depending on the final outcome, what happens to the future of the Tuolumne River may have a major impact on businesses and residents in the Mono Basin.
“We want to work with you so we can all anticipate what the economic impact would be should we implement any of the alternatives,” said Jennifer Nersesian, Assistant to the Superintendent of Yosemite National Park, referring to the Tuolumne River Planning Project. On August 13, members of the Mono Basin Regional Planning Advisory Committee (RPAC) listened intently as Nersesian briefly explained the five potential ways to manage the Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park.
“This is an opportunity for us to understand how what we do and decide will impact the vitality of businesses over here,” Nersesian said.
In 1984 the Tuolumne was designated by Congress as a national Wild and Scenic River. In compliance with the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the National Park Service (NPS) must prepare a comprehensive management plan outlining how it will protect the river's free-flowing condition and the values that qualified it for designation.
The NPS Tuolumne planning team has begun to develop preliminary site plan concepts for the Tuolumne Meadows area; however, further discussion and analysis are needed before these concepts can be fully developed and a preferred alternative selected.
The five alternative management zoning plans, including a preferred alternative are now available for review and comment. The planning workbook represents thousands of hours spent since 2005 by the planning team, park staff, culturally associated Indian tribes, other agencies, gateway community representatives and interested members of the public. The NPS will be asking for public input at future Mono Basin RPAC meetings.
The Tuolumne Planning Workbook, Comment Form and other information are viewable at www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/2008wrkbk.htm.
Conway Ranch Subdivision: Future affordable housing?
The concept of affordable housing in Mono County is surfacing wherever and whenever it can. The Mono County Board of Supervisors recently directed county council to contact the Trust for Public Land (TPL) and inquire about developing affordable housing at the Conway Ranch subdivision, a portion of the Conway Ranch property owned by the county.
A letter was drafted back in July by Mono County Counsel Marshall Rudolph to TPL outlining the parcels at Conway Ranch that are proposed for subdivision. The letter was written as both a courtesy and to find out whether or not TPL would object to a portion of Conway Ranch being subdivided for affordable housing. However, the letter has yet to be sent because Mono Basin Regional Planning Advisory Committee (RPAC) Chair Chris Lizza asked the Board to table the letter until the committee had ample time to discuss the letter and the possibility of affordable housing being designated at Conway Ranch.
“Although TPL bought the land and later conveyed it to the county, we wanted to know if they have objections to this. Their whole mission is to preserve public land,” Rudolph said. “The original MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) didn't include affordable housing so they might not be keen on seeing the property developed by the county. The county wouldn't have the property without them and we want to stay in good standing with them. We want to continue to be good stewards of the property.”
The County purchased the Conway Ranch property from TPL in phases. Phase One closed escrow in 1998; Phases Two and Three closed escrow in 2000. The Conway Ranch subdivision was part of Phase One. It was actually donated to the County by TPL so that the County could use it as a match for the grants that were funding the remainder of the purchase price. As far as Mono County knows, TPL did not record or otherwise impose any legal restrictions on the County’s future use of the donated subdivision.
Rudolph said that even though the county originally had no intention of developing the subdivision for affordable housing, the price of housing and other real estate in Mono County began to escalate. Housing prices in Mono County reached levels that were not affordable for many people, which is forcing many to live in another county and commute to their jobs.
Because the original subdivider had already disturbed the land, through the creation of streets and other improvements for housing, implementing affordable housing at Conway Ranch has come up several times during various RPAC meetings.
The Committee voted 7-1 to send the letter to TPL before any more affordable housing discussions with regards to Conway Ranch should take place.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 September 2008 )
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