Natural History Wanderings

There will be yet another, and final, Mono County Board of Supervisors special meeting on the Tioga Inn project; it is scheduled for Tuesday, December 15 at 12:30pm. Here’s where the issue stands: Two months ago, the Board certified the project FSEIR despite extensive concerns from the local community, Mono Lake supporters, and the objection of the Kutzadika’a Tribe. But the Board delayed the final project approval vote and requested that efforts be made to resolve two issues: (1) concerns raised by the Kutzadika’a Tribe, including mitigations to remedy impacts to cultural heritage resources; and (2) solutions to the significant public safety problem posed by the project’s failure to develop a safe route to Lee Vining for pedestrians. Our blog post has more detail. Meetings to resolve the Tribe’s concerns, as directed by the Board, have not yet occurred. And there is no public information about project changes to solve the safety issue. Yet the Board appears to be moving toward a final decision on the project on Tuesday. At this upcoming video conference meeting the most important thing the public can do is ask the Board to: 1. Follow through and honor their commitment to the Tribe by deferring the hearing until the Tribe can meet with the developer to explore ways to resolve their concerns. 2. Ensure that the project has a mandated plan to create a safe pedestrian and bicycle route between the project site and Lee Vining. 3. Require the project be safer in the event of extreme, wind-driven wildfires by requiring an emergency fire route to Highway 395 and addressing the concerns of the Lee Vining Volunteer Fire Department. The Board of Supervisors meeting is at 12:30pm on Tuesday, December 15 via Zoom videoconference. Participants will be allowed to comment during the public comment portion of the agenda item. If you cannot make the meeting, we suggest submitting comments by noon on Monday, December 14, for greatest impact, but they will be accepted until 12:30pm on December 15. Written comments should be emailed to the County. Thank you, Geoff McQuilkin Executive