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Newsletter of the June Lake Economic Development Corporation Volume 5 June 2007

INTRAWEST PRESENTATION

The May 1^st Community Meeting with Intrawest staff to discuss their plans and vision for the development of the Rodeo Grounds was very well attended by the community. The standing-room only crowd, with few exceptions, responded positively to the presentation and were anxious to learn more. The JLEDC passed out buttons reading “Move June Lake Forward” and these were worn by the majority of those in attendance. Intrawest announced they were prepared to present their completed application to the County within the next few weeks. The County has now received the completed application long with the checks necessary to move the process forward. After receipt and review the County will develop the “Specific Plan”. The County acknowledged that everything is continuing to move forward. Further information can be found on the Mono County website, http://monocounty.ca.gov (look under “Departments”, “Community Development”, “Planning Div-ision”, “Major Project Info.”).

Intrawest fielded questions regarding building density, placement of structures on the property, access and traffic issues, commercial and retail space allocations, sufficient water supplies, etc. Intrawest stated, without reservation, that the independently conducted water studies showed there was more than sufficient water available and that none of the water was coming from any of the surrounding lakes. They also stated the water contained some small amounts of arsenic which is not unusual and that it can be easily treated.

There was considerable discussion about the layout of the structures proposed for the Rodeo Grounds. Intrawest presented two separate scenarios. One showed some building heights from 65 to 90 ft. which significantly decreased the overall footprint of the project. This approach reduced the number of trees that would be removed and kept the project more confined. The other showed the building heights at 35 ft. with the overall footprint spread out significantly. Many thought the overall visual impact was reduced with the higher buildings and that smaller footprint also provided more screening from the existing trees. There will be other opportunities to study these aspects of the design further.

A Mammoth Lakes visitor made a compelling plea for the Community to stay actively involved to be sure the design of the overall final project was, in fact, what had been initially approved. She elaborated on some of the negative experiences related to Intrawest’s development in Mammoth.

CONCERNS

A recent letter to the Editor of “The Sheet” defended many of the aspects of Intrawest’s development stating that much of what went wrong in Mammoth was the not the result of poor planning, rather the result of a city which refused to be planned. He indicated that prior to Intrawest’s arrival, Mammoth was in a state of near depression. He goes on to cite some of the positive contributions Intrawest has made to the Mammoth area. He encouraged June Lake residents to stay involved but to work with the developer to achieve the desired result and stated “Think twice June Lake before you believe the warnings.”

The JLEDC is fully committed to working with Intrawest or whoever the final developer is as well as the County and the Community Advisory Committee (CAC). We intend to be active participants in the Rodeo Ground development process from beginning to end. We believe we can have appropriate and balanced development without sacrificing our natural resources or negatively impacting our community character.

A number of community members have expressed concerns that the amount of commercial/retail space being proposed in the Rodeo Grounds development may not be enough to meet the needs of the additional guests. We were pleased to learn that Mono County has received a $35,000 Economic Development grant to look at “commercial absorption” i.e., what kind of commercial development is appropriate and what kind of services will best meet the needs of this community. JLEDC attendees created a “wish list” of various commercial and recreational options that we would like the developers to consider. We invite input from other community members; e-mail your thoughts/ideas to administrative assistant Alice Suzinsky at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Remember, if you want to receive all the latest online updates (including releases of the June Tribune), go online to http://jledc.org and register.

B.I.D PRESENTATION

On Tuesday, June 12, Mr. John Poimiroo, a prominent consultant (former California Director of Marketing and Tourism) spoke to our group outlining some options related to obtaining monies for a Marketing and Tourism program designed to benefit the local businesses of June Lake. We were very impressed with his level of knowledge and specifically his extensive knowledge of our area. He has worked for Mono County on a number of projects. We believe some of the ideas brought forward merit further investigation and we may consider proceeding in this direction.