Local Group Appeals Whitney Portal Development

Published on Apr 7, 2009 - 10:15:10 AM

By: SRVA Advocates for Smart Growth

Bishop, Calif. Apr. 7, 2009 - Bishop based SRVA Advocates for Smart Growth has appealed the Inyo County Planning Commission's latest approval of the 'Whitney Portal Preserve' development proposal.

"The Whitney Portal development proposal threatens everything we love about the Owens Valley and Eastern Sierra," says Jennifer Fenton of SRVA. "Leap-frog development at the base of our County's most iconic viewshed would set a dangerous precedent for our local landscape."

A wide range of local residents have long considered the Whitney Portal Preserve proposal the most important land use issue facing the Owens Valley region. The project calls for a remote subdivision of 27 luxury homes along Whitney Portal Road, the sole paved access route for the tallest mountain in the continental United States and four miles from the nearest town.

Inyo County approved the project in 2005, and conservationists filed suit to stop the proposal. After a series of court proceedings, the California Court of Appeals agreed that Inyo County had violated state law and overturned development approvals in 2007.

In late 2008, Inyo County and project proponents completed a Final Revised Recirculated Environmental Impact Report ("FRREIR") in order to meet state standards for environmental review. In March, the Inyo County Planning Commission voted to certify the document and allow the development to go forward.

Local residents and regional conservationists contend the decision was not only irresponsible but, also, illegal; the new document does not remedy the flaws that the Court of Appeals pointed to in ordering a halt to the project.

In a letter dated March 31, 2009, SRVA and their legal counsel team from Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger appealed to the County Board of Supervisors to overturn the Planning Commission's action, contending that "The FRREIR fails to provide an adequate consideration of alternatives to the project…This analysis does not meet the requirements of either CEQA or the Court of Appeal's mandate regarding this very EIR, as expressed in the opinion in Save Round Valley Alliance v. County of Inyo (2007) 157 Cal. App. 4th 1437. Moreover, the document's analysis of the Project's potential contribution to global climate change fails to apply its own standard of significance. (W)e urge the Board of Supervisors to overturn the Planning Commission's adoption of Resolution 2009-03."

Concurrent with the planning process and legal wrangling, SRVA has worked with Nevada City based Sierra Watch and regional land trusts to pursue win-win alternatives to the proposed project, including several land exchange options. They continue to seek opportunities to collaborate with project proponents to resolve the conflict.

This is another great example of people standing up to protect our favorite Sierra places," says Tom Mooers, Executive Director of Sierra Watch. "SRVA has been proactive, consistent, and positive; we're confident that commitment will pay off in a resolution that invests in the long term future of Lone Pine, Mount Whitney, and the entire Sierra Nevada."

SRVA Advocates for Smart Growth is a non-profit organization working to promote sustainable development in the Eastern Sierra region. For more information, call (831) 383-8551 or visit http://srva.net/cms/.

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