Hello, MBCA members and supporters!

Short Term Rental Survey
San Bernardino County is soliciting input from county residents on the issue of Short Term Rentals (STRs). Follow this link to offer your opinion on some of the issues associated with STRs. (survey no longer available)

MBCA has been active in following and crafting revisions to the STR ordinance and questioning how STRs affect the unincorporated communities of the county. As a component of the draft Housing Element (see below) the county has committed to ‘conduct a public planning process and a study to determine if the County should establish a limit on the number of private homes or ADUs that can be developed and used as short-term rentals in the Mountain and Desert regions’. Known as Program 4, MBCA has been asking the county to provide a description of the process to be followed for this ‘public planning process’. While we welcome the opportunity for residents to again express their opinions on STRs through this survey, the survey itself will not be sufficient to satisfy the goals described in Program 4.

Please be aware that the comment portion of the survey is limited to 280 characters (this includes the spaces between words!) and that there is no tabulation of the number of characters as one enters their response. We recommend utilizing the comments section of the survey to express the need for a thorough study on the complex issue of STRs within the unincorporated communities of the county. A sample comment of 240 characters follows:

This survey is insufficient to satisfy the commitment by the county to perform the public planning process described in Program 4 of the draft-housing element. A detailed study on the number of STRs within distinct communities must be provided.

 The deadline for responding to the survey is August 19.

Housing Element Update
The San Bernardino County Planning Commission has voted to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve the June 2022 Draft Housing Element. During the course of the Commission hearing, there was little discussion on the issue of STRs and no discussion of the County’s commitment to undertake the public planning process described within Program 4. As described above, MBCA believes it is vital to undertake a thorough study of the effects of STRs on all of the distinct communities throughout the unincorporated county. It is insufficient to lump all the desert communities into one basket for study purposes. We will inform you of the schedule for consideration of the Housing Element by the Board of Supervisors when the schedule is established. In the meantime, please fill out the survey described above.

Desert Wise Virtual Landscape videos released
Please visit our website to view the 4 video virtual tours of varying landscapes throughout our High Desert environment. With the grave news on the status of the Colorado River, and the diminishing level of Lake Mead, the wise and efficient of use water as featured within the tour venues is more timely than ever.

MBCA will continue to offer you insights on the many issues that affect us locally here in the Morongo Basin. If not already a member, I encourage you to renew or join our membership. Act soon, as the membership fees will be raised within the not-to-distant future!