MBCA President Steve Bardwell addresses Supervisors at June 14 meeting. Photo by Stacy Doolittle
At their June 14 meeting, the San Bernardino County Supervisors voted to place a 45-day moratorium on new short-term rental (STR) permits in unincorporated areas of the County via this Urgency Ordinance. During this time the County is expected to initiate studies about housing issues caused by the excessive number of STRs. The Board also voted to prohibit transfer of STR permits with home sales and limited STR ownership to 2 per person. Third District Supervisor Dawn Rowe was instrumental in championing these actions.
The Supervisors also voted on revisions to the existing Short Term Rental Ordinance forwarded by the Planning Commission. Supervisor Rowe made a motion to limit corporate and LLC ownership of STRs, but was unable to get a second on her motion to move it to a vote. MBCA along with other speakers emphasized the need to gather data and analyze the effect of STRs and housing needs at the local level incorporating input from the local community. This as the supervisors emphasized that the STR ordinance is a ‘living’ ordinance that should be expected to be revised over time.
There was some recognition by the Supervisors that any analysis could require more than 45 days of study. County Counsel informed the supervisors that the urgency notice could be extended for 10 months 15 days, and then for an additional year for a two year maximum.
MBCA's Pause Petition sent to the County on June 12 plus an Addendum presented at the meeting on June 14 were signed by a total of 474 people with 136 comments.
After months of escalating concern about the proliferation of short-term rentals across San Bernardino County, especially in the desert and mountain regions, MBCA joined with the Center for Biological Diversity to ask the County to immediately pause the approval of short-term rentals. The letter also urges a comprehensive study of both STR problems and the growing lack of rental housing availability.
Congressman Raul Ruiz (Coachella Valley) is planning to introduce legislation seeking to expand federal desert land protection with a new National Monument and other protection categories. MBCA has sent a letter to the Congressman in support of this effort.
In this public comment letter to the County and to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), MBCA details the many inconsistencies between the state-required Housing Element policies and the County's open-ended Short-Term Rental Ordinance. A few of the many issues covered are housing displacement, lack of acknowledgement of community input, quantifying of housing unit objectives, and data about housing stock and housing types.
Along with 18 other non-profit organizations, MBCA signed a letter encouraging the California Fish and Game Commission to reject the flawed findings of the California Fish and Wildlife Department staff and to permanently list the Western Joshua tree as a threatened species in California.
California buckwheat with Russian sage in the background. Photo by Stacy Doolittle
An outstanding small shrub for Morongo Basin landscapes is California Buckwheat, a native which is likely to volunteer in your yard. Long-lived creamy white flowers eventually turn into attractive rust-colored seed heads. It is attractive all year long.
Desert-Wise Landscape Tour Inspiration Contest Winners 2023
Congratulations to the winners of the Desert-Wise Landscape Tour Inspiration Contest!In this year’s Contest, we asked Tour participants to submit their reactions to the Tour in either a short essay or a visual creation.Winner of the essay category and a $200 gift certificate to Unique Nursery in Joshua Tree is Allie Irwin. Here is her essay, which captures so well the spirit of discovery, as well as lessons learned, that MBCA...
MBCA has submitted comments to the Bureau of Land Management's Las Vegas Field Office about the proposed Golden Current Solar Project's effects on bird migration. Research shows that birds are killed near solar installations because they are attracted to reflective panels they perceive as water. This solar project plus three others nearby would create an excessive array of danger for birds. MBCA's letter includes graphic data of bird presence in the...
MBCA Awards Scholarships to Three Local High School Seniors
Morongo Basin Conservation Association has awarded college scholarships to three local graduating high school seniors. All three high schools in the Morongo Unified School District are represented this year.Recipients were selected from a competitive pool of applicants with demonstrated commitments to include conservation and environmental interests in their education and career plans. Each $1,000 scholarship goes toward the student's higher education expenses in the 2023-24 academic year. MBCA's Conservation Scholarship is the continuation of...
MBCA joined more than 40 local, state, and national organizations in support of California Assemblymember Laura Friedman's AB 1573, the Water Conservation in Landscaping Act, introduced on February 17 and currently referred to the Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife. Issues addressed include improvements to the existing model ordinance, and overall the bill's provisions would set "the strongest level of water conservation requirements for new or major rehabilitated non-residential landscapes." Read the letter and the bill....
2023 Desert Wise Living Landscape Tour
Attend MBCA and Friends of Wonder Valley Dark Skies event
Wonder Inn and Flamingo 640 appealed to Board of Supervisors
Speaking at an water industry event at the Salton Sea near Mecca on Monday, March 27, Scott Slater, the CEO of Cadiz, Inc, the company that wants to sell water from the Cadiz aquifer for enormous financial gain, shared that the company is considering piping water "to bring water to disadvantaged communities within our reach." Slater also revealed efforts "to pursue a relationship with the Salton Sea Authority...and the Torres...
Wonder Inn Resort Proposal Denied by Planning Commission
In a 4-0 vote, San Bernardino County Planning Commissioners denied the Wonder Inn project opposed by MBCA and hundreds of Morongo Basin area residents. Almost 50 citizens made their comments in person at the meeting. The citizens' group Stop Wonder Inn spent a year doing research to demonstrate how the project if built would have significant negative repercussions not only for Wonder Valley but the entire Morongo Basin. MBCA's initial...
