This is a summary of what happened during the Altamira Housing Project agenda Item at the San Bernardino County Supervisors Meeting of September 13, 2016.  Agenda item #102 included a public hearing to consider the appeal by JT105 Alliance, and the staff had recommended that the Supervisors deny the appeal and go forward with the project.

Acting as representative for the JT105 Alliance appeal, Pat Flanagan made a very detailed, specific, and comprehensive statement of all the myriad problems with the project.

Here are the PowerPoint slides Pat presented.  Here are the notes that she presented with each slide.

Then the Project Applicant YV105, LLP made their case.  Public Comment was then opened, where about 30 people (most at the videoconference room at the Burke Government Center in Joshua Tree and several in San Bernardino) made eloquent, impassioned, and well-researched statements opposing the project.

Among the topics addressed were traffic safety, fire safety, native plant removal and other environmental issues, the presence of tortoises, water issues, historical (and questionable) up-zoning of the project property, and the incongruence of such a high density project in Joshua Tree.  Repeated many times was the concern that the project plan never even mentioned the Joshua Tree Community Plan, and that state law requires that it be considered for such a project.  In fact, according to both state and county law the Community Plan became part of the General Plan when adopted in 2007. At that time, according to the General Plan, the zoning should have been returned to its original density and it was not.

Both the project applicant and JT 105 Alliance’s representative were given one more 5-minute comment opportunity.

Supervisor Ramos made a motion to accept the appeal and deny the project, and Supervisor Lovingood seconded the motion.  But then, the County’s attorney indicated there would be legal difficulties if the vote on this motion were 2-2.  It was a complicated matter related to the County’s need to have “findings” supporting the denial.  The Supervisors present also appeared to prefer the full attendance of all 5 Supervisors to conduct this vote.  So Supervisor Rutherford, although stating that she was “for” the project, moved to Continue the decision to the next meeting.  The other 3 Supervisors present agreed.  We are uncertain under what protocol Supervisor Ramos’s motion to accept the appeal and deny the project was “dropped.”

So the issue will be taken up again at the next Supervisors’ meeting on September 27.