Read MBCA's editorial in the Hi Desert Star on October 29, 2016 (no longer available).  It describes the problems with the County Supervisors' decision about the Altamira Housing Development and the lawsuit that has been filed by Joshua Tree residents. 

There was a wide mix of community residents involved from all areas of the Basin, as well as representatives from local governments, from community, business, and conservation organizations, from the Mojave Desert Land Trust, and from Joshua Tree National Park and the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center.

Support for this project was provided by the Sonoran Institute. Both public input and conservation science were used to develop this information-rich document. The report provides a comprehensive picture of which areas of the Morongo Basin are considered by its residents to be particularly worth conserving, and which areas may be more suited to development, and why.

Tuesday, September 27 - San Bernardino County Supervisors voted 3-2 to deny the appeal, thereby approving the Altamira Housing project to go forward.

On September 24, MBCA hosted a Desert-Wise Living Program focused on intersecting issues of water and energy and the need for community-level renewable energy solutions.

 

REPORT ON THE SUPERVISORS' HEARING ON YV105 LLP,
AKA THE ALTAMIRA HOUSING PROJECT

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced in June 2016 that it is proposing a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the rejuvenated 500 MW Paln Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Project on 4200 acres of undisturbed desert ecosystem land east of Desert Center adjacent to the I-10 freeway. 

MBCA sent a comment letter on September 3, 2016, focusing on dust pollution as a major problem for this project.   You can read MBCA's detailed 3-page letter about the Palen project or a shorter one-page summary of the issues that concern us about this project. 

The Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted August 16th 4-1 to deny the three appeals filed and gave their approval for development of the Joshua Tree Solar Farm – a 20 megawatt photovoltaic project to be located on 115 acres at the former Roy Williams Airport site. Many residents spoke in support of the appeals and more sent letters  – clearly and strongly expressing opposition to this project in the rural residential community. Apparently our arguments, including that this is not an area that can accurately be characterized as “disturbed land” (it is relatively intact acreage) and therefore not appropriate for industrial scale solar were not convincing to the majority of Supervisors. They also discounted the fact that the site is visible from a hiking trail in Joshua Tree National Park – which according to the County’s own Renewable Energy and Conservation Element Framework is a criteria worthy of consideration. Only our 3rd District Supervisor, James Ramos voted in favor of the appeal to stop the project. Defend Joshua Tree has reported that a lawsuit or three to stop the project from moving forward seems likely. MBCA E-Blasts will keep you informed of these efforts. This battle isn’t over yet.