At their October 27 meeting, the San Bernardino County Supervisors adopted all recommendations from Land Use Services concerning the new Countywide Plan, including repealing the 2007 Community Plans. During Public Comments preceding the vote, five MBCA Directors made public comments from the Joshua Tree and Hesperia video-connection sites, requesting the Supervisors adopt and update the 2007 Community Plans rather than repeal them. Third District Supervisor Dawn Rowe asked County staff a number of thoughtful questions, including several related to MBCA’s concerns, then asked that the recommendation regarding the repeal of Community Plans be a separate vote. When that occurred, she voted against the repeal though it passed 4-1.

On the video recording of the October 27th meeting you can view the entire session concerning the Plan, including the presentation by Terri Rahhal of Land Use Services, by scrolling down and clicking on the bar beneath the video titled “100 Countywide Plan, Community Action Guides and Related Actions." It starts at 2:44 and ends at 4:38. You can hear comments from MDLT and from the MBCA Directors between 3:21 and 3:37.

Since the process began over 5 years ago, MBCA has closely followed San Bernardino County's efforts to develop a Countywide Plan. The resulting plan is scheduled for adoption at the Supervisors' October 27th meeting and includes the repeal of the 2007 Community Plans. MBCA maintains that the existing Community Plans are necessary for unincorporated communities to have a say in future development. MBCA's comprehensive letter sent to the County's Land Use Services staff and Supervisors on October 23rd addresses the background and rationale of this argument.  The letter concludes:

Communities want and need the specificity of the Community Plans to ensure the health and safety of their communities.  These plans already exist, are currently adopted into code, and housed in the Development Code that is not part of the vote on October 27th. Keeping these Community Plans ensures that the integrity and character of these communities is respected and maintained.

We respectfully ask that you do not repeal the 2007 Community Plans and initiate community-led updates of the Plans, that can then be incorporated into the forthcoming Development Code update.

Again here is the entire letter.

MBCA emailed San Bernardino County's Countywide Plan Coordinator Jerry Blum on September 4, 2020, expressing concern and dismay about the short timeline for public comment preparation before the Countywide Plan's appearance on the agenda of the Planning Commission on September 17. There had been only limited public messaging about the "finalized documents" and the scheduled meeting. The County's website announcement includes links to the hundreds of pages of documents. Here are four emails that explain our concerns and include the County's response. You can find additional background on our County Plan page including MBCA's previous comments since the process began in 2014.

Updating or developing Community Plans in unincorporated Morongo Basin communities has been part of the County's General Plan review and revision process. San Bernardino County has been undergoing review and revision of its 2007 General Plan since 2014, following the development of a Countywide Vision. MBCA has participated in meetings, hosted meetings, and sent comments to the County about our concerns.  This page provides resources to help you understand and effectively comment to the County about your responses to what they have developed.

Links to all Community Action Guides by District (added 10/2020)

County 2007 Environmental Impact Report
Joshua Tree Municipal Advisory Council 2004 Community Plan Proposal

   (or just the Development Code PDF)

 

Also, here are two support documents created by MBCA Director Pat Flanagan:

An analysis of the Joshua Tree Detailed Community Plan aka Suggested Action Plan that illustrates the unrealistic list of the draft Plan’s suggested projects and actions.