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Guest Soapbox: Remember Wal-Mart decision at next election
By Ramon Mendoza / Yucca Valley
Supercenter wins approval: How did this happen? The CEQA/Environmental Impact Report was so flawed, that not even those who were opposed to the project had sufficient evidence to say nay, much less for the Town Council members (4-1) to say yes!
Worse yet is the fact that at the meetings, citizens of the Morongo Basin said no and twice clearly were the majority.
Wal-Mart paid the fee for the EIR to be completed as required by CEQA … a process that is the law for land-use decisions. The Town of Yucca Valley went to bid on the EIR and contracted a firm, who may have been low bid, but who also has a reputation for doing poor work. In this case, the EIR was flawed throughout the document, but most importantly those flaws concern issues that affect our quality of life.
Let me add that this may be the result of downsizing staff at a time of peak development … a Town Council decision to not have too much government … but how much do we need? At what point do we overload the staff and get errors of omission such as this project?
All authority missed the flaws in the document or just plain ignored what could not be mitigated. That includes the Town Council, who ratified the approval by the planners. They ratified the planners’ approval and ignored the professionals who clearly found the EIR flawed.
When it came to the Town Council, we know that council member Herbel read the 1,008 pages that were submitted by The Center for Biological Diversity and from Leibold McClendon & Mann. The concerns submitted were meaningful, concise and carried with their analysis, the issue that the CEQA/EIR was flawed.
What could have been the issue that disallowed democracy to work? Also consider the presence of sheriffs who were at the meeting. Was our town’s council troubled? Perhaps that explains the private meeting that took place between the attorneys representing the town and Wal-Mart during one of the breaks?
Given that the EIR was flawed, and that perhaps the town did not want to pay again to have it done right, did everyone choose to just overlook the flaws?
Consider that at least four of the council members felt it was OK! It was not a conservative decision due to our economy, and water issues throughout the entire state.
Was this decision about business development and not about our quality of life? How does the town know what quality means, and how do they know that such a decision will not affect other businesses?
The answer is they don’t, and it could take seven years to discover exactly how the Supercenter affects us!
Honorable people approved this complex matter and did not address the overriding considerations. On this latter point, council was as silent as Wal-Mart regarding sound reason. Perhaps being fearful of criticism also had a role. On this issue, forgive the lack of leadership, but if you agree, be sure to vote next election for change.
Worse yet is the fact that at the meetings, citizens of the Morongo Basin said no and twice clearly were the majority.
Wal-Mart paid the fee for the EIR to be completed as required by CEQA … a process that is the law for land-use decisions. The Town of Yucca Valley went to bid on the EIR and contracted a firm, who may have been low bid, but who also has a reputation for doing poor work. In this case, the EIR was flawed throughout the document, but most importantly those flaws concern issues that affect our quality of life.
Let me add that this may be the result of downsizing staff at a time of peak development … a Town Council decision to not have too much government … but how much do we need? At what point do we overload the staff and get errors of omission such as this project?
All authority missed the flaws in the document or just plain ignored what could not be mitigated. That includes the Town Council, who ratified the approval by the planners. They ratified the planners’ approval and ignored the professionals who clearly found the EIR flawed.
When it came to the Town Council, we know that council member Herbel read the 1,008 pages that were submitted by The Center for Biological Diversity and from Leibold McClendon & Mann. The concerns submitted were meaningful, concise and carried with their analysis, the issue that the CEQA/EIR was flawed.
What could have been the issue that disallowed democracy to work? Also consider the presence of sheriffs who were at the meeting. Was our town’s council troubled? Perhaps that explains the private meeting that took place between the attorneys representing the town and Wal-Mart during one of the breaks?
Given that the EIR was flawed, and that perhaps the town did not want to pay again to have it done right, did everyone choose to just overlook the flaws?
Consider that at least four of the council members felt it was OK! It was not a conservative decision due to our economy, and water issues throughout the entire state.
Was this decision about business development and not about our quality of life? How does the town know what quality means, and how do they know that such a decision will not affect other businesses?
The answer is they don’t, and it could take seven years to discover exactly how the Supercenter affects us!
Honorable people approved this complex matter and did not address the overriding considerations. On this latter point, council was as silent as Wal-Mart regarding sound reason. Perhaps being fearful of criticism also had a role. On this issue, forgive the lack of leadership, but if you agree, be sure to vote next election for change.
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