The June Lake Advocates are a grass-roots citizens group currently in the process of formation as a nonprofit organization seeking to give local residents and property owners of the June Lake Loop a means for making their voices heard on local environmental issues.  Concerns about Intrawest's plans for the June Lake Loop were a direct motivation for forming this group.

We respectfully request your attention to our concerns regarding Intrawest's Specific Plan for the Rodeo Grounds in the June Lake Loop, and your support, in your decisions, of the position taken by the local citizenry on this issue.

Our first action on this issue was to conduct a survey of June Lake Loop homeowners to determine how they stood on this issue.  We sent out 800 surveys, and have received 339 responses thus far.  Our survey revealed overwhelming opposition to the structural and population density parameters proposed by Intrawest: over 91% percent of the respondents insisted that Intrawest must be held to the 35 foot building height limit and to the PAOT limit of 2610; about 7.1% percent were willing to compromise on building height to a 50 foot limit; only 1.8 of the respondents expressed support for the parameters proposed by Intrawest. 

Our survey also included a comments page.  In their overwhelming majority, respondents voiced strong opposition to Intrawest's plans, and anger over its practice of putting shareholder profits above the needs and wishes of local residents.  These comments are on file, and are available for your inspection.

It is clear from homeowner comments that the attraction of the June Lake Loop is in its natural setting.  People come here not for the theme-park experience Intrawest is offering, but to experience the joy of nature in its raw, unsanitized reality.  Those who find this reality threatening or uncomfortable already have many other places to choose from, including the Village at Mammoth Lakes.  Those that don't are finding their choices diminishing.  Presence of an Intrawest village will certainly take away from their experience.

Our primary concerns are:

1) Intrawest's Specific Plan seeks to violate state and local regulations by claiming precedence over the Mono County General Plan;

2) the Specific Plan contains structural and population density parameters that conflict with the June Lake Design Guidelines, the June Lake Area Plan, and the wishes of the local citizenry;

3) the Specific Plan fails to address impacts on local infrastructure and the ways to mitigate these impacts;

4) Intrawest's theme-park atmosphere will take away from June Lake's appeal as a real mountain town in a unique natural setting and is at odds with the goal of June Lake being a fully integrated, self sustaining community;

5) modifying the whole county plan to satisfy a single developer will set an unwanted precedent wherein other developers will want, and will be right in expecting, the same privileges.

The Golden State EnviroNet offers a telling portrait of Intrawest:

"Intrawest portrays themselves as a community-oriented and environmentally friendly corporation that promotes sound development with the allure of four season resorts. However, what [we are] witnessing is a well-oiled strategy that has benefited Intrawest [by arming it with] the uncanny and successful ability to overcome political, jurisdictional and regulatory barriers to develop real estate in North America's last great wild places….  Gaining local approval for a general development plan or a redevelopment plan grants Intrawest vested rights for years to come with the benefits of raising capital, executing ambitious marketing strategies and holding sway over the local jurisdiction with their sophisticated public relations machinery." (Golden State EnviroNet, January 2001).

 Intrawest is more than likely asking for a mile in the hope of getting at least an inch, and would certainly be pleased to get the whole mile if the local citizenry does not stand up for its rights.  In doing so, it is creating an adversarial atmosphere.  Rather than working cooperatively, within the parameters of local regulations, guidelines, and policies, it is putting us on the defensive, and making us fight for our rights.

We are outraged that a development of this kind was allowed to get as far as it has in the approval process.  It is clear from our survey of June Lake Loop property owners that either persons in the planning cycle were unaware of what the local citizenry envisioned for the Loop's development, or they decided for one reason or another to ignore its wishes.  For this Specific Plan to be approved, the General Plan would have to be amended, and the people of June Lake, and of Mono County, are unlikely to approve of such action.

The bottom line is that local policies and plans were prepared in the best interest of the June Lake environment and its people, and they must be adhered to.  This development proposal is therefore unacceptable.  It must be modified to comply with the Mono County General Plan, June Lake Area Plan, and June Lake Design Guidelines, and should not be approved by the county in its present form.

We urge you, therefore, to reject the Specific Plan, require Intrawest to abide by the law, and support the rights of the citizens you represent.

Sincerely,
The June Lake Advocates