BIG WIN FOR FLAMINGO HEIGHTS COMMUNITY
Flamingo 640 glamping project voted down by Board of Supervisors
The Flamingo Heights community won a years-long battle when the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted to deny the controversial Flamingo 640 project their Tuesday, December 19th meeting.
RoBott Land’s Steve Botthof and Larry Roth brought the appeal to the Board after the San Bernardino County Planning Commission failed to move the project forward at their March 9 hearing.
In the community comment period at the BOS meeting, a well-organized group of area residents expressed myriad concerns about the impact the glamping resort would have on their neighborhood, the delicate desert environment, and local fauna. Many worked with Save Our Deserts, a group created by Justin Merino, a Landers resident, and President of the Landers Community Association, to present an organized opposition that would fully address their reasons for pushing back on RoBott Land’s plan to develop the glamping resort on the 640-acre parcel of land.
The group cited light and noise pollution, lack of suitable local infrastructure; destruction of Joshua Trees and other native plants; disturbing habitat for tortoise and other species; and additional traffic on already dangerous Old Woman Springs Road.
RoBott Land, the developer, said they had made an alternate plan that would scale down the project considerably, including eliminating all but one main fire pit and replacing them with local sculptures. The new plan would have also cut back the size of both the restaurant and bar, and consolidate some of the other structures in response to community concerns.
The proposed changes were not enough to sway the community or most of the BOS.
Dawn Rowe came out strongly for the community she represents, saying Robott made a mistake by not addressing the community at the start of their planning, stating, “…I would encourage anyone who wants to have a project here to engage with these community groups and residents early in the process.”
Rowe also pointed out that the commercial zone set up along the north end of Flamingo Heights, in the area around Dollar General and other businesses, would be a more appropriate site for this type of venture.
Rowe then led the vote for the denial, joined by Supervisors Baca and Cook, with Supervisors Hagman and Armendarez voting against.
In an email letter celebrating this victory, Merino acknowledged the work of fellow activist Caroline Partamian, member of the Morongo Basin Glamping Taskforce and creator of a Change.org petition that helped build support for the opposition to the project.
Merino also clarified the group’s stance on tourist development in the Morongo Basin: “While we stood in opposition to (this) project…We recognize the complexities involved in such a project and remain hopeful that future initiatives in unincorporated rural areas and the broader High Desert will more closely reflect community values, fostering sustainable and harmonious development.”
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First, I want to thank the Morongo Basin residents for pulling together on opposing this project, it would not have been denied had only Flamingo Heights residents and people directly affected by traffic on 247, with limited resources, been the only folks objecting to this.
I found it interesting during the hearing that the Robott developers made the threat several times to put ‘250 residential dwellings’ there instead if they didn’t get their way, was such an empty one. Not only would developing that entire section of land be monstrously expensive just to put in infrastructure, a proposed housing development on that very land was denied in the mid 2000s, because of the fault lines running through it. I don’t see why that fact would have changed in the last 20 years.
I am guessing that Robott was well aware of this, but betting that local residents and representatives were not, so could use it for leverage. Well, they lost anyway.
Finally, a huge shout out to Graham Smith, from Big Bear, who took the time to go to San Bernardino and comment in our favor. Graham is running in opposition to Supervisor Rowe. I may be cynical
-okay I am- but Rowe finally getting behind Morongo Basin residents in the face of an election year seems kind of fishy? I am glad she did, even if it was a no brainer, but let’s not forget that she didn’t do much when cannabis farms started cropping up everywhere and terrorizing neighborhoods, in fact she claimed that there was nothing county government could do but watch, her stance on short term rentals has been to ‘let the market forces work it out’, something she said live on the air on Z107.7, don’t forget that the county’s lack of readiness in response to last winter’s storm forecast cost the lives of mountain residents, and recently that the county recently found, under her chairpersonship, that the housing shortages in desert and mountain communities has nothing to do with unchecked strs taking over neighborhoods, once again it is ‘market forces’ at work.
While the grassroots organizers need her on our side to fight Wonder Inn, a massive storage facility near Whitefeather Road, and other projects unsuitable to our area, let’s not forget her record when we head to the polls.