*
Forestland
Development Speculators *
From Linda Perkins:
I am following the recent sale of approximately 500 acres of Hawthorne
Timber Company land in Albion to MidStream Partners, a limited liability
corporation that plans to subdivide the property and sell it for housing.
The 468-acre piece crosses Albion Ridge from one watershed to another and
through the heart of the
forestland and disrupts an important wildlife corridor between the
* Currently before the County Planning Commission is an application for
the subdivision of 66 acres into 3 parcels of about 20 acres each.
* A timber harvest plan has been completed on another 41 acres.
* Plans for the remaining ~400 acres have not been disclosed, though old roads
have been opened, new roads built and the land graded
across much of it.
The 468-acre piece crosses Albion Ridge from one watershed to another and
through the heart of the
forestland and disrupts an important wildlife corridor between the
Escrow on the property closed in December of 2004. MidStream Partners
immediately moved in bulldozers and began removing brush, falling trees
(apparently to create viewsheds), scraping up downed
wood, burning huge
piles of vegetation, grading, opening a new road through sensitive habitat
and, in general, 'parking up' the property. Thousands of cubic yards of
dirt were disturbed-- all during a wet spring season that saw over 3 feet
in rainfall! Then, to cover the bare ground, the owners spread truckloads
of hay containing the seeds of invasive grasses. A double
blow for the
environment.
None of this work triggered a requirement for a permit. It's obvious that
the lack of a grading ordinance in
environmental damage. Perhaps less obvious is that the lack of a grading
ordinance denies a forum that gives the community an opportunity to
influence projects that affect its character.
From Bernie Macdonald:
Please take a good
look at what is going on in our community and
send a letter to the planning commission beginning
with the template
below; then ask your neighbors to do the same.
Is this the camels nose
under the tent of our rural community and the
Now's
the time to get involved for the future of our coastal communities.
Info going up at: http://www.albionnation.org
Allies across the hills at: http://ukiahsmartgrowth.org
Letters should be mailed
to the address listed or emailed to:
chatyd@co.mendocino.ca.us please
send a cc to lperkins@mcn.org
Deadline is
next Tuesday, 11/29, to the Planning Commission
Please plan to attend the
Planning Commission hearing at Fort Bragg
town hall on this Thursday, the 1st at
sample letter
Raymond Hall,
Secretary to the
Department of Planning and Building
chatyd@co.mendocino.ca.us
RE: Case # MS 7-2005/B 35-2005
Mid Stream Partners LLC
Dear Mr. Hall:
We are requesting that you deny this application.
An application should be based on an accurate description of existing
conditions before those conditions have been altered by operations on the
project. The Negative Declaration adopted by the County on
was based on landscape-altering work that had been done by the proponent
just before the application was submitted. The negative declaration,
therefore, did not take into account the environmental damage that had
already been done.
In addition, the project must be dealt with as a whole. Mid Stream Partners
purchased 470 contiguous acres, of which the proposed 66-acre subdivision
proposal is only a part. Much of the 470 acres, including a portion of the
66-acre piece, has been altered by brush and tree removal, grading, removal
of downed wood, burning of piles of vegetation, seeding with invasive plants,
road building and road re-opening, and culvert placement.
Dealing with this
66-acres in isolation from
these other activities is "piecemealing",
in
violation of the California Environmental Quality Act.
Your comments
Your Name & Date
Address
Telephone #
cc: lperkins@mcn.org