Sierra Club
Redwood Chapter Newsletter
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Mendocino Group Report Mary Walsh | |
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As expected, the Fort Bragg City Council denied the Appeal sought by North Coast Action and Sierra Club's Mendocino Group of a Coastal Development Permit. CDP3-05 was granted to Georgia-Pacific Corporation by the Fort Bragg Planning Agency to Remove Foundations, Make Additional Assessment, and implement Interim Remedial Measures on the former Fort Bragg Mill Site. CDP3-05 has been appealed to the California Coastal Commission. We are working on the Mendocino General Plan, strengthening the water supply and water quality sections. The Ukiah Valley Area Plan (UVAP) needs critical comment from the public to delete growth inducing elements. These are ill considered with respect to infrastructure and water supply factors. In Ukiah the Mendocino Group is closely following a 734 unit housing development presently under consideration. We are advocating major improvements in the Scott River Implementation Plan to restore stream flows. This TMDL decision may set the pattern for all north coast rivers and will probably be resolved in litigation.(See sidebar at right for further explanation.) Forestland conversion, widely discussed in Sonoma County, is also an issue here in Mendocino. We are following the recent sale of 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 500-acre piece crosses Albion Ridge from one watershed to another and through the heart of the Albion community. It fragments the surrounding forestland and disrupts an important wildlife corridor between the Albion River and Salmon Creek watersheds. 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! None of this work triggered a requirement for a permit. It's obvious that the lack of a grading ordinance in Mendocino County is resulting in environmental damage. Perhaps less obvious is that the lack of a grading ordinance denies a community an opportunity to influence projects that affect its character. The Mendocino Group meets the second Thursday of the even numbered months at 6PM in the function room of the Mendocino Hotel on Albion Street in Mendocino. We are a flexible bunch and will meet anywhere upon timely request. Please call 937-0903 or 937-0572 to get or give information. |