Letter: MBCA Comments at County STR and Housing Meeting

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Letter: MBCA Comments at County STR and Housing Meeting

Posted by on August 26, 2023

Related MBCA News follows this letter.

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MBCA Joins Statewide Advocacy for CEQA

Posted by Laraine Turk · April 23, 2024 2:03 PM
MBCA is among 109 organizational allies requesting that the state legislative bodies and the Governor protect and preserve the California Environmental Quality Act. The letter is presented in response to special interests seeking to scapegoat the Act as an impediment to progress in California, particularly in housing development. Within the letter are many examples of data proving the successes and value of the Act to environmental justice, climate change, preservation of species and ecosystems.

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MBCA Provides Comprehensive Critique of Program 4 STR Report

Posted by Laraine Turk · January 11, 2024 2:27 PM
MBCA reported on December 17 about our response to the flawed Program 4 report commissioned by the County. The report concluded, "The County could not find clear and empirical data that indicates that short-term rentals (STRs) have a substantial impact on the availability of long-term, rental housing options in the unincorporated Mountain and East Desert communities."

We are now providing the full 62-page response letter that details what MBCA believes are fallacious arguments, inappropriate conclusions and inferences, and overlooked past County corroborations of the problem. Some new data arrays are also presented.

Read the full "MBCA STR Letter" document.

The Center for Biological Diversity also submitted a letter of concern in December.

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County Will Delay Presenting STR Report to Supervisors

Posted by Laraine Turk · December 17, 2023 5:01 PM
On December 14, MBCA sent to Supervisor Dawn Rowe and County staff a detailed critical analysis of the recently-released Short Term Rental Technical Memorandum prepared by consultant firm PlaceWorks. MBCA's extensive evaluation, summarized here, refutes the PlaceWorks study conclusion that “The County could not find clear and empirical data that indicates that short-term rentals (STRs) have a substantial impact on the availability of long-term, rental housing options in the unincorporated Mountain and East Desert communities.” Our conclusions are also supported by a letter from the Center for Biological Diversity. MBCA's full analysis will be made available here soon.

On December 15, MBCA President Steve Bardwell received communication from Land Use Services Planning Director Heidi Duron that the Short Term Rental PlaceWorks report scheduled to be on the Supervisors’ December 19 agenda will be postponed until the January 23 meeting “to allow for additional time to evaluate and address your comments.”
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MBCA Comments at County Land Use Services Open House

Posted by Laraine Turk · August 31, 2023 6:57 PM

At the County Land Use Services Open House held in Joshua Tree on August 30, MBCA's President Steve Bardwell talked at some length with Mark Wardlaw, new Director of the department. MBCA sent a followup letter outlining concerns about land use issues that affect the Morongo Basin's unincorporated communities particularly. The letter includes some specific suggestions and summarizes our concerns related to water issues, Community Action Guides, climate change, Short-Term Rental ordinances, and a number of other topics.
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Letter: MBCA Comments at County STR and Housing Meeting

Posted by Laraine Turk · August 26, 2023 3:15 PM
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County STR and Housing Meeting Brings Large Crowd

Posted by Laraine Turk · August 26, 2023 12:34 PM
Photo credit Valeree Woodard

Nearly 100 area residents crowded both rooms of the Joshua Tree Community Center to hear a report on the County's Program 4 Housing study, initiated to answer the question, "How Are Short-Term Rentals Impacting the Housing Market?" Colin Drucker, a representative of PlaceWorks, one of the two contracted consulting firms, presented a slide show summarizing the data gathered so far. He noted that the study covers only the unincorporated areas of the mountains and “east desert” (Morongo Basin) and not the “north desert” (i.e. Lucerne Valley, Newberry Springs, etc.).
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MBCA Releases Video: Seeking Housing Solutions for the Morongo Basin

Posted by Laraine Turk · January 27, 2023 8:19 PM
MBCA has posted a complete video of MBCA's Annual Meeting program "Gimme Shelter: Seeking Housing Solutions in the Morongo Basin." Other resources related to the program are provided below:

Contact and Information List of Program Participants
Supervisor Rowe's Presentation

KCDZ 107.7 extended news report with photos
Government Requirements: Housing Element and Acronyms
Program 4: Short-term Rentals (the required study of the effect of STRs)

MBCA and CBD Recommendations to San Bernardino County

Timestamps for video:

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MBCA's Annual Meeting on Housing Promotes Ideas and Dialogue

Posted by Laraine Turk · January 24, 2023 7:47 AM
Nearly 100 participants heard public officials and non-profit leaders describe problems and potential improvements for the recent crisis in affordable housing options across the Morongo Basin at MBCA's January 21 Annual Meeting. We are grateful for the expansive reporting of the event by local radio station KCDZ 107.7, which offers a good summary of the issues discussed. The entire program was recorded and will be available soon on MBCA's website. Links to several handouts can be found below. Additional news, documents, and links will be posted here on MBCA's News page when available.

Annual meeting program with listing of speakers

Handout - Government Requirements: Housing Element and Acronyms
Handout - Program 4: Short-term Rentals (the required study of the effect of STRs)

Handout: MBCA and CBD Recommendations to San Bernardino County

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Eblast September 22, 2022
Posted by Steve Bardwell · September 22, 2022 8:13 PM
Short Term Rentals and Housing Element Update

Workshop and Webinar: Joshua Trees and Climate Change

Sienna Solar 2
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Coalition Letter on Program 4 in County Housing Element

Posted by Laraine Turk · September 20, 2022 2:53 PM
As part of the County's amended Housing Element (required report to the state), Program 4 is a study to determine the impact of short-term rentals on the housing supply of unincorporated desert and mountain communities. In this September 19 letter to San Bernardino County's Planning Director, MBCA and the Center for Biological Diversity along with Mojave Desert Land Trust, Tahquitz Group of the Sierra Club, and Unincorporated San Bernardino Together, ask the County to show that they are taking their responsibility to their communities seriously. The letter recommends formation of two Advisory Committees – one for the Mountain Region, and one for the Desert Region. The letter also recommends setting an interim cap during the study period, plus a timeline and goals for the study. The introductory paragraphs of the letter summarize past concerns and the intent of the recommendations. For more background information, read MBCA's News posts from May 15, June 9 (MBCA letter), June 9 (letter with CBD), June 15, and July 5, 2022.
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