Proposed Development Old Mammoth Rd & Minaret Rd

Newt Waldman a Mammoth Second Homeowner Since 1981 wrote us this letter.

Re: Cardinal Development

I have been an owner in Mammoth Lakes since 1981. I am not a NIMBY and have written to the Mammoth News in opposition to the people who want Mammoth Lakes to remain in a time warp of fast food outlets and tee shirt shops. I have never been concerned about rezoning because the Town of Mammoth Lakes Vision Statement calls for new construction to be compatible with the area to be built in.

Perhaps the Planning Commission can explain to me and others how a 70 or 80 foot high building is considered compatible with the surrounding complexes. If the proposed height were not enough of an outrage, the proposed building is completely out of place in the proposed area. It looks like something one would see in Disneyland or in Los Angeles as a Law or Medical building.

It would appear that Cardinal Development over-paid for the property and is now seeking the Planning Commission’s help in bailing them out. I do not believe that is the role of the Commission. I asked myself the following questions;

1. Why is the Commission ignoring present zoning for the proposed construction site?

2. Why is the Commission ignoring the Mammoth Lakes Vision Statement?

3. Can the Town itself be trusted when future buyers relying on the zoning in place when they buy are subsequently confronted with outrageous changes or non-conforming variances next door?

4. Does the Commission as a whole or do individuals on the Commission have some vested interest in the Cardinal project that is or might color their decisions, and

5. Is the Commission prepared to bail out by zoning changes or variances anyone who has overpaid for a particular property in Mammoth Lakes?

I do not know the answer to any of the questions propounded. However, I do know this; there is no logic in approving a project, any project which is so out of place with the surrounding area without some ulterior and suspect motivation. The lot remained unsold for years and years because much of the lot is unusable. It is not the job of the Planning Commission to turn a “sow’s ear into a silk purse”. It is the job of the Commission to protect the Town of Mammoth Lakes and its homeowners and see that development progresses in a rational and orderly manner compatible with the Mammoth Lakes Vision Statement. You have taken it upon yourselves to turn Mammoth Lakes into some thing it is not. I consider your actions self-serving and selfish in the least and perhaps actionable in the main.

Newton I. Waldman, Sunrise homeowner since 1981.