|
The early 1990s brought the Las Mariposas project, a giant
residential and commercial development next to the airport.
Insufficient water, airport viability, and traffic impacts
were the main concerns which defeated the plan.
In the early 1990s, a development group calling itself Hix-Rubenstein
put forth a project for the Prinson ranch property across
from the airport on 49 North and going along Agua Fria. It
consisted of a 400 room hotel, a golf course, 800 houses and
300,000 square feet of commercial space. It was named Las
Mariposas after the old Mexican grant secured by John C.
Fremont.
MERG had concerns about the magnitude of the project, the
environmental impacts, and the 15 year development agreement
that would be required with the county; essentially putting
the county in business with the developers.
As the environmental studies came in, it became apparent
that there was insufficient water for a golf course (28% or
what was needed), even with use of gray water from hotel and
housing. The traffic studies predicted the project would
cause "gridlock traffic" from the airport to Mariposa Town.
The airport would be at risk of closure because of all the
residential housing and hotel space being placed at the
approach to the runway. Many airports have had to be closed
because of pressure from homeowners adjacent to an
airport. There also were the visibility problems and air
quality problems from wood-burning stoves in the 1200
lodging units, especially in the cool months when an
inversion layer exists at Mt. Bullion.
MERG alerted the airport users of the risks, and sixty
pilots signed a petition against the development. We also
investigated the developers and found that the projects they
were touting from their past (with glossy photos) were
spurious. Calls to the counties in question revealed they
had done none of the claimed projects. And we learned that
they had no intention of doing this project, only of
obtaining permits and then selling it off to someone else
for a large profit (flipping).
After several years of investigation, the project came
before the Board of Supervisors. MERG had a team of 12
speakers to address each of the major areas of concern about
the project, including the fact that they would not release
any financial information on their company, despite the
needed development agreement putting them in business with
the county. In the end, our Supervisors voted 3-2 against
the project.
|
