Mendocino Town Plan @ Supes
By ROB BURGESS
The Daily Journal
To avoid “significant exposure to litigation” the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors was forced to take a page from Willy Wonka and say, “strike that, reverse it.”
Over a dozen spectators made the trip over the hill to watch the board rescind their Dec. 15 decision which reallocated units from the Mendocino Arts Center to MacCallum House LLC.
“At the board’s Jan. 27 meeting, the board directed that the Dec. 15 board action be agendized for discussion and possible action a motion to rescind,” stated a portion of the attached agenda summary. “Subsequent to the board’s (Dec. 15) action, the county received numerous challenges to the action, including various threats of litigation against the county as a result of the action taken. The bases of the challenges are that proper notice of impacted properties were not provided.”
A large number of the speakers who took to the podium considered the action unfair and a “slap in the face to the arts center.”
“I think if you do so it’s a first, but important step in unraveling and resolving chronic problems including enforcement of the code,” said Tom Kravis as he expressed his support for the undoing of the decision.
Others said they supported the arts center, but that the rooms should be used for transient lodging and thus enable them to collect bed tax.
“They need to rent these rooms,” said Barbara Reed. “The arts center is not renting these rooms…It’s better for the community if the arts center is thriving. No one wants to hurt the arts center.”
County Counsel Jeanine Nadel said the lack of proper notice was the issue at hand, not the merits of the case in question.
“The issue here today is we’ve got to fix the mistake that we made,” she said. “I try to tell the board what to do. They didn’t listen to me on the 15th. That’s why we’re here…This is a mess.”
Second District Supervisor John McCowen said it was imperative that the Mendocino Town Plan be modified so that a discussion of the particulars could take place.
“It’s incomprehensible to me that you could take an action that was not noticed,” he said.
The recommended motion to rescind the Dec. 15 board action was then approved 4-1, with Board Chair and 3rd District Supervisor John Pinches dissenting.
Rob Burgess can be reached at udjrb@pacific.net.