National Scenic Area Victory!
Illegal Subdivision Stopped!

Sunday, August 26, 2007 Breaking news!
The threat of a large, illegal subdivision along Mono Lake’s western shore has ended. Mammoth Mountain Ski Area has purchased 90% of the Mono Lake parcel, previously owned by the Cunningham family. The land will become part of a proposed land trade with the US Forest Service, assuring that it will be protected in its natural state for future generations.

Mono Lake supporters and the Mono Lake Committee raised substantial legal and ecological concerns about the subdivision concept, making it clear that there would be tremendous public and legal opposition to the project and advocating a land trade as the solution to this issue. All Mono Lake friends should take a moment to celebrate the success that we’ve won here. Standing united, we’ve once again proved that a group of dedicated people can change the future by speaking from our hearts on behalf of Mono Lake!

The transaction marks the end to a five-year saga in which a 30-unit resort home subdivision proposed by the owners threatened to damage the unique ecological resources of Mono Lake, forever change the rural feel of the west shore, and undermine the integrity of the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area.

Details are still coming in, but it appears that the parcel now owned by MMSA includes all original property portions west of Highway 395, including the existing structures and virtually all of the proposed subdivision sites. Recognizing the critical importance of this property, MMSA paid a premium for the property—and spent untold hours in lengthy negotiations.
This is the second time MMSA has taken ownership of the property. However this time there are no options or buyback clauses that would allow the Cunninghams to regain ownership in the future.

Mono Lake supporters familiar with this issue will note that 10% of the property remains under the ownership of the Cunninghams. This sliver of land is located east of Highway 395, between the highway and the boundary of the Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve. The Cunninghams’ goals for the land are unclear but rumor has it that they may seek to pursue a shaky claim of ownership to State Reserve lands.

The Former Threat

Click on image to see the formerly proposed subdivision.

Mono Lake, a wildlife oasis and model of win-win environmental solutions, was facing an attack on the 20-year-old Congressional protection of its surrounding lands. The threat came from an out of the area developer, New Cities Land Company, that was preparing to move forward with a proposal to subdivide 120 acres of land for resort-style homes—in direct violation of the laws protecting the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area.

Breaking the rules

The property is located within the boundary of the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area just north of the Tioga Lodge on Mono Lake’s west shore. While Scenic Area regulations allow property owners to make modest changes to their properties, the legislation clearly prohibits large scale alterations such as subdivision. In fact, the Forest Service made an official determination in June 2003 that the proposal to subdivide the property was “incompatible and detrimental to the integrity of the Scenic Area”.

Despite that official determination, New Cities Land Company planned to gamble that federal land managers in Washington D.C. would decline to enforce the Scenic Area protections. And they also planned to gamble that local planning officials would approve a subdivision and development that federal rules prohibit.

If successful, the developer would not only have spoiled the rural character within the Scenic Area, but would also have stripped major public protections from the nation’s first ever federally designated Scenic Area and the unique Great Basin habitat and wildlife that depend on it.

Resolving the Issue

The best hope for resolution of this conflict was a land trade—a solution endorsed by both the Forest Service and Mono County. In fact, in August 2003 Mono County passed a resolution encouraging the expeditious completion of a land trade for this property, recognizing the value of the land exchange “for the citizens of Mono County”. Unfortunately, efforts by the Forest Service to negotiate a trade had been unsuccessful as of March 2004 because of disputes about the value of the property. The next step was for the property owner and the Forest Service to go to court to set an independent value to the property, but the property owner wasn't interested. The final resort was for the Forest Service to exercise the authority given to it by Congress to condemn the property and compensate the owner.

At stake was the long-term integrity of the Scenic Area, the protection of the lands that surround Mono Lake, and the rural character of this unique corner of California.

Property was Sold...

In March 2005, the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area announced that it completed a purchase of the Cunningham Property. While plans to subdivide and develop the property had been slowly moving forward with Mono County, Mammoth Mountain had indicated that it would not develop the property, and instead, intended to trade the property with the Forest Service. Geoffrey McQuilkin, Co-Executive Director of the Mono Lake Committee said that, “the Committee is pleased that a large-scale development project no longer threatens the west shore of Mono Lake. I’ve been assured by senior management at Mammoth Mountain that their sole goal is to trade the property into public ownership.”

Mammoth Mountain indicated its interest in using the Mono Lake property as part of an exchange for Forest Service land beneath the Mammoth Mountain Inn and the associated parking lot. To date, no plans have been submitted to the Forest Service, which has said that any trade proposal will be subject to public review under the National Environmental Policy Act. According to McQuilkin, “the Mono Lake Committee supports an open and transparent process for land trades and will look to the Forest Service to lead a public process that assures that both ends of the land trade are positive.”  

...and Repurchased

In Winter 2007, Mr. Cunningham exercised his option to buy back the property and began moving forward with his subdivision proposal. Mono County began preparing to begin an EIR (Environmental Impact Report).

...and Purchased Again

The re-acquisition of most of the property in August 2007 by Mammoth Mountain made condemnation unnecessary, saving everyone involved time and money and avoiding potential litigation. It remains to be seen what development proposals might arise regarding the portion of the property east of the highway.

See Updates for more details.

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