At last night’s Yucca Valley Planning Commission meeting, the commissioners approved a two-year temporary use permit for Blue Star RV, and were also rebuked by concerned community members regarding the alleged unlawful destruction of Joshua trees. Reporter Joshua King has more details…
Morongo Valley resident Ernesto Nevarez spoke first at last night’s Yucca Valley Planning Commission meeting, voicing concerns over the commission’s mishandling of permits regarding the removal of Joshua Trees from properties.
Due to the auditing of current applications taking longer than 10 days, this means that current Joshua Tree removal permits cannot be appealed. Nevarez also found it “ironic” that applying for a removal permit costs nothing, whereas appealing a permit through the Commission costs $720, creating an economic barrier for anyone concerned with the legality of a specific Joshua Tree removal. Nevarez declared that the purpose of this structure was to “chill any appeals,” and has requested a state audit of the Planning Commission.
Members of the public have conducted their own audits and one has discovered that even though these permits require attached photos of the trees, fewer than 17% of this year’s permits had photos attached when approved.
Community members also levied an accusation that Joshua Tree removal permits have been issued by the commission after the removal and destruction of these trees.
The commissioners responded by saying these issues have all been discussed in the past, telling community members to review old minutes.
During the main part of the meeting, commissioners learned Blue Star RV, 7520 La Honda Way, has technically been operating without a proper temporary use permit. It plans to establish a new structure and acquire the correct permits in response. There is also a plan in place to update the image with a Western theme.
Tami Roleff photo
The site has been contentious in the town’s history for a myriad of reasons, from the lack of adequate public parking to bright lights causing a disturbance to neighboring communities.
A motion was approved to support a two-year temporary use permit for Blue Star RV, with conditional check-ins throughout the duration of the permit.
