On Friday’s Z1077 Up Close Show, host Gary Daigneault spoke with Chair of the County Board of Supervisors Dawn Rowe, who discussed the ramifications of the state’s recently passed Western Joshua Tree Conservation act. She explained that legislation, which aims to protect the threatened Western Joshua Tree, is still being executed at all levels of government, and explained how it will grant certain local authorities to grant permits that allow for the destruction or removal of the tree.
Dawn Rowe: “It’s passed, it’s been signed into law, but it hasn’t been implemented. It delegates authority in the matter multi-family apartment buildings and single family homes along with accessory dwelling units, and the delegation of authority can come to jurisdictions like the Town of Yucca Valley or the county for ten trees or less, for permitting, if the jurisdiction accepts the authority. If they do not, it stays at the state.”
Rowe clarified that the local authorities will not be able to grant permits for commercial, industrial, or public works projects, an authority that will remain with the state. She went on to discuss permitting fees, saying:
“A thing that I want to caution folks on is the take fee, or permitting fee, to either move, replant or destroy a fee has been set by the legislation, ,but if the jurisdiction accepts that authority, we will have additional costs to implement that program that will be in addition to those fees.”
Asked when permitting for Western Joshua Tree might begin at the state or local levels, Rowe replied:
“I would think that by the end of this calendar year, we’ll have a much better sense of which jurisdictions want to opt in, opt out, and what it would mean for the county if we opted in. Our land use department is already understaffed right now for just normal permitting of projects.”
You can hear the full interview with Supervisor Rowe by listening to the Up Close Show as a podcast below – and subscribe to all of Z107.7’s podcasts right here.
