The controversial, 70-unit glamping resort planned along the edge of Pipes Canyon in Flamingo Heights died following a public hearing before the County Planning Commission yesterday in San Bernardino. Reporter Mike Lipsitz files this report…
Despite a recommendation for approval from the County Department of Land Use Services, the project was “denied without prejudice” when no one on the planning commission was willing to make a motion to approve a Conditional Use Permit. Without that permit, the project cannot move forward. The developer now has ten days to appeal that decision to the board of supervisors. They may also resubmit the project for approval at a later date. Surely, the commission’s failure to act was influenced by the more than two dozen locals who spoke a yesterday’s public hearing and the thousands of emails and letters opposing the project on file. Following the hearing and discussion among the commissioners, Chairman Jonathan Weldy expressed the sensitive and challenging forces at play when the peace and beauty of the desert attract people here. And it is that attraction that threatens the peace and beauty of the desert.
