Top: the community came out for dinner and food for thought at ?A Taste of the Mountain? June 18 at Cuddy Hall. Top inset map: Doug Peters, a UC land resource manager, is concerned about the amount of Cuddy Creek aquifer water being used to fill and maintain Castac/Tejon Lake. He says the annual evaporation is equivalent to the water used by all the families in Frazier Park, Lake of the Woods and Lebec in a year, but Kern County?s Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) says the lake is now ?not part of the project? although the TMV project completely surrounds Castac/Tejon Lake. Below, a full hour was allocated for answering questions, Frank and Michelle Maga (right) enjoyed the food and said they appreciated Oviatt?s presentation, but are still concerned about the removal of the lake from the DEIR. Bottom inset: Lorelai Oviatt, Kern County Planning Department Division Chief.
By Patric Hedlund
“I’ve lived in Frazier Park since 1972 and I want to keep track of what is going to happen to our town,” said Gigi Day, to explain why she joined a cozy dinner party of 120-130 people who came to greet Lorelei Oviatt last week in Cuddy Hall.
Oviatt is division chief at Kern County’s Planning Department. She came to tell about the impacts the planned Tejon Mountain Village may have on our area. Oviatt recently released a 21,000 page report on that subject. She explained how to navigate the data to make effective comments by July 13 to the draft Environmental Impact Report.
“The meeting was extremely well done. The food was wonderful and Lorelei’s presentation was informative, right on point. I think it eased many people’s apprehensions,” Day, president of AARP, said.
Local restaurants served samples from their menu specialties at the event, called “A Taste of the Mountain.” It was hosted by The Mountain Enterprise.
Oviatt said the plan calls for 3,450 new homes, 750 resort hotel rooms and a new commercial center next to Castac Lake in Lebec, possibly bringing about 10,500 new residents to the mountain over the next 20 years. She said California Water Project allocations will provide drinking water, with grey water processed in a treatment plant being used to irrigate landscaping and two 18-hole golf courses.
Oviatt reviewed impacts such as light pollution, air pollution, traffic congestion and others which her department said were significant, but may not be able to be completely mitigated. She said the Board of Supervisors may decide that there are “overriding economic concerns” that would bring the supervisors to approve the project anyway. The Division Chief added that the project could mean “millions” of dollars in tax income to the county, but did not give a time frame for that benefit.
These local merchants made this event possible:
La Sierra Mexican Restaurant
Los Piños Mexican Restaurant
Caveman Cavey’s Pizza
Mike’s Pizza
High Mountain Market
Coffee Cantina
La Leña Mexican Restaurant
Big John’s Restaurant
Dream Castle Café
Ace Hardware
Frazier Park Market
Mountain View Market
The Mountain Enterprise
and Richard Smith, Calvary Chapel Church
Interviews and additional facts will be continued next week.
This is part of the June 26, 2009 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
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