On Saturday evening, about 50 June Lake citizens attended the final peer review meeting for Intrawests proposed Rodeo Grounds development.

Based on the information received Saturday night, the June Lake Citizens Advisory Committee will deliberate the proposal and develop a recommendation for the Planning Commission at their next meeting on July 1st.

In past meetings, Intrawest has received a great deal of input from the community, and they have fine-tuned the project accordingly. Saturday, Intrawest produced the renderings and massing models that June locals have been requesting for months.

The total number of units (770) was nailed down, the location, size and style of resort core buildings was present in renderings and models, and for the first time it appeared the CAC had enough information to come to a conclusion.

Over the course of the peer review meetings, Intrawest capitulated to a number of community concerns, including the elimination of single family homes on a prominent ridgeline, the relocation of affordable housing away from power lines, improvements to the trail system, and others.

But the single most audible concern throughout the string of Peer Review meetings has been the non-compliant building heights, which reach above the 60 feet allowed under Mono County Code to 90 feet, and Intrawest did not change that aspect of the proposal.

When asked about the lingering issue of building heights, Douglas Ogilvy, Intrawest Regional Vice President, responded that in order to accommodate the communitys desire to have steep roof pitches similar to the rest of June Lake, and simultaneously incorporate Rusty Gregorys request for 1,000 warm beds, they needed the tall buildings.

Intrawest could increase the footprint of the buildings and lower the height, but Ogilvy said that he did not think this was responsible development, because it would require the removal of more trees and more excavation, another thing the community has said they want to minimize.

Members of the CAC asked Ogilvy about the construction timeline, and he replied that groundbreaking could be within 3 years. The construction of the first phase of the resort core would be a 2-3 year project, and in a strong market (not to be confused with the current market), buildout could occur within ten years from the first groundbreaking.

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