Tioga Inn project denied

Good for the MLC, although I'll confess that I don't really get why the project was so controversial in the first place. Other than the exclusion of a well-thought out pedestrian crossing to connect this new development with Lee Vining proper, every other point of disagreement else seems kind of...overblown? Am I missing something?

For reference, the five objections:

(1) aesthetic impacts to the scenic resources of Mono Lake, light and glare;
(2) unsafe exposure of pedestrians and cyclists to highway traffic;
(3) traffic safety impacts at the junction of Highways 395 and 120 West;
(4) cumulative project impacts to the deer herd;
(5) exposure of people and structures to catastrophic mudflows resulting from a nearby volcanic eruption.

I'm guessing that these are mostly post-hoc justifications for the real reason, which is NIMBYism.

Anyway, I've always been surprised that Lee Vining is just this dusty little backwater compared to Mammoth Lakes or even Lone Pine. You'd think it would be bustling, given its proximity to Yosemite and Mono Lake. Now I know that it's because the residents are extremely organized against it.

"(1) aesthetic impacts to the scenic resources of Mono Lake, light and glare;"

I would think this is actually a serious concern for anyone who lives in or loves the area. Admittedly, there would be mitigations that might solve the problem, but maybe the developer wasn't interested in that...

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That should be addressed in the county codes.

Seems like the tribe was looking for a handout. None of us are native and that includes the tribes.

I mean, yeah, but the only picture shown in the report to prove the deleterious effect on the views is a glint way down at the bottom of the hill, caused by someone pointing a giant mirror directly at a spot way across the lake that hardly anybody visits. And in that very same photo you can see the entire stretch of Lee Vining, which is pretty unpicturesque in itself. (Not to be rude!)

Like I said above, it's not my town and it's not my land, so if the residents want to keep everything static then that's totally cool. It just seems weird that people would thumb their noses at this for nearly three decades.

Edit: Just realized that the photo is apparently from South Tufa, so definitely a place that lots of people visit. Oops!