LOCATION CHANGE - Tioga Inn Specific Plan Public Hearing

Please see the attached file.

At the request of the community, Mono County has made a good-faith and exhaustive effort to schedule a hybrid Board of Supervisor’s meeting for the Tioga Inn Specific Plan Amendment public hearing that would have a physical location in Lee Vining and provide for participation by webinar in these COVID-19 times. Unfortunately, none of the available facilities in Lee Vining, including both the high school gymnasium and Lee Vining Community Center, have the necessary technological infrastructure to support the complex nature of a hybrid meeting. We know the community will be disappointed and we share that disappointment as well.

Mono County continues, however, to be dedicated to providing an opportunity for personal testimony at a physical location. To that end, please note the following physical meeting location change:

Public Hearing:

Tioga Inn Specific Plan Amendment #3 and Final Subsequent Environmental Impact Report

Special Meeting of the Board of Supervisors

June 29, 2020 at 9:05 a.m.

Physical Meeting Location:  Board Chambers, 437 Old Mammoth Road, Suite Z, Mammoth Lakes

Webinar Information: https://zoom.us/join  and enter Meeting ID: 984-7833-3904

Teleconference Information: (669) 900-6833 and enter Webinar ID 984-7833-3904

Suite Z in Minaret Mall in Mammoth Lakes, the new physical meeting location, can accommodate approximately 20 public persons at a time with six-foot physical distancing. In order to ensure everyone desiring to comment in person has an opportunity, pre-registration will be required and commenters will be assigned a time slot in groups of up to ~20 persons. Commenters should come to Suite Z up to 15 minutes before their assigned time to check in and be seated, and then the room will be vacated after testimony has been provided. Between each set of in-person commenters, webinar comments will be taken while Suite Z is disinfected according to COVID-19 standards for the next set of public participants. Enough time slots will be provided to ensure all persons wishing to comment in person can do so.

The sign-up sheet for public comments will be on a first-come, first-served basis, and notice will be given at least 24 hours in advance of the sign-up sheet going live. The notice will be sent to the email distribution lists for the Regional Planning Advisory Committees (RPACs), Planning Commission, and Board of Supervisors. To subscribe to these email lists,  please visit https://monocounty.ca.gov/stay-connected.

For those testifying in person, please consider how you will listen to the meeting while traveling to/from your time slot to provide comments. The only certain way to hear the entire meeting is to participate by webinar.

Here are a few more details:

  • Masks will be required along with hand sanitizing (available at Suite Z).
  • A COVID-19 self-screening agreement for illness, exposure and symptoms must be filled out at check in and passed to enter the meeting.
  • Public testimony will be limited to two minutes.
  • Repeat commenters will not be permitted, i.e., no commenting a second time, no in-person comment and written comment.
  • No public will be present for Board deliberation; a fair and equitable manner to determine who would be the lucky few in attendance could not be determined.
  • A one-hour break will be scheduled between the close of public comment and the beginning of Board deliberation to ensure members of the public can return to a location where they can watch the proceedings.

A huge thank you goes out to Heidi Torix and the Eastern Sierra Unified School District for being willing to offer Lee Vining High School, and to County staff Nate Greenberg and Andy Liu for efforts to problem-solve the technology to hold the meeting.

An apology goes out to the community that the original vision of a hybrid meeting in Lee Vining is not possible. Mono County sincerely wishes we could make it happen, but many times we have to work with constraints that are not under our control. We have done our best to meet the needs of commenting in person to the Board of Supervisors under COVID-19 circumstances, and all legal requirements for a public meeting are being met and exceeded. We appreciate the community’s understanding.

For questions or concerns, please contact Wendy Sugimura at (760) 924-1814 or wsugimura@mono.ca.gov.

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