CALPPR

CALPPR Members to Attend Washington, DC Conference

Smart Growth for Local Governments: Creating and Sustaining Livable Communities

ICMA University, with support from the Smart Growth Network and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will present its second Leading Practices Conference on smart growth February 26-27, 2007, in Washington, DC.

The conference, “Smart Growth for Local Governments: Creating and Sustaining Livable Communities,” will feature three case studies of local governments that are implementing leading practices in smart growth. In addition to hearing from these communities at the “leading edge” of smart growth, participants will also have an opportunity to share their own leading practices, and get feedback and advice from their peers and from national experts in smart growth.

Preliminary Agenda

The program is being finalized. Please check back for updates.

Monday, February 26

1:00 pm	Welcome and Introductions
1:30 pm	Introductory Session: This is Smart Growth
2:30 pm	Break
2:45 pm	Case Study Sessions
	City of Winchester, Virginia Arlington County, Virginia
4:15 pm	Break
4:30 pm	Participant Presentations
5:30 pm	Reception

Tuesday, February 27

8:00 am	Continental Breakfast
8:30 am	Case Study Sessions
	City of Winchester, Virginia Sarasota County, Florida
10:00 am	Break
10:15 am	Case Study Sessions
	Arlington County, Virginia Sarasota County, Florida
11:45 am	Lunch
12:30 pm	Closing Session and Report Out
2:00 pm	Optional Walking Tour (tentatively scheduled)

Session Descriptions and Speakers

Introductory Session

This is Smart Growth
Communities around the country are looking for ways to get the most out of new development and to maximize their investments. In many communities where development has improved daily life, the economy, and the environment, smart growth principles have been key to their success. This session will explore the principles of smart growth and illustrate how they have been applied in cities, suburbs, small towns, and rural areas across the United States.

• Geoffrey Anderson, director, Development, Community and Environment Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Case Study Sessions

(Participants will have the opportunity to attend all three sessions)

Smart Growth for Small Cities: Winchester, Virginia
Located at the northern entrance of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester is a city with a rich heritage and plans for a promising future. Learn how this community of 25,000 is planning an ambitious “Green Circle” to connect pedestrians and bicycle users to destinations around the city. The presenters will also discuss how the Green Circle is related to other public and private investment projects. Important brownfields redevelopment projects will also be explored.

• Ed Daley, City Manager, Winchester
• Jim Deskins, Planning and Development Team Leader, Winchester
• Perry Eisenach, Public Services Team Leader, Winchester

Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County, Virginia's transit-oriented and mixed use neighborhoods have received national acclaim. Session description and speakers TBA.

Sarasota County, Florida
Sarasota County is a fast-growing community that has put together an innovative approach to measuring the impact of its development on the land and natural systems of ecologically sensitive South Florida. Session description and speakers TBA

Participant Presentations

These sessions will be an opportunity for select participants to share what their communities are doing to advance smart growth. The sessions will highlight either a smart growth practice, such as creating walkable neighborhoods or increasing transportation options, or a management practice that is helping to advance smart growth, such as strategic planning or community engagement. In addition to sharing their best practices, participants will also benefit by getting feedback and advice on their practices from their peers and from national experts on smart growth.

If you believe your community has an interesting story to share, send a brief explanation by e-mail to Meghan Sharp at msharp@icma.org. Participants must be registered to attend the conference in order to be selected to make a presentation.

Optional Walking Tour

Tentatively scheduled--details TBA. Please check back for updates. $20 fee will cover transportation to and from the tour site.

For more information about the program, contact Meghan Sharp, ICMA at 202/962-3532 or msharp@icma.org.

Voluntary Credentialing Program

The conference will address the following Management Practices for ICMA members continuing their professional development through the Voluntary Credentialing Program: Policy Facilitation (including Facilitative Leadership and Mediation/Negotiation); Initiative, Risk Taking, Vision, Creativity, and Innovation (a component of Strategic Leadership); Democratic Advocacy and Citizen Participation; and, Strategic Planning. Learn more about the Voluntary Credentialing Program.

Registration

Conference Fees:

• $195  Individual
• $150  Team participant—a team is three or more people from the same jurisdiction
• $95  Student

Click here to download the registration form.

Submit completed forms with credit card payment by fax to: 202-962-3678, attn: Anne Peyton. Or submit by mail to: Leading Practices in Smart Growth, c/o ICMA, P.O. Box  79403, Baltimore, MD 21279-0403. Sorry, no telephone registrations.

For assistance with registration, contact Sallie Burnett, ICMA at sburnett@icma.org or 202/962-3553.

Location

The conference will be held in the training center at ICMA's headquarters, located at 777 N. Capitol St., NE, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20002.

ICMA is located two blocks from Union Station. Participants are encouraged to take advantage of public transportation while in the metro Washington, DC, area. For more information, visit www.wmata.org.

Meeting Change

Members of the CALPPR Advisory Board are reminded that the location for this weekend's meeting has been been changed from the Capitol Hill offices of the DC Public Affairs Group to the Marriott at Metro Center, 775 12th Street, NW. Meeting location will be posted in the hotel lobby.

The location change is due to road closings and increased security surrounding the Capitol Hill area because of memorial services for former President Ford.

The Taxpayer's Annual Contribution (the hidden burden) to Big Bear's Private Home Rental Industry

By Bert Bard, Advisory Board Member

Management: The most glaring difference between a traditional lodge, hotel, motel or cabin complex and a private home transient rental property is the presence of a full-time manager being on site. Our community has many of these traditional lodging enterprises. All are owned and even operated by individuals who purchased these properties with the intention of investment, creation income and enjoying a lifestyle enjoyed by few. In my opinion, these individuals have been sold out and generally underserved by local government for many years now. I have yet to understand the continued widespread loyalty of the lodging industry to the Resort Association given just how close this fruit (the RA) has fallen from the tree (those who influence the City Council).

The concept of a motel with a thousand beds operating without management seems ridiculous. Strikes me as improbable. Guests would have unlimited access to rooms. There are no other guests in adjoining rooms to complain about excessive noise or discourteous behavior. Guests and visitors can park on the landscape, in the street, or on the drive. Guests are on the honor system.

A reasonable adult could see this situation has potential for abuse. I can testify that at the otherwise vacant, unkempt, eyesore-of-a PHR next door to me, a significant percentage of one and two night rentals do abuse and do so without regard for common courtesy. I could tell you stories of personal encounters you wouldn’t even believe.

This honor system management style is exactly the business model the new city manager, at the direction of the Big Bear Lake City Council, is trying to sell as the way of the future and unavoidable reality for hundreds of City residents who find themselves now sleeping next to a “one-star” motel that wasn’t there when they moved in. Maybe next time Mayor Jahn is having lunch with Mr. Kun he might suggest a cost saving approach to running the Ski Areas. Guests could swing by the PAC, pay a reduced rate for a lift ticket (friends could share the cost and share a ticket) and head on up. No parking attendants no lift operators, no ski patrol (maybe just ambulances at the ready, I don’t want to sound inhuman) stop at Costco and bring your own food… Hey it work’s for PHR’s, the neighbors are cool, come on Richard!, let’s give it a try!

Some will point out that I didn’t quite nail the management issue. And I agree. In fact, most PHR’s do have a full time manager… it’s me and you. You and I are the ones awakened in the night, have to record the event and decide if you can tolerate the disturbance one more time. Decide, at 2 o’clock in the morning, to take action yourself or call the authorities. Then call your boss (the rental agency) in the morning to further dwell on the event, again raising the blood pressure to unacceptable levels. All this takes time. Unfortunately, it’s your time and my time, not the time of the one who’s actually paid for managing the property. It also takes time from the Sheriff’s office, dispatch, deputy, reports, more reports, etc., etc. This equates to spending more taxpayer dollars to manage Private Home Rentals.

The point of the management issue is the cost. It seems to me, the taxpayer has been involuntarly called into service and is actually paying for serving. Paying to manage rentals he doesn’t even want or need and not receiving anything in return. I don’t believe the cost being paid by the taxpayer is fair or even fairly returned by the mystical increase to our local economy realized by voluntary TOT collection. I don’t believe a word of it.

This issue (real cost of management) along with the City’s outrageous liberal interpretation of the intention of residential zoning and transient occupancy uses in residential neighborhoods, in my opinion, is enough to mandate severe restriction and regulation (and strict enforcement of regulation) of an out-of-control PHR industry. It is clear to me that the current city council, with their ties to special interests, will not act on this issue.

I do support the PHR initiative.

Small bite, big worries...

West Nile virus worries Boulder Bay residents

Lack of City's awareness and response angers and frustrates Boulder Bay Residents

See City of Big Bear Lake

Small bite, big worries...

West Nile virus worries Boulder Bay residents

San Bernardino County officials confirm that West Nile virus has made its way to Big Bear and that has folks in Boulder Bay taking steps to protect their families and neighborhoods.

Why Boulder Bay?

According to residents, Boulder Bay Park is a potential hot spot for breeding mosquitoes because of the park's chronic drainage problem which causes a large pool of standing water, running the length of the park, to form for most of the year. Worse, the City of Big Bear Lake has no immediate plans to fix the drainage problem and does not have a program in place to monitor or spray for mosquitoes.

Residents became anxious over the lack of response from the City after reading an article in Wednesday's Big Bear Grizzly newspaper where county officials were quoted as saying that the city did not renew its vector control contract last year. County officials pushed the city to apply for state funding but City of Big Bear Lake officials didn't bother to apply. Hesperia and Twentynine Palms did apply and each received $20,000 from the state for vector control.

Mayor Jahn claims he was unaware that the contract for vector control had expired, and City public information officer Cheri Haggerty told the Grizzly that the City was looking into the contract ... "to see what would be best for the community as a whole."

But that statement only fueled more anger and frustration with the City. "They're stalling and playing the angles at the expense of our children's and elderly neighbor's health," said one resident, who asked not to be identified.

Another anonymous caller to the CALPPR office said, "That lack of awareness and responsiveness is just further evidence of our dysfunctional city government. The City, Darrell Mulvihill, and their Rotary friends turned a beautiful piece of open space into an eyesore, and now, potential health hazard."

Others are now calling Boulder Bay Park "Mosquito Central."

Video Conference This Saturday

Members of the CALPPR Advisory Board are reminded that our next Video Conference will take place this Saturday, September 9, beginning at 9 AM, PDT. We will be inaugurating new service with WebEx so if you still need to establish your account or download presentation modules, please contact the IT office by Friday, 3 PM, EDT.

This week's topics include Boulder Bay Park/West Nile Virus, city council race, proposed transient parking fees for Snow Summit/Bear Mt. lots, and the vacation rental initiative. A full copy of the agenda is available through the 2006 CEG Partnership intranet. 

Community Meeting Scheduled

Don't forget the public is invited to learn more about the proposed private home rental initiative at an informational meeting scheduled for tonight, Monday, September 5, beginning at 6 PM at the historic Oak Knoll Lodge, 949 Tulip Lane, Big Bear Lake. (Telephone: 909.866.2773)

Participants will have an opportunity to sign the petition to place the initiative on the ballot.

(All petition signatures are confidential and cannot be disclosed or reviewed by the opponents of the initiative.)

CPRPRO & Friends: The Same People Who Wanted To Raise Your Taxes

We all remember Measure G, the city-sponsored sales tax initiative that asked low-and-middle income families, folks on fixed incomes, and small businesses to foot the bill to repair our neighborhood streets because the city neglected to plan for the future by spending our tax dollars on themselves and their friends. Nor were they willing to make those who benefited most pay for their impacts; the ski resorts, realtors, and the vacation home rental industry.

The campaign financial disclosure forms for the Committee for Measure G, Citizens for Better Roads in Big Bear, reveals that many of the campaign’s financial backers are now members or supporters of a vacation home rental industry group, Citizens Protecting the Rights of Property Owners (CPRPRO), efforts to continue limiting property rights. Some of the high-rollers include CPRPRO member and former city manger Michael Perry, realtor Tim Wood, and Big Bear Resort Rentals' Tom Lanza. (Planning Commissioner, and candidate for city council, Timothy Brigham, is vice president of Big Bear Resort Rentals.)

Michael Perry gave and loaned the Measure G Committee $7,000, and provided an additional $450 of “in-kind“ services and a loan for $1600 through his company, California Collaborative Solutions. Others and amounts included: Tim Wood - $2000; Big Bear Resort Rentals - $3000; Big Bear Association of Realtors - $1000; and the California Association of Realtors - $1000.

Other realtors and vacation rental interest , such as Lynn Wheeler, Big Bear Real Estate, Prudential/Security Pacific Mortgage, and Re/Max provided nearly an additional $3000.

And those with direct ties to City Hall contributed $1750 either through direct cash contributions or their affiliated business interest including, Mayor Bill Jahn, Councilman Darrell Mulvihill and his wife Carol, and Planning Commissioner Craig Smith and his wife, former interim city manager, now Administrative Services Director, Kathleen Smith. And as noted above, Planning Commissioner, and city council candidate, Timothy Brigham's Big Bear Resort Rentals contributed $3000

Also contributing to the city’s efforts to pass on the cost of road repair were those with strong ties to the Chamber of Commerce (who oppose the vacation home rental ballot initiative) and the local Rotary Club; including Snow Summit, All Protection Alarms’ Paul Bedoe, Big Bear Pharmacy and its owner Rich Lambert, Alpine Slide, and Holloway’s Marina.

In total, the Committee for Measure G says it raised and spent $42,818, including a last minute $5000 contribution by the road construction and repair giant, Matich Corporation, according to the campaign’s financial disclosures.

It is clear that the voters rejected the city’s proposed sales tax initiative because it placed an excessive burden on those least able to pay; working families, those on fixed incomes, and small businesses. Now the city and its friends, under the guise of CPRPRO, want you to sacrifice your property rights, your right to peaceful and quiet enjoyment of your home and residential family neighborhoods. CPRPRO and the City of Big Bear Lake want you to sacrifice your rights so they can continue to collect their money and then turn around and spend it against you and your property interest.

Signing the petition to place the vacation home rental initiative on the ballot and working to support its passage will send a strong message to city hall and the city council, and all their friends who feed off the public‘s tax dollars, that the citizens are no longer satisfied with the status quo and will return the City of Big Bear Lake back to its hard-working people.

CALPPR Endorses Proposed PHR Ballot Initiative

The Citizen's Action League for the Preservation of Property Rights (CALPPR) endorses the citizen-led effort to place an initiative on the ballot that would protect the rights of residents living near vacation rentals. The Private Home Rental Ballot Initiative is a step in the right direction toward restoring the character of family neighborhoods.

One of the provisions of the proposed initiative would require that every managing agency, agent, owner or property manager who rents a vacation unit apply for and obtain a conditional use permit. In granting or denying a conditional use permit, the Planning Commission would have to consider whether the rental is consistent with the use of surrounding properties, and the impacts to the neighborhood. The Planning Commission would be required to consider the objections of surrounding neighbors in making its determinations.

Our endorsement underscores the widespread dissatisfaction that many residents have over the failure of the City of Big Bear Lake, and the vacation home rental agencies, to reign in the abuses of vacation home rentals. Overcrowded units, loud parties, illegal parking, and left over trash are anathema to the residential character of our neighborhoods, family values, and safe communities.

The City and the vacation home rental industry had over two years to make good on their promises to fix the problems. They reneged on that promise and now it's up to the residents to fix it for them.

The public is invited to learn more about the initiative and sign petitions at an informational meeting scheduled for 6 PM on September 5th at the Oak Knoll Lodge, 949 Tulip Lane, Big Bear Lake. (Telephone: 909.866.2773)

Petitions are also currently available for signature at the Big Bear Manor Jacuzzi Cabins, located on Red Ant Hill at 40393 Big Bear Blvd, Big Bear Lake. (Or telephone 909.878.4400)

To learn more about the proposed initiative, and to read an online copy see: www.bigbearprivatehomes.com

Don't Be Fooled

A newly formed private home vacation rental group comprised of rental agents and a City of Big Bear Lake paid consultant are trying to fool the public: Citizens Protecting the Rights of Property Owners (CPRPRO) claims to be protecting property rights when in fact, they are protecting money rights; namely their own.
See City of Big Bear Lake ....