https://www.ourvalleyvoice.com/2019/12/19/sunshine-paradise-ranch-approved-by-supervisors/ In-depth, locally-produced coverage of the Central Valley. Thu, 23 Apr 2026 19:43:55 -0700 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.ourvalleyvoice.com/2019/12/19/sunshine-paradise-ranch-approved-by-supervisors/#comment-29192 Mathias H Sat, 21 Dec 2019 18:05:33 +0000 http://www.ourvalleyvoice.com/?p=29964#comment-29192 We’ve tried hard to like this project. It has way too many exemptions and variances and sets a precedent as the first commercial business outside the Urban Development Boundart of Three Rivers, which is delineated exactly where it is based on fire and emergency response times, slope, and other biological metrics. The project wants to pump human waste uphill, on rocky soils given the lowest possible septic ranking by NRCS standards. The variances to allow 5 tipis, 2 cabins, and a communal bathroom into the 100’ setback distance from the river is beyond tolerable. A Sacred Lands File has been issued by *the* tribal representative responsible for this territory because a significant cultural site exists—he was utterly ignored by the Board of Supervisors. By State Law, this cultural resource site should have triggered a full CEQA EIR review. I’ve personally been stopped from having platforms attached to piers with fireproof canvas tents in Very High Fire zones because, I was told, they are “structures” which fail to comply with State standards in State Responsibility Areas—now that we have a multimillionaire around, somehow these platforms are no longer ‘structures’? That’s a big deal in an area zoned for just 2 residential buildings. House mirrors have been known to start house fires in the right conditions. So now we’re building entire cabins out of reflective mirrors in the bottom of steep, dry canyons—and one with the highest fire frequency in all of Tulare County? Check out the TC Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The TC RMA has redefined their definitions of ‘development’ under the FGMP to explicitly mean ‘subdivisions’ or ‘retail commercial’: therefore, they argue, they don’t need to apply Development Standards to projects like this. There are dozens of other impacts and issues concerning this project alone that the County has steamrolled for a little extra $$ and the quest to move unregulated commercial development into fragile and vulnerable areas. Redwood Ranch is in a galaxy of its own. We invite Mike C to invest in and steward property in the South Fork and feel what it feels like to have been this impacted by noise, light, and traffic. Every single year the fire reports come back and the culprit is always about expanding development into extreme fire areas (and expanding the Wildland Urban Interface), and people sit scratching their heads. Bring these projects down to our stretch of the river, which is flatter, within a 15 min fire response time, and allows for our community Development Standards to be met. We’ve tried hard to like this project. It has way too many exemptions and variances and sets a precedent as the first commercial business outside the Urban Development Boundart of Three Rivers, which is delineated exactly where it is based on fire and emergency response times, slope, and other biological metrics. The project wants to pump human waste uphill, on rocky soils given the lowest possible septic ranking by NRCS standards. The variances to allow 5 tipis, 2 cabins, and a communal bathroom into the 100’ setback distance from the river is beyond tolerable. A Sacred Lands File has been issued by *the* tribal representative responsible for this territory because a significant cultural site exists—he was utterly ignored by the Board of Supervisors. By State Law, this cultural resource site should have triggered a full CEQA EIR review. I’ve personally been stopped from having platforms attached to piers with fireproof canvas tents in Very High Fire zones because, I was told, they are “structures” which fail to comply with State standards in State Responsibility Areas—now that we have a multimillionaire around, somehow these platforms are no longer ‘structures’? That’s a big deal in an area zoned for just 2 residential buildings. House mirrors have been known to start house fires in the right conditions. So now we’re building entire cabins out of reflective mirrors in the bottom of steep, dry canyons—and one with the highest fire frequency in all of Tulare County? Check out the TC Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The TC RMA has redefined their definitions of ‘development’ under the FGMP to explicitly mean ‘subdivisions’ or ‘retail commercial’: therefore, they argue, they don’t need to apply Development Standards to projects like this. There are dozens of other impacts and issues concerning this project alone that the County has steamrolled for a little extra $$ and the quest to move unregulated commercial development into fragile and vulnerable areas. Redwood Ranch is in a galaxy of its own. We invite Mike C to invest in and steward property in the South Fork and feel what it feels like to have been this impacted by noise, light, and traffic. Every single year the fire reports come back and the culprit is always about expanding development into extreme fire areas (and expanding the Wildland Urban Interface), and people sit scratching their heads. Bring these projects down to our stretch of the river, which is flatter, within a 15 min fire response time, and allows for our community Development Standards to be met.

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