Tom Malloy owns 320 acres of property in the Mojave Desert. He would like permission to create a fields wants to carve out a course for racing, driving and testing cars. The proposed Fairmont Butte Motorsports Park would be used primarily for events sponsored by car clubs and racing organizations. One would think the middle of the Mojave Desert would be an ideal location for such a project. Apparently not. Local environmentalists complain the site is a threat to poppyseed fields a mile away. The LA Times quotes Milt Stark, president of the Poppy Reserve/Mojave Desert Interpretive Assn., a volunteer group that gives tours and talks at the wildflower sanctuary. He complains: “It’s a terribly inappropriate business for that area. Visitors who come to see the poppies come out there to have peace and quiet.” Never mind that Malloy promises to clean up a site that is littered with shell casings and trash from trespassers. Never mind the construction and operation of the project would likely boost the local economy. We can’t disturb the poppy watchers!
Filed under: Current Events, Uncategorized, Viewpoints
It is his land. A race track contributes to the economy and poppy watchers don’t.
The County General Plan, zoning, and County Code do not allow the type of project proposed. The response that “It is his land” is not an intelligent response.
As to economics, the project will have a negative impact on the regional economics, passing externalities from the project to the public and harming existing economic activities, land values over a wide swath, and harming what is lovely about the area to satisfy a few private clubbers.