Joshua Trees on Antelope Valley Land?

Palmdale passed a Joshua and Juniper tree preservation. According to Chapter 14.04 JOSHUA TREE AND NATIVE DESERT VEGETATION PRESERVATION. We believe this is the normal practice also used in Lancaster. Leave the chain saw in the garage. There are procedures to preservation of native vegetation. According to the plan developers must preserve healthy Joshua trees or California junipers on their land, and they must preserve at least two trees per acre on average. The law governs virtually all residential, commercial and industrial construction. Once a builder plans to build they must submit building plans and if the parcel has numerous Joshua or Juniper trees then there is a procedure for this native vegetation. Don’t cut down these trees, or find yourself in hot water. Some solar firms did just that and it cost them in the long run on a short cut solution. The measure requires two tree per gross acre, so you could cut down the other trees with a permit. One may get more favorable appeasement from the city if your plan incorporates homes, or buildings with the trees. It is also recommended to preserve and transplant the trees to a native plant bank run by city governments. This measure applies to the cities in Antelope Valley. Los Angeles County may have other more strict laws and measures. There is a forest of Joshua Trees on the far west side south of Hwy 138 near 150th to 170th West area. Property owners may not be able to build there at all, but check with the county for rules and procedures. So if you bought land in the Antelope Valley and more so in with Lancaster or Palmdale then you have a means to build and preserve nature at the same time.

Is the Cal High Speed Rail Dead?

Is it one man one vote? Or One Governor one vote. Tuesday Governor Newsom says he will not push to build the Cal High Speed Rail as his mentor Jerry Brown wished for. He also only wants one water tunnel under the San Joaquin River Delta and not two. News reports quoted the novice Governor “There simply isn’t a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to L.A.,” Newsom told a joint session of the Legislature. “I wish there were.” He said the current project would “cost too much and, respectfully, take too long.” The current link between Merced and Bakersfield would continue as planned and to Newsom it would act as a model. He pushed back on the “train to nowhere”, but many would agree otherwise. The voters approve a $10 Billion bond in 2008, but the current link has far exceeded that number. What does this do to the New Green Deal or Dream? Well without planes according to their plan than we only have high speed rail, but not in California which would be a green dream showcase. If you are a land speculator and you bought land in the hopes it would pay out later. Well later just got much more out their. Building large projects like this are very very cost prohibited and with the projected budget of $77 billion it looks like too many billions to handle.

Harvard University’s endowment is buying up vineyards in California’s wine country, and the water rights

Harvard is using a wholly owned subsidiary named Brodiaea after the scientific name for the cluster lily —to buy vineyards. They have bought 10,000 acres in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties for about $60 million, according to an earlier report by Reuters. Harvard Crimson has indicated that they have bought even more land in California. They have targeted vineyards with ground water access. Water rights and uses are becoming prime needs for California’s central valley after long drought years. Some aquifers have reach critical levels. Antelope Valley is an area where water is at a premium. If you’re within the city limits than you may not have a problem other that higher rates from municipalities. If you have water rights in LA County with water shares to Mutual water companies, or a well on the property then you are in good hands. Harvard sees something in this area to invest over $60 million in California land. If you don’t have water rights or access than this investment maybe something to consider. Harvard being liberal minded takes into account global warming in their investments, but water access doesn’t need warming. Water is a commodity and maybe worth more than gold as the state grows in population. While some local farmers say they aren’t worried about Harvard’s purchases of vineyards, others—as well

Lancaster California Allows for some Medical Cannabis Cultivation Facilities.

Back in February of 2016, The city of Lancaster generally prohibits the operation of Medical Marijuana dispensaries. The Lancaster Municipal Code now allows medical cannabis to be cultivated only in secured, enclosed, and ventilated structures. The city enforces the cultivation not be visible in order to prevent negative impacts and health and safety measures. The cultivation is solely for medical purposes and it prohibits recreational dispensaries. This change in the ordinance went into effect January of 2017. Each category requires a separate license. The prospective licensee must apply with the purpose and intent to only cultivate marijuana for medical purposes. A cannabis cultivation facility means plants are propagated, grown, harvested, dried, cured, tagged and labeled for tracking. A dispensary license is for procurement, sale, and transport. A cannabis facility is for production of the cannabis for concentrate indirectly or by extraction methods by the means of chemical synthesis or combination of. Licensees can lose their license if they violate any or numerous laws and regulations that are in effect in Lancaster via this changed ordinance. Regarding land and agricultural cultivation: The legal parcel means a parcel of land with legal title. Multiple contiguous parcels can be counted as a single parcel for the purpose of cultivation. Each prospect will have to undergo a conditional use permit and process. The grower will have to supply an environmental report in accordance with local and state laws. This may include a description of source of power, verification, and water source. There are a number of barriers a licensee will need to cross, but once all are met it green go. Some of these barriers may include background check for criminal records, video surveillance, floor plans, general description of the product and service, third parties involvement. Of these video surveillance, back up and alarm systems, illumination in evening hours all seem to be very important to the city. The location must also operate as a business with prohibition of consumption on the premises and standard business practices like disability access, public toilets adequate insurance, posted signs, list of employee names, age, date of birth, residential addresses and phone numbers, odor filtration systems and many more regulations. So in order to get in the medical or recreational marijuana business will take time and can be costly.

San Bernardino County Marijuana Cultivation Areas and Land Sales

Recently the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Marijuana Enforcement Team (MET) and deputies from the Victorville Police Department served a search warrant at a residence in Victorville after learning about illegal narcotic activity occurring. The Investigators found over 1,400 marijuana plants within an indoor residential operation. The seizure included over 30 pounds of processed marijuana. It was an elaborate operation which included advanced lighting, air conditioning, fans, exhaust blowers and an air-filtering system to control the climate and odor of marijuana inside the home. The operation has likely been operating for several months. California’s marijuana law MAUCRSA, came into effect January 1st. The City of Victorville has an ordinance prohibiting Commercial Cannabis Activity which includes growing more than six marijuana plants at a residence. Generally, large marijuana grow operations require local and state licensing and are not permitted in a residential zone. The Sheriff department indicated that no licenses had been issued to the tenants or property owners. The suspect(s) will face criminal charges for the illegal Cultivation of Cannabis; over 6 plants, Sales/Transportation of Cannabis and Vandalism to Property. The cultivation zone in San Bernardino County is wide ranging and includes much or the city of Adelanto. Most of this area has been unused land, but the new marijuana laws spurned growth and many land owners who had held onto their land for some time has sold at escalating prices. Overall the cultivation market appears to have topped out as the expectations of sellers do not match with the availability of capital for the market. There appears to be interest in land purchases, but at the lower price ranges.

Brightline Buys XpressWest High Speed Rail which will connect Victorville to Las Vegas

Brightline is the nation’s largest and only privately owned operated express intercity passenger rail system. Brightline funded the Florida rail corridor previously. The Florida rail is a proven privately funded model for the Las Vegas Express. Brightline will now take over the construction, land acquisition. The initial phase is expected to build the right of way along Hwy 15 without pedestrian crossings. They expect construction to begin in 2019 with completion by 2022. The planned Las Vegas station is expected to run right to the resort corridor with access to limo’s, shuttles, taxi’s and rider sharing firms. The Victorville connection is 30 to 45 minutes from Los Angeles. They plan on additional stations and connectivity to the Metrolink which connects in Palmdale. They hope to also connect to the Cal High Speed rail likely at that junction also. Brightline’s ambitious plan is to complete the 190 miles from Victorville to Las Vegas in just three years. If they pull off their plan all privately funded then it will show Cal-High-Speed Rail authority’s costs and construction is way too expensive and slow. Overall it is good news for the high desert and Los Angeles.

A Bullet Train Path has been Picked From Palmdale to Burbank

The LA Times recently reported. The California High Speed Rail will cut through Sun Valley, San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Agua Dulce, the state rail authority proposed yesterday. The 40 mile route mostly follows Hwy 14 via tunnels. It is supposed to be the least expensive route to Burbank. It looks that the route could affect homes, businesses, an airport and a hospital. A big factor and problem is the passage under the San Gabriel and Tehachapi Mountains. That cost is estimated to be $26 to $45 billion just for that? That will include a 7 mile tunnel, but if you going six hundred miles per hour you’ll hardly notice it. According to the LA Times, The Santa Clarita City Council had told the rail authority it would oppose any route that was not fully underground. “Anything above ground takes out homes, schools and churches,” she said. “That is not going to happen.” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti supports the rail project. The mayors office prefers using the current Metrolink commuter rail right of way from Burbank to Palmdale which was built in 1870. The Bay Area plan is to use the right of way along the CalTrain from Gilroy to San Francisco, but the State said no. A draft environmental report is due in 2019 with a final in 2020. The rail authority’s plan says the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco system would be completed by 2033, but there are no funds to build the LA portion. The projected costs hit $77 billion this year, more than double the original estimate, and its completion date is now more than a decade delayed.