A lot has been going on and we’ll see if we can catch up, but first:

Did you get in your comments on the Wonder Inn Initial Study?  Deadline is Wednesday Feb 22 at 4:30 pm!  So if you haven’t yet, go right now and get them in!

The community has really responded to the call for comments, with so far over 150 sent in to the County just through our website!  Go, Wonder Valley!  The Stop Wonder Inn crew has been hard at work putting together our own comprehensive comments, and we expect to have those posted to the website very soon.

But we’ve also taken time out to talk to the good folks at the podcast 90 Miles from Needles, and you can listen to the episode here:  S2E4:  Protecting Wonder Valley.  Be sure to catch the moving segment where Lucas Basulto walks the area adjacent to the project site and discovers…a baby tortoise!  It is a thrill to share his excitement.  This, among other things, is what we’re fighting for.  A big thanks to Chris Clarke and Alicia Pike at 90 Miles for helping to get the word out.

And in case you missed it, last week in the Desert Trail Beth Sheffield outlined the burden the Wonder Inn project would place on Wonder Valley’s already stressed public services, such as fire and paramedic, which are paid for by you, the taxpayer.

And now, a special dispatch from the We’re So Surprised Dept:  Like us, you’ve probably been suspicious of what the Wonder Inn developers intend to do with the rest of the many acres they own there on Amboy.  Well, now we know – or at least, we know another part of the story. 

The Wonder Inn developers stated in the Initial Study that the proposed project does not include the construction of new homes. Thanks to an alert researcher on our team, however, it was discovered recently that the owners of the Wonder Inn have begun publicly advertising the sale of 24 “luxury villa homes” which would be built on the remaining 113.4 acres they own adjacent to the Wonder Inn.  The Modly web page seems to blink in and out, but look at this screen shot:

On the 160 acre site, we will be constructing 24 private villa homes, each sitting on a private 5-acre site.  Each contemporary home will consist of 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with all the amenities you’d expect including a swimming pool, hot tub, outdoor showers, fire pits, solar panels and an electric car charger.  Homeowners can occupy the homes year-round or they can opt-in to have the hotel manage the homes for guests to rent them out at $1000 Average Daily Rate.  This is a fantastic opportunity to own a second home which pays for itself.  Residents can move into their Wonder Valley Villas by Q4, 2024.  Lot prices will be starting at approximately $150,000.

Think this is just some joker with a random website?  Want more confirmation of this plan to construct luxury villas?  Take a look at branding concern Bain Hospitality, where “the focus has been working with financial corporations on acquiring historic assets and converting them into high-end, one-of-a-kind luxury hotels.”  The Bain website includes this description:  “The Wonder Inn is set to become Joshua Tree’s first full-service resort, sitting on 160 acres of majestic desert landscape. Consisting of 106 design-forward guestrooms, 20 branded residences, a three-meal restaurant, and 90-foot wide oasis style pool, a serene health and wellness center, and a full-scale event space.”  (Of note, the Bain Wonder Inn web page is still up as of this date.)

This plan of the Wonder Inn developers to establish a $1000/night short-term rental villa community that would be managed by the hotel/ inn exploits a known loophole in San Bernardino County’s Short-Term Rental ordinance that allows multiple co-developed “single family homes” to be managed as a hotel. The Wonder Inn developers can effectively create hotels of unlimited size in areas where zoning would not otherwise allow them.

Further, the developers failed to inform the County of their plans to build these additional 24 homes, they are already soliciting buyers for these homes, and they’ve shown blatant disregard for CEQA and the County of San Bernardino Land Use Services by withholding their intent for this land use to build residential private villas.  

Obviously, there’s lots more to unpack here.  But for now, we’ll just let that shoe sit right where it dropped.