City to turn over camping area to settle lawsuit
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Thursday, June 17, 2004.
By ALLISON GATLIN
Valley Press Staff Writer



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CALIFORNIA CITY - The city will turn over a 31.6-acre camping area used by off-road vehicle enthusiasts to an environmental group as part of a settlement for the group's lawsuit attempting to halt development of the Hyundai-Kia automotive test track.

The Center for Biological Diversity and Society for Wilderness filed a lawsuit earlier this year against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, alleging the service did not properly consider the project's impacts on the threatened desert tortoise and Mohave ground squirrel when granting permits for construction.

"The Bush administration is jeopardizing endangered species by unwisely rushing construction permits before securing conservation lands," said Daniel R. Patterson of the Center for Biological Diversity.

"They couldn't have picked a worse spot environmentally" to build the track, he said. In addition to the desert tortoise and Mohave ground squirrel, the site also includes a Joshua tree woodland. "From an environmental habitat perspective, it's a really rich site."

Although California City was not a defendant in the lawsuit, the U.S. Federal Court in Riverside hearing the case granted Hyundai's motion for the city to intervene. The city council approved the settlement Tuesday night on a 4-1 vote. The city will transfer title of Campsite C to the Center for Biological Diversity, who intends to end off-road vehicle use of the area.

The settlement also states that the permit will not be reopened or amended; any tortoise found on the test track site that tests positive for a common tortoise respiratory disease will not be moved to the healthy population; and Hyundai will retain a botanist to survey the site for Barstow Wooly Sunflowers, a plant species that is under study for possible threatened status.

"I'd like the Center for Biological Diversity to know that this is a form of blackmail," said Mayor Larry Adams, voicing the lone dissenting vote for the settlement. "That's all it is." The environmental assessment of the site found 19 desert tortoises, Adams said. Those will be relocated to the 4,400 acres Hyundai is providing as a preserve. The company also is providing a $1.5 million endowment for tortoise protection.

Transferring ownership of the campsite area benefits the city in that it no longer holds liability on the property, said City Manager Jack Stewart. Although owned by the city, the land is no longer within city boundaries. It was part of the territory de-annexed to Kern County in exchange for the test track property.

The lawsuit did not halt construction on the test track. The track itself is complete and the associated buildings are expected to be ready for use this summer. The facility will be used by the company to test prototype vehicles in a variety of situations and will employ about 50 skilled workers and administrative staff full time. Another 50 will be seasonal or part-time employees. Engineers and consultants from Hyundai America Technical Center will also be visiting the facility. The facility will include a 6.4-mile oval track, a vehicle dynamics area, a vehicle-handling course, a paved hill road and several special surface roads. A 30,000-square-foot office complex will be built on the site. Besides jobs and income for local businesses, Stewart said the city will net between $200,000 and $300,000 a year in taxes.

Cheaper to give the land than fight those assholes in court.

What do you want to bet they build an office on site?

I'd say its time Hyundai-Kia purchase lands to off-set our loss of OHV opportunity!

Let’s call it compensation/mitigation for loss of recreational opportunity.

I have a wild idea. Let's sue California City and Hyundai/Kia for the loss of this opportunity.

Next the greens will complain about the dust and noise and want a five-mile buffer zone