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From: David Kenly Subject: PROTECT RURAL SONOMA COUNTY - Deny Use Permit to Ratna Ling/

Dharma PublishingDate: March 31, 2014 3:02:27 PM PDTTo: jenner-issues@yahoogroups.comGreetings.Please read all this message contains. Please consider this in the context of

what life on this part of California's coast has been and how its quality is eroded

by the increasing onslaught of projects, development, and population. The

issue is not entirely the impacts of any one project; rather, it is the failure of

our regulatory and permitting agencies adequately to analyse potental impacts

and to take meaningful stance to hold development and consequences in check.Those of us who've lived in this area for decades can quantitatively and

qualitatively attest to many instances of local degradation, and while not all

contributing factors are immediately evident, they can clearly be attested to

through study and documentation. This was recognized in the excellent General

Plan of the late seventies, yet we're now under pressure to bring in new

projects through a flawed Board of Supervisors approval process, even as we

sell out and degrade our greatest asset, the pristine coastal zone and its

immediate environs and resources.Now is the time to avoid complacency, to be proactive by doing your part to

protect our coast. Be informed. Look at the Coastal Hills Rural Preservation

(CHRP) web site and learn what Ratna Ling brings to our area. Ask what other

projects have come into our area, how they did, and how they too impact

fragile ecosystems on our Sonoma Coast. As impacts are recognized more and

more as being cumulative, "NIMBY-ism" seems to take on greater relevance as a

benevolent stance. Always ask what alternatives have been considered ... and

why they've not been adopted.http://www.sonomacoastalhillsruralpreservation.org/I've been asked how I could object to what the peaceful Tibetan Buddhists are

up to up the coast, especially since they're bringing in money ... ! Aside from

the common observation that no one is experiencing an influx of money from

Ratna Ling activities in this neighborhood ... (and defiling environment isn't our

only income choice) ... , the question itself implies how easily one can be

http://www.sonomacoastalhillsruralpreservation.org/

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swayed by concepts we may otherwise hold dear. While prayer flags, the lotus,

and other holy trappings are iconic, we need make sure we're not seduced by

imagery that belies the fact that we have a book factory in development just up

the road, one that's not been sufficiently assessed or permitted yet which sets

dangerous precedent to our coastal values as recognized by Sonoma County

planners.Understand why long time residents (who, quite frankly, would prefer to do

things other than defending their homes and ways of life) speak as our Seaview

Ridge neighbor Bruce Johnson does in his OPEN LETTER to our west county

neighbors.http://jenner.mcn.org/coast/chrp/BruceJohnsonOpenLetter.pdfOnce reasonably informed, please do the right thing. Lobby your supervisor(and the other four), whether by letter or email. Show your concern that the

Ratna Ling project (Appeal of PLP08-0021) has failed to meet county

permitting process and requirements by attending the Board of Supervisors

meeting at the BOS Chambers, Sonoma County Administration Building, on

Tuesday, April 8, 2014 at 2 PM.And remember, WEAR SOMETHING GREEN TO BE SEEN!Thanks for your attention to this issue!David

http://jenner.mcn.org/coast/chrp/BruceJohnsonOpenLetter.pdf

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