Category Development

The county Board of Supervisors has levied fees of $125 an acre on Pioneertown property owners to pay off an $80,000 loan the board granted in June for emergency work on the desert community’s water system.

The county Board of Supervisors has levied fees of $125 an acre on Pioneertown property owners to pay off an $80,000 loan the board granted in June for emergency work on the desert community’s water system.

County supervisors voted final approval Tuesday for levying a fee of $243 on each of 328 properties in the Pioneertown area north of Yucca Valley to finance design work and assessment proceedings toward replacing the community’s deteriorated water system.

After a three-year delay, residents of Pioneertown northwest of Yucca Valley soon will see improvements to their water, thanks to Monday's decision by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to use $520,000 worth a state bond revenue to fund construction a 16,000 feet of pipeline, three wells and a reservoir.

Four Pioneertown residence say they will contact a local attorney this week in the wake of plans by the San Bernardino County Office of Special Districts to create a new water agency at the former Western-themed movies set turned unincorporated community.

County supervisors Monday delayed action on Pioneertown’s water project after a group of residents expressed concern that the improved water service could spur development that would destroy the community’s Old West character.

The Pioneertown people don't want to get too excited yet, but the feeling is building. When the town's water district is actually formed and functioning, the problem that has held back phenomenal growth will be headed toward a final solution. They absolutely want to keep the Western motif of the town, and many want it to stay small, but with plenty of piped water available the growth will mushroom.

The county Board of Supervisors Monday approved a long-stalled $475,000 property assessment program to finance replacement of the deteriorated water system at Pioneertown, north of Yucca Valley.

Worried that replacement of a water system will spur development and ruin the area's rustic atmosphere, a half-dozen Pioneertown residents intended to form an area homeowners association and to work to have the town a historical landmark.

The County Board of Supervisors on Monday agreed to join three Morongo basin water districts in a project aims to bring Northern California water into the area by way of a pipeline from the California Aqueduct in Hesperia.