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Lakeport Police logs: Saturday, Jan. 10
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026
00:00 EXTRA PATROL 2601100001
Occurred at Lake County Law Library on 3D....
Lakeport Planning Commission approves fence project, gets cell tower appeal update
LAKEPORT, Calif. – After its last meeting on a senior housing proposal ran nearly three hours, the Lakeport Planning Commission on Wednesday wrapped up business in under a quarter of an hour with approval of a fencing project and an update on a cell tower project appeal.
The main order of business for the commission at the 12-minute meeting was the consideration of Stephanie and Steve Williamson's application to construct a new 6-foot-tall wrought iron fence and a 13-foot wrought iron sliding electronic gate at their property at 4 16th St.
The matter went before the commission because the fence is in excess of the 3-foot height limit within the front yard setback.
It's to replace an existing 4-foot-high picket fence along both the front and eastern side boundaries of the property, which the couple purchased as their retirement home in June 2014.
Ingram explained that the Williamsons' property used to be owned in conjunction with 2 16th St.
Together, the properties previously were operated as Clear Lake Bed and Breakfast, which closed Nov. 30, according to its Facebook page.
The two properties have since been sold separately as residences, according to city documents.
The fence will help clearly delineate the property lines, said Ingram. He said staff supported the design, which has no visibility issues and didn't block views of the lake.
“It's a nice looking fence design,” he said.
Commissioner Ross Kauper said he did a site visit, and believed the fence would be an improvement.
“We're just doing it to try to make it as nice as we can,” said Steve Williamson.
Williamson said it's also meant to offer security, explaining that a drunk person climbed on his roof on July 4, with other people wandering onto his property for various reasons.
“This is the best alternative that we could come up with,” Williamson said, noting the property looks pretty now and he wants to keep it that way.
Commissioner Harold Taylor moved to approve the request, which commission approved 4-0, with Suzanne Russell absent.
Ingram told the commission that it may have another fence project – as well as a proposed project from AutoZone – on the agenda for the Aug. 12 meeting.
In other business on Wednesday, Ingram gave the commission a brief update on the Lakeport City Council meeting on Tuesday night, at which time the council granted a 60-day continuance to Complete Wireless Consulting, which applied on Verizon's behalf for a permit for a 72-foot cell tower at 1875 N. High St.
The commission approved the “monopine” – which is the term used for towers designed to look like pine trees in order to disguise them – in May, but the decision was appealed to the council, which has indicated that it doesn't favor the location due to its closeness to residential areas.
At the commission's last meeting, commissioners voiced concerns that they didn't get the level of public comment on the matter that the council did, indicating that it would have had an impact if they had.
Ingram also reported that the city has hired a new planner, Dan Chance, who is coming from Grass Valley to take the job. Chance starts next week.
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Supervisors support putting Holiday Harbor up for sale
LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors reached consensus to give the County Administrative Office the go ahead to place the Holiday Harbor marina property in Nice on the market.
County Administrative Officer Matt Perry proposed the action to the board, citing the recovering economy and real estate market.
The county's former redevelopment agency purchased the harbor, located at 3605 and 3655 Lakeshore Blvd., in 2008 in order to spur economic activity in the area.
Perry told the board Tuesday that the property – which is made up of several parcels – was acquired for a total of about $2 million.
According to Perry's report to the board, the redevelopment agency had attempted to sell the property previously, but those efforts stopped due to the recession and the agency's dissolution in February 2012.
The county has continued to operate the property as a marina and to make improvements to it. However, in November 2013 a windstorm caused extensive damage to the harbor's docks.
Perry told Lake County News that the county didn't replace the docks damaged in the windstorm, but did cleanup work and replaced the chain link fence.
He said the county also is proceeding with replacing a portion of the seawall – located behind the property's commercial building – that failed in the December 2014 rainstorm.
“We decided this was important to do to prevent further erosion,” he said, adding that he hopes to have that repair project out to bid soon.
With the economy beginning to recover, Perry told the board that county staff believes it's time to put the harbor up for sale.
The county has contracted with a Realtor to help market the property, with those efforts including building a dedicated Web site, he said.
However, Perry said issues have arisen that led him to want to talk to the board.
Initially, the plan was to retain a beach area near the property in public ownership. However, he wanted the board to decide if that property should remain publicly owned or be offered for sale as part of the larger Holiday Harbor land in order to make it more attractive to potential buyers.
“My personal feeling is, we should try to make it as marketable as possible,” said Perry, adding the Realtor said the lakefront parcels will help.
He said it's a popular fishing spot for the public.
Originally, the county had wanted to see the lakefront parcels developed as a hotel, but with the redevelopment agency gone, the county no longer had the resources to help assist with such a plan, Perry said.
Perry said he felt the county should put the property up for sale and allow the private sector to decide what is viable, while placing some restrictions on the use permit.
Supervisor Jeff Smith suggested that if an interested buyer came along, a small area for public access could be carved out of the beach area. Perry agreed that an easement for public access could be offered.
Perry also reported that there were some issues necessary to address on the property, specifically, that a roadway on the land was never officially abandoned, and that there could be legal restrictions for public access.
“There's a lot of issues we're just discovering now that need to be cleaned up,” he said.
Supervisor Jim Steele suggested a town hall meeting to get feedback from community members, but also voiced his support for putting a good portion of the entire property up for sale if that's what it takes to find a buyer.
Supervisor Jim Comstock said the county needed to sell the property and get it back on the tax roll.
No public comment was offered during the discussion.
Smith said he didn't think the county should close the door on any possible uses for the land, including an RV park, noting that there are many high-end RVs on the roads looking for good parks to visit. He said having a nice facility could lure RVs off of Interstate 5 and over to Lake County for a stay.
Steele pointed out that the new owner of the Aurora RV Marina and Park Park – located in Nice, just down the road from Holiday Harbor – also is targeting that high-end RV customer base.
Perry said a Realtor has shown the property to someone interested in developing it into a high-end RV park. He's talked both to Community Development Director Rick Coel and County Counsel Anita Grant about that potential use, as the county doesn't want to see it turned into year-round housing.
Coel told the board that to prevent the property from becoming long-term housing, they would need to compel the California Department of Housing and Community Development – which permits RV parks – to enforce its rules.
On the county's side, Coel said they would be very clear in the permit conditions and in communications with the state that it was to remain an RV park, not a special occupancy park where people live year-round.
The board – minus Supervisor Rob Brown, who was absent for the discussion – reached consensus to give Perry permission to explore selling all of the parcels and to move forward with taking care of the roadway abandonment issue.
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Clearlake City Council to consider property donations
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council this week will discuss whether or not to accept the donation of two separate properties.
The council will meet at 5 p.m. Thursday, July 9, to discuss closed session items including a case of ongoing litigation, another potential legal case and a performance evaluation of City Attorney Ryan Jones before convening in open session at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
On Thursday's agenda are the proposed donations of two properties – one at 5768 Vallejo Ave., owned by Georgeann Jolley, and another on 3497 Park St., owned by Khaled Neouchy.
In his reports to the council on the proposed donations, new City Manager Greg Folsom is recommending that the council decline accepting the properties, both of which staff have visited.
In the case of Jolley's property on Vallejo Avenue, Folsom said it is not contiguous to any parcels that the city owns in the area – which is close to the city-owned airport property.
In the case of Neouchy's parcel, it also doesn't lend itself to a park or other municipal use, Folsom said.
The council also will consider designating voting delegates and alternates for the League of California Cities' annual conference in September.
On the meeting's consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are warrant registers; the second reading of Ordinance No. 176-2015, which adopts regulations to facilitate solar power installations; and authorization for the city manager to execute a contract with Foothill Associates to prepare the Highlands Park Master Plan for an amount not to exceed $24,980 on the city's Community Development Block Grant Planning and Technical Assistance Grant.
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Middletown Area Town Hall to discuss light poles, movies in the park, Dollar General committee
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Area Town Hall is set this week to discuss placing banners on downtown light poles, will get an update on free movie showings and hear the latest on a committee formed to study a proposal for a Dollar General store.
MATH will meet in the activity room at the Middletown Community Center, 21256 Washington St., beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 9.
Meetings are open to the community.
On the Thursday agenda is a discussion local artist Lisa Kaplan will take to the group regarding placing decorative banners on the town's light poles.
Marlene Elder will give MATH an update on the effort to launch showings of free movies in Middletown Square Park.
The first movie showing will be held at sundown on Saturday, July 11, when “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” will be featured.
Also on Thursday, Monica Rosenthal will give a report on a committee formed to study the proposal to place a Dollar General store at 20900 Highway 29 in Middletown.
At the June meeting, MATH members voted unanimously to form the committee regarding the proposed store, which also was the subject of MATH's May meeting.
Rosenthal told Lake County News that she anticipates offering MATH a progress report on the committee, including identifying its members.
Other agenda items include an item on alternative energy to be presented by Gigi Stahl and District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock, approval of the June 11 meeting minutes and the Aug. 13 agenda.
The board of directors includes Chairman Fletcher Thornton, Vice Chair Claude Brown, Secretary Ken Gonzales, and members Charlotte Kubiak and Mike Tabacchi.
MATH – established by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12, 2006 – is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.
Meetings are subject to videotaping.
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