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Kelseyville residents weigh in on Dollar General store proposal
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – For the second time in a week, a local community held a meeting to discuss pros and cons of plans for a Dollar General store.
On Monday, the Kelseyville Business Association hosted an hourlong meeting on a proposal to locate one of the “small box” Dollar General stores at 4315 Douglas St. and 5505 Main St., directly across from Kelseyville High School.
The store is proposed to be 9,100 square feet in size. The corporation estimates it will be staffed by at least four employees. Company representatives have stated that about half of store employees are full-time.
Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tenn., also has a proposal for a store at 20900 S. Highway 29 in Middletown, which was the topic of a Middletown Area Town Hall meeting last Thursday, as Lake County News has reported: bit.ly/1F2sHOL .
Store representatives reported at the Thursday Middletown meeting that Dollar General has 12,000 stores nationwide. It is now working its way into the West Coast market, with plans to open 1,000 stores in California over the next three years.
Earlier this year, the corporation opened its first stores in Lake County – in Nice in January and in Clearlake Oaks in April.
The Kelseyville store's major use permit application, submitted by Texas-based Cross Development on Dollar General's behalf, is scheduled to be heard by the Lake County Planning Commission at 9:45 a.m. Thursday, May 28, in the supervisors chambers at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
Community Development Director Rick Coel – who was on hand to answer questions Monday evening – said a Dollar General representative will be at the planning commission meeting.
Rian Sommerfield, a Kelseyville Business Association member, moderated the Monday meeting, with Marilyn Holdenried taking down comments in order to present them to the planning commission.
The first community member to speak, retiree John Helldorfer, supported Dollar General coming to town.
“I would like another venue here in Kelseyville,” he said. “I think it's a great addition.”
Helldorfer said community members don't need to worry about businesses being shut down, adding that no businesses have shuttered in Nice following the Dollar General's opening there.
However, Peggy Robertson said Dollar General sells things that she said she already can find in Kelseyville. She said she was concerned about the existing Kelseyville businesses and had spoken to some of them that afternoon.
She said that she's all in favor of small businesses and local businesses, but quoted figures that local businesses put 30 percent more money into communities than chain stores.
At the forum, community members consistently raised issues about Dollar General not fitting the image of the quaint country town that has been created for Kelseyville.
Sommerfield asked Coel if the issue of Dollar General being good for the community is part of the consideration.
Coel explained the county's planning processes, and consideration of environmental and other impacts.
He said that type of community identity issue is probably more appropriately addressed to the Board of Supervisors if the store permit were to be appealed.
Another issue raised related to roads, with Sharron Zoller asking if a traffic study had been done for the “very congested area” near the store location.
Coel said the project was reviewed by the county Public Works Department and traffic advisory committee, which recommended pedestrian improvements such as curb, gutter and sidewalk along both street frontages and a Lake Transit bus stop area. There already is a crosswalk from the high school to the gas station next door.
Citing concerns about bringing in more cars and delivery trucks – while dealing at the same time with traffic for local schools – Zoller asked if there would be additional mitigations such as roadway widening or the Highway 29 and Main Street entrance.
Coel said there were no requirements met for highway improvements. He said Dollar General has overdesigned on its driveway width and parking – proposing eight to 10 more parking spots than needed.
He said the county wants to soften the building's look by having one less row of parking and having the building closer to Main Street, with more landscaping and architectural features. He said he and his staff are working with Cross Development to redesign the site plan.
Town resident Jan Coppinger said there is no other place to shop in Kelseyville, adding she's not going to the local gas station convenience store for her main supplies.
She said she already does her main shopping in Lakeport and Clearlake, and while she's there she spends money on other things.
“I really would like to spend my money where I live, but I'm too busy,” she said.
Caryn Stardancer, who has lived in Kelseyville for more than 42 years, said she and her family opposed the store coming to Kelseyville for a variety of reasons – traffic, the close proximity to the school and the impact on other businesses.
“This town has a character of a country town with nice small stores, very friendly, very warm. That's why I love it here,” she said.
Wally Holbrook, the county's retired superintendent of schools, said he was concerned about pedestrian traffic in relation to the high school, and how shoppers are going to get in and out of the store.
Mark Borghesani, whose family owns Kelseyville Lumber, attended the Thursday MATH meeting, and reported statements from store representatives about often bringing more than one of the stores into a community.
He asked where the planning commission would draw the line if Dollar General proposed to bring still more stores to Lake County, and what the ultimate number might be.
Along with that, Sommerfield asked if the Kelseyville Dollar General plan allows for expansion within the existing site.
Coel said number limits for stores would be up to the Board of Supervisors. As for the proposed store site in Kelseyville, it's following the Dollar General formula for size.
“They would not be able to expand this. There is not enough room there,” Coel said, unless they chose to purchase more property.
He added that he hasn't heard that Dollar General's plan has included expanding current store sites.
Coel was asked about when delivery trucks would come into the store, if they would interfere with the school buses and how it would impact traffic congestion on the road, which residents said already is narrow.
The traffic conflict issue had been raised at a preapplication meeting last year, Coel said. As such, staff will ask the planning condition to put a condition in the use permit that provides a window of when truck can come in to deliver, which they don't want to be during peak traffic flow hours.
Since Dollar General conducts its own deliveries, they have more control over when deliveries take place, said Coel. He also said he believes that the four stores – the two already open and the two still proposed to be built – in Lake County is the “magic number” for Dollar General, as they can have a delivery truck come up weekly and hit all four stores.
Mary Borjon validated Borghesani's concerns about multiple stores, and cited information shared by Robertson in which Dollar General claims it builds stores 10 miles apart.
Borjon said she and her husband take road trips, and during visits to the South they have seen Dollar General stores just blocks apart. “Can we believe the information they give us or not?” she asked.
Asked about the building design, Coel once again noted that the county is trying to get the building's design altered, and are asking the planning commission to provide design input.
He said they want to force design modifications including removing a line of parking, as they don't want so much asphalt, which creates drainage and pedestrian issues. He said there are a lot of issues to work out if the project is approved.
Business owner Trena Pauly voiced her concerns about the store's impact on the community.
“There's a lot of people in this room who have been working years – I mean decades – for Kelseyville to be the quaint country town that it is and the envy of all of Lake County,” she said, and the store doesn't fit into the plan the community has created.
She said it's disheartening to see a box store like Dollar General trying to come into Kelseyville. “Please let us have some kind of input on the design of it so it at least fits into the town.”
Coel said that community input is part of the design process. He added that county staff is against Dollar General having a freestanding sign, and is working to limit signage to just the main sign on the store building itself.
He emphasized that his staff's authority doesn't include denying projects, but they can affect how the project looks.
Coel encouraged the community to provide design input and also to tell the commission if they don't want the store at all.
When asked about the store's potential benefits for the community, Coel said the Clearlake Oaks and Nice stores are doing better than the developers expected, he's receive no complaints from the community and the stores are, in his opinion, providing a service.
Quincy Andrus said she also didn't see the store fitting into Kelseyville or offering much of a financial benefit, as most of the money would be going out of state.
“I don't see any benefit other than a convenience for some people,” she said.
Asked about who Kelseyville's planning commissioner is, Coel said it's Gil Schoux, adding that decisions like those around the Dollar General application are tough ones for the commission to make.
He encouraged community members to attend the planning commission meeting or to at least write letters or emails voicing their concerns about the project.
Coel said letters about the project should be sent to the Community Development Department, Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport, 95453, or emailed to the planner processing the application at
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Brumfield to seek District 1 supervisorial seat in 2016
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Twenty-three years after her retirement from the Lake County Board of Supervisors, Middletown resident Voris Brumfield has announced that in 2016 she will seek to regain her former position as District 1 supervisor.
District 1 is Lake County’s southernmost district, bordering Napa and Sonoma counties.
Brumfield served as the District 1 supervisor from 1985 to 1992.
“I love this county and I love participating,” she said.
The District 1 supervisorial seat currently is held by Jim Comstock, who has elected not to seek a third term on the board.
Comstock told Lake County News that by the time his term runs out, he will be 67 years old and will have served 26 years in public office – 18 years with the Middletown Unified School District Board and eight years on the Board of Supervisors.
“It's been a pleasure to serve,” he said, adding that the time has come to be ready to turn the office over to someone else.
Brumfield is the second person so far to declare her plans to run for the District 1 seat next year.
In February, Monica Rosenthal – a former member of the Lake County Planning Commission and Lake County Farm Bureau Board, and a small business owner – announced she was running for the Board of Supervisors seat.
While Rob Brown – Comstock's colleague on the Board of Supervisors – said he's endorsing Rosenthal, Comstock said he plans to give his support to Brumfield, who he's known for some 30 years.
He said Brumfield is a good community servant who approaches things very logically.
In addition, she's accessible, he said.
“Voris is very approachable. Anyone can talk to her,” Comstock said.
Today, Brumfield is a part-time lay minister for the Kelseyville Unified Methodist Church – a position she started in August after serving five years as lay minister for Middletown Community Methodist Church – and the president of the Lake County Historical Society.
She’s also a loving mother and doting grandmother.
In the past she has served as a county staff member, working as an analyst in public services and in geothermal coordination, as well as the Lake County Marketing Program.
She also completed the Lake County Sheriff’s Citizens Academy and suicide prevention training offered by Lake County Behavioral Health.
Her current involvement with the Lake County Historical Society and the Gibson Museum and Cultural Center “pretty much takes up all my time,” Brumfield explained.
Regarding the differences in Lake County from 1992 until now, she said: “I think there has been more awareness of government helping Lake County evolve to its best potential. A lot of things have happened in the county since 1992. I want to be part of assuring that those changes continue in the best interests of our county.”
Much has changed in Brumfield’s life in the past dozen years as well.
Most notably, Allee Mitchell, her 93-year-old mother, whom she says was the most positive force in her maturation, died after Brumfield moved back to her native Houston to help care for her.
“My mother worked on her PhD and started several types of training programs during the ‘60s and ‘70s,” she said.
At Texas Southern University, Allee Mitchell created the Head Start teacher training program for the southeastern United States.
In addition to her mother, Brumfield said aunts on both her maternal and paternal sides lived long and productive lives.
Brumfield touts the positive aspects of Lake County.
“What’s good and great about this county is that the people here have an appreciation of the county and a desire to see improvement. Then there’s the natural beauty of the area and the natural resources we have that are opportunities for development, whether it’s geothermal or agricultural,” Brumfield said.
“The potential is here to develop hiking and multiuse trails,” she added.
She referred to the development of a hiking trail from Middletown out to Twin Pine Casino that is being developed. “We can be a beacon for health and wellbeing and a place where people come to support themselves.”
The upfront need in the county is for economic development, Brumfield observed.
She believes that her prior experience as a supervisor – as well as all the leadership positions she has held over the years – will be of value in leveraging professional relationships with city, county, state and federal agencies.
“People who know me are confident that I’m a do-er,” according to Brumfield. “I get things done.”
Email John Lindblom at
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Supervisors approve agreements for Paradise Valley pipeline project, annexation into Clearlake Oaks water district
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve the documents needed to move forward on an annexation and water main project for the Clearlake Oaks County Water District and the County Service Area serving Paradise Valley.
Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger and his compliance manager, Jan Coppinger, took the matter to the board on Tuesday morning.
The effort to annex County Service Area No. 16-Paradise Valley – which serves nearly 80 homes in the Paradise Cove community – into the Clearlake Oaks County Water District has been under way for some time.
County and district officials have agreed that it provides the best alternative for getting Paradise Valley's homeowners the dependable water supply they need.
Despite the drilling of additional wells, the Paradise Valley water system has had water capacity issues for several years, is under a connection moratorium and, because of the drought, is under mandatory conservation requirements.
Last November, the county received $2.6 million in state funding for water-related projects, as Lake County News.
That total included $1,378,000 for the new pipeline project. Another $375,000 match is coming from Dr. James Berger, a principal of Brookwood Land Development LLC.
Berger plans to develop the 77-unit Paradise Valley Ranch housing project across Highway 20 from Paradise Cove.
During the Tuesday discussion, Dellinger explained that the 8-inch water main would extend approximately 1.8 miles between Paradise Valley and Clearlake Oaks, connecting the two water systems.
He said the contractor, O.C. Jones & Sons – which already is working with Caltrans on the ongoing Highway 20 overlay project – estimated there was a 45- to 60-day timeframe in which to complete the project.
Dellinger told the board he was concerned that if the project didn't manage to move forward within the time frame, it could delay O.C. Jones in its work for Caltrans, which could result in as much as $170,000 in additional costs through contract change orders.
Concerns about capacity
The Clearlake Oaks County Water District Board approved the preannexation and annexation agreement ahead of the supervisors' Tuesday meeting.
“This is a project that needs to happen,” said Clearlake Oaks County Water District Board Vice President Richard Kuehn.
However, Kuehn and his fellow board members had voted against a “will serve” letter to Brookwood Land Development.
That's because Kuehn said the district was concerned about having to meet the development's water needs at some point in the future when it might not have capacity.
Board Chair Anthony Farrington said the district wouldn't be required to provide hookups if there was a water moratorium, adding that's the risk any developer takes.
Dellinger, referring to the letter's language, said the document made it clear that the developer understands that there might be limitations in the future due to a moratorium.
Kuehn said they don't want to limit development in Clearlake Oaks. “This project's ready to go forward, other than this will serve letter,” he said.
During the discussion, Kuehn said the district would not commit to the “open-ended” will serve letter.
Among the benefits of the project, Coppinger told the board, is that the Clearlake Oaks water district will be allowed by the state to move one of its grant applications to the head of the line for consideration.
“It's a real benefit to the Oaks,” she said.
Dellinger said he thought it had been made clear that if there were to be a connection moratorium in the future, “all bets are off,” but he added that Berger's property is going to be annexed into the district.
Richard Carlile, the engineer who is working with Berger on the project, said the will serve letter is a placeholder, and that the developer knew there may be moratoriums in the future.
He suggested that the wording of the letter be clarified to say that it is conditional, and subject to the Clearlake Oaks district having capacity at the time of the Paradise Valley Ranch annexation.
Carlile said the project so far has a general plan of development approved for it. “There's a long ways to go for Dr. Berger's project,” he said, adding that Berger is willing to put up the money for it.
County Counsel Anita Grant cautioned that the county could add in the suggested language but recommended that the board's approval of the will serve letter be conditional on the Clearlake Oaks board's approval.
Supervisor Jim Steele asked if the updated will serve letter will delay the project. Dellinger said no, that the construction, modeling and archaeological monitoring contracts before the board were the priority items.
Farrington called it a “win-win” project that will bring jobs and economic development to the Northshore.
The board then separately approved a letter of agreement to participate in the Proposition 84 Integrated Regional Water Management Drought Grant with Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District as the fiscal agent; adopted a resolution approving the preannexation and annexation agreement between CSA No. 16 and Clearlake Oaks County Water District; waived the competitive bidding process and approved the award of the $800,000 construction contract to O.C. Jones & Sons for the pipeline installation; waved the consultant selection process and approved the agreement for engineering services for the water distribution system modeling with MC Engineering in an amount not to exceed $37,800; and approved the agreement with Pacific Legacy Inc. for archaeological services for the pipeline project in an amount not to exceed $37,000.
'A do or die situation'
The Clearlake Oaks County Water District Board is now expected to go back and accept the will serve letter for Brookwood with additional language suggested by Carlile – “as long as capacity exists” when annexation occurs – to address that board's concerns about future capacity.
As for County Service Area No. 16, Coppinger told Lake County News in a separate interview that once the annexation is finalized, that service area will dissolve and become a part of the overall Clearlake Oaks County Water District.
With the project moving into its next steps, “We are under a huge crunch,” said Coppinger.
That's because the pipeline has to be in the ground before Caltrans finishes its overlay project. Otherwise, Coppinger said there will be a seven-year moratorium on any action to cut into the road to place new infrastructure like the pipeline.
“It's a do or die situation for us,” she said.
Road work already is under way on the project, Coppinger added.
“We have to get that little stretch of pipe in quickly,” she said.
Coppinger said the goal is to have O.C. Jones digging the new pipeline by June 1 in order to not delay the company's work with Caltrans.
She said the project is one that benefits everyone involved.
“This is a win-win-win, and very seldom do we see a situation where we put something together where everybody wins,” she said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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Ely Stage Stop hosts Glebe at May 23 living history event
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Another opportunity to enjoy Lake County history will be available to the public on Saturday, May 23, when the Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum presents the next in a series of living history events from noon to 2 p.m.
Local historian Ruby Glebe will return to the Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum on Saturday to share more stories from the past.
Glebe is well known and respected for her work in preserving and promoting Lake County’s historical resources.
Fifteen years ago the Board of Supervisors appointed Glebe to the position of Lake County historian.
She is only the third person to hold this distinction, preceded by Henry Mauldin and Marion Goebel.
Glebe will be available to the public in the Ely main house starting at noon to visit with guests and answer questions.
At 1 p.m. she will present a program relating to Dr. Hugh J. Glenn, for whom Glenn County – northeast of Lake County – was named.
Dr. Glenn, a man of great prominence in political and commercial life, was considered to be the “wheat king” of the western world, managing 45,000 acres of wheat.
Learn how the agricultural opportunities of his day related to the success of the pioneers settling in Lake County.
She will remain available until 2 p.m. for more questions and insights.
Home to the Lake County Historical Society, the stage stop is located at 9921 State Highway 281 (Soda Bay Road) in Kelseyville, near the Clear Lake Riviera, just north of Highway 29-Kit's Corner.
Current hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.
Living history events are held on the fourth Saturday of each month.
Visit www.elystagestop.org or www.lakecountyhistory.org , check out the stage stop on Facebook at www.facebook.com/elystagestop or call the museum at 707-533-9990.
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- Written by: Linda Drake