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Lakeport Planning Commission recommends city council approve Vector Control general plan, zoning changes
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County Vector Control’s efforts to get a general plan and zoning change approved for its lakeshore properties in Lakeport received support last week from the city’s planning commission, but over the objections of the agency’s neighbors and ongoing questions about future projects from planning commissioners themselves.
While about a dozen neighbors of the agency looked on from the audience, the commission approved recommending a mitigated negative declaration for the general plan amendment and rezone to the Lakeport City Council in a 3-1 vote, with Commissioner Ross Kauper voting no and Commissioner Suzanne Russell absent from the meeting.
Lake County Vector Control in the spring of 2013 began the process of seeking the changes for its properties at 408 and 410 Esplanade St. and 35 C St.
It asked to merge the properties, as future improvements would extend over existing property lines; amend the zoning designation from resort residential (or “RR”) to public and civil uses (or “PCU”) in order to make the zoning consistent with adjoining district properties; and receive a general plan designation to correct inconsistencies between the general plan and the three parcels’ zoning designations, noting that the PCU zoning was consistent with the properties’ actual use since 1954.
In a letter to the city, Dr. Jamie Scott, the district’s manager and research director, noted that Lake County Vector Control District has operated from its main facility, located at 410 Esplanade, since 1954.
In December 2011, the district purchased the 35 C. St. property – which city staff said Wednesday night had been a dilapidated residence that had been zoned for high density uses.
Scott said in her 2013 letter that the 35 C. St. property – which sits between two other district-owned parcels – is to be used for the required space for “both the anticipated replacement of the existing laboratory/operations building and to meet the offstreet parking requirements for ADA‐compliant parking.”
The district, according to Scott’s letter, intends to continue to operate from its 410 Esplanade main facility.
“The present facility is outdated and does not provide sufficient workspace for the Vector Control technicians or the laboratory requirements of the District. The planned improvements to the main facility are intended to provide adequate working space for the existing employees and to accommodate improvements to the laboratory to meet present safety requirements. The District anticipates no increase in the number of staff or the number of daily visitors (deliveries, residents requesting service), or traffic. Any increase in stormwater impacts from increased runoff will be mitigated in compliance with City regulations.”
Vector Control’s application also included plans for preliminary site improvements that the agency developed as part of its capital improvement plan.
Those plans cover the proposed removal of the existing laboratory building and its replacement with a new structure, as well as the expansion and reconfiguration of the existing shop and garage structure onto the 35 C. St. property.
Scott told Lake County News that the Vector Control District is in the early stages of planning to improve the facility on Esplanade.
If the Lakeport City Council follows up with approval of the general plan and zoning amendments based on the planning commission’s proposal, Scott said the district plans to remove the existing antiquated laboratory and operations building at 410 Esplanade, and replace it with a modern facility that includes a unified workspace for the Vector Control technicians and a laboratory area for mosquito and tick work. That would be in addition to the district’s existing administrative building.
“Removing the original lab/operations building and replacing it with an addition to the admin building will also allow the district to improve the universal accessibility of its laboratory/operations facility and provide off-street disabled parking in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act,” she said.
Scott said the addition would follow the architectural style of the current administrative building and be compatible with the residential character of Esplanade Street.
After that, Scott said the district plans to replace the present steel garage and shop building located at 408 Esplanade with a secure, enclosed garage for parking district vehicles.
“We do not have a cost estimate at this time since those projects are contingent on the adoption of the general plan and zoning amendments,” she said.
On Nov. 12 the Lakeport Planning Commission held a public hearing on the district’s proposals.
At that time, due to the agency’s neighbors raising concerns about hazardous materials storage, parking, lake access and the “piecemealing” of the environmental review process related to potential future development, the commission held the hearing over until Jan. 14 in order for staff to research the issues.
At his first planning commission in his new job, new Lakeport Community Development Director Kevin Ingram – who joined the city Dec. 29 – told the commission last week that after going through each of the issues and consulting with the city attorney, planning staff believed the matters had been addressed and so they were not recommending any changes to the findings and conditions previously presented to the commission.
As such, Ingram said planning staff continued to recommend the proposed general plan amendment and zone change.
Commissioner Ken Wicks Jr. questioned if the approvals were to be used as the basis of future construction. Ingram explained that the main issue before the commission centered on land use, and whether it was consistent with Vector Control’s proposed uses. He said future development would be subject to more review.
Ingram said staff recognized there are impacts that need to be addressed currently and in the future.
Neighbors speak out against Vector Control plans
Verna Schaffer, who lives on the same street as Lake County Vector Control, questioned why the district wasn’t being held to its requirements for parking, estimating they needed 26 spaces but had far fewer. She said they shouldn’t be allowed to use the neighborhood as their personal parking lot.
Schaffer said she didn’t trust Vector Control or the city to act in the best interests of residents, recalling the situation in 1997 when they were told Vector Control was building a new laboratory and had to tear down its old building.
She said Vector Control reneged on that tear down requirement, claiming it didn’t have the money.
Schaffer questioned why the agency was getting special consideration, pointing out that after she remodeled her house, the city required her to make upgrades to the sidewalk.
“Of course we don't trust you to act fairly,” she said, expressing her belief that the city will allow Vector Control to not adhere to other requirements.
Shes said she was strongly opposed to Vector Control’s rezoning and future expansion, and said the agency should have to move to a more appropriate site.
Ron Bertsch, a former city councilman who also has been a Vector Control neighbor for 15 years, said he took a soil sample from the agency’s property after the last big rain and sent IT to an Oregon lab for analysis, along with a list of eight chemicals Vector Control said might be present.
The lab found two of the chemicals in the soil – methoprene and piperonyl butoxide.
Methoprene is an insect growth regulator, while piperonyl butoxide is a substance that’s used to increase the potency of some insecticides.
Bertsch asserted that the chemicals are being washed down the street and contaminating the soil in the neighborhood.
He said he was told that the chemicals can make animals lose their teeth, and he reported that over the last year his dog has lost several teeth and has three tumors, while he and his wife have also been suffering from health issues that they haven’t been able to explain.
“Let’s do what's right,” Bertsch said, asking the commission to pass the matter back to Vector Control and require the building to be torn down. “Chemicals don't belong in a residential area.”
Val McMurdie, who along with his wife lives 600 feet from Vector Control, said that during the November public hearing he had asked that the agency discuss the plan with neighbors due to late notices so that the neighborhood could be “less adamantly opposed” to the zone change.
“No Vector Control representative has made any effort to contact neighbors,” he said, adding that Vector Control’s functions should be reviewed by the county, not the city.
He said Vector Control is carrying out a “heavy industrial” use on a narrow and scenic street, and it’s been 17 years since it refused to comply with the conditions of its project.
Finley resident Phil Murphy, a former Vector Control Board member, agreed that parking issues were serious in the neighborhood, and maintained that the lakeside location is unsuitable for the agency, especially in high water years.
Regarding the district’s three-acre property on Todd Road and why it wasn’t being developed as the main facility, Murphy said the district had been building an office facility at the property, a project that he stopped when they went to put in a septic tank. He said none of the project was permitted and the entire structure recently was demolished.
Murphy said Vector Control has no justification for having lakefront property, noting that it doesn’t carry out significant activity on the lake, that it doesn’t fit with the general plan and is unpopular with neighbors. The Todd Road location, he said, is a better location.
Working to improve the district
Scott, who spoke to the commission following the neighbors, explained, “The reason we're going through this application is because we're trying to make this facility better.”
She said the district – which several years ago was successful in passing an assessment on properties to raise additional funds – now has the money to begin replacing the lab and fulfilling the obligations from 1997.
However, before doing that, the general plan and zoning amendments have to be completed, she said.
Scott said Murphy had suggested having the district transition to the Todd Road location, but due to a creek that runs through it as well as ponds, it was considered unbuildable.
The new sewer line is too far away, with a connection to it being cost prohibitive and more expensive than developing the site, which is why the Vector Control Board ultimately decided against that option, Scott said.
The lab testing information that Bertsch presented at the meeting was new to Scott, who told the commission, “We don’t store pesticides on Esplanade. It's not our pesticide storage facility.”
She said Bertsch has been to her lab, where they store minor chemicals like ethanol, and minor amounts of acetone and isopropyl, chemicals similar to what someone might have on hand for their pool.
Kauper asked if Vector Control’s requests needed to be taken up now or if it could wait. Ingram said it was needed to make sure future projects could go forward.
Planning Services Manager Andrew Britton explained that at the November hearing Vector Control had indicated that getting the appropriate general plan designation and zoning in place was important in terms of the district’s long-range planning.
The district, he said, indicated it would be an inappropriate use of public funds to develop detailed long-term plans if the general plan designation wasn’t appropriate.
“So that's why they're taking this step at this time and not hiding the fact that they have plans in the future,” Britton said.
Wicks wanted to know if the zoning could be changed before the general plan changes were made. Ingram said they could be done simultaneously. “They should be consistent with each other, one way or the other.”
Wicks had additional concerns about zoning changes well before any construction might take place. Ingram acknowledged that it would be ideal to have it all come together in one package.
Regarding concerns about the public being able to use an easement that Vector Control holds on an adjacent property, Ingram said that after consulting with the city attorney it was concluded the general plan and zone change amendment would not result in that easement’s conversion to public use. Just because a public entity has a stake in such an easement doesn’t mean it can be used in a manner contrary to the private property rights of the other owners.
Kauper didn’t see an overwhelming need to make the zoning or general plan changes until the city could see Vector Control’s proposed project.
Commissioner Harold Taylor said the commission would go over any future project, noting the difficulties in building on the lake. “For them to even build it, it's going to cost a lot of money.”
Wicks said he was much happier when projects come before the commission in full form. He said he had no problem with merging or making the zoning consistent, but added that once the project showed up, “it better be really good,” agreeing with Taylor that a project there would be tough to do because of the 100-year floodplain. Taylor said just putting in a parking lot could be astronomically expensive.
Wicks moved to approve the general plan and zoning changes, with Taylor seconding. The vote was 3-1.
After the meeting, Ingram stayed about 20 minutes to talk to the neighbors. “There are still concerns that remain and no doubt will be re-addressed in front of the City Council,” he said.
Some neighbors at that point also were bringing up the possibility of a formal appeal to city staff.
Asked about Bertsch’s testing results, Scott said it was difficult to comment on the analytical report Bertsch presented to the commission because she had so little information about the sample – “how he collected it, where it was taken, or when it was taken, or if he has the training to collect a sample correctly without accidentally introducing contaminants.”
She reiterated that the district stores its pesticides at Todd Road, not the Esplanade facility, and that the district doesn’t need to apply mosquito control products at Esplanade.
Scott said both methoprene and piperonyl butoxide are widely used not just in insecticides but in agricultural, landscape, structural pest control, and public health protection, as well in many “over-the-counter” pesticides used by homeowners.
She said methoprene is used in products from pest control shampoos for pets to ant and fly control, insect baits, home sprays and mosquito control, while piperonyl butoxide also can be found in household pesticides, flea and tick products, and repellents or insecticides for human clothing, bedding, and mattresses, to name a few.
Methoprene breaks down rapidly in the environment, and typically does not persist, while piperonyl butoxide is known to persist in soil samples and is commonly detected in low levels in soils and sediment, Scott said.
Asked after the meeting if Vector Control plans any outreach to neighbors over their concerns, Scott said, “The district has had a good relationship with most of its neighbors, and we will continue talking with them. I encourage any of our neighbors and other community members to contact me if they have questions or concerns. The district is proud of its services to the community, and we are committed to protecting the health of Lake County’s residents and visitors.”
Additional information on Todd Road property
Vector Control’s Todd Road property is within county jurisdiction, with its eastern border being the city limit line, according to Lake County Community Development Director Rick Coel.
Coel said his office issued a demolition permit for removal of a shop and office at the site, with that permit finalized on Jan. 28, 2014. He said there was no record of a “do not occupy” or red-tag notice on the property.
Ingram, who had worked for Coel before taking the job with Lakeport, added that Vector Control’s recent work at the Todd Road site was through a grading permit for the purpose of modernizing the pond facilities.
Presently, the district is improving its Todd Road facility, and expects to relocate its workshop and some vehicles to that site later this year, Scott said.
Asked if the city, moving forward, will enforce the requirements for the tear down of the older Vector Control building, Ingram said he didn’t know if there was a good answer to the question at this point.
Although the original use permit called for that older building to be removed, “There was an official agreement transferring ‘lead agency’ status from the city to Vector Control,” he said. “This essentially gave Vector Control, not the city, authority over the compliance with their permit conditions.”
Ingram added, “I think that Commissioner Wicks put it best in that there are still some serious questions that need to be resolved in dealing with any future development proposals and the approval of the this General Plan Amendment and Zone Change in no way guarantees approval of a future development and expansion of activities at this site.”
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Clearlake City Council to discuss veterans housing project, nonprofit contracts, marijuana ordinance
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council this week will discuss the proposal to build a veterans housing project on county-owned property, look at amendments to agreements with two nonprofits and discuss the city's current marijuana growing ordinance.
The council will meet beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, for a closed session regarding labor negotiations and employee discipline, dismissal or release, before the public portion of the meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
At the start of the meeting, there will be a presentation to the Clearlake Police Department K9 Unit by the Clearlake Church of the Nazarene, and comments from Lake County's new sheriff, Brian Martin.
In a discussion held over from meetings last fall, the council will consider giving conceptual approval to the development of a county property at 15737 18th Ave. for a veterans housing project.
At the same time, the council will consider waiving fees for any required amendments to the city's general plan or zoning designations.
Funding for the project is anticipated to come from Proposition 41, passed by California voters last June.
In other business, city staff will take to the council proposed amendments to the current rental agreements with the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce and Lake County Youth Services in order to make the agreements consistent.
Staff and the council also are set to discuss the city's current marijuana cultivation ordinance, adopted in the fall of 2013, which closely resembled the county of Lake's former interim ordinance.
With both the city of Lakeport and the county of Lake putting stricter enforcement in place – including no outdoor growing in residential areas – Clearlake city officials want to discuss the effectiveness of the city's ordinance, as well as possible options for amendment.
Items on the consent agenda – considered to be noncontroversial and accepted as a slate with one vote – include warrant registers; minutes of the Jan. 8 council meeting; quarterly reports from the city clerk, engineering and public works, finance and police departments; minutes of the Nov. 12 and Dec. 10, 2014, Lake County Vector Control District meetings; upcoming planning commission term expirations; receipt of the letter from City Manager Joan Phillipe announcing her retirement; and consideration of extension of the city's contract with Phillipe through June 30, 2015.
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County officials work on plan to address thousands of paper subdivision lots
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – County officials are working on a plan to address the issues surrounding the thousands of unbuildable paper subdivision lots around Lake County, particularly the Northshore, with one goal being to use the lots as part of the regional trail system.
Community Development Director Rick Coel and his staff got the go-ahead from the Board of Supervisors in November to continue with finalizing a draft of the 53-page paper subdivision management plan.
Coel told Lake County News that he anticipates taking a final draft of the plan back to the Board of Supervisors at the end of February.
The lots – close to 10,000 of them – are contained in several subdivisions that were created by land speculators in the early 20th century:
– Clear Lake Gardens, Nice: 1,975 parcels, four subdivisions, created in 1923 to 1924.
– Clear Lake Beach and College Heights, in the hills north and east of Lucerne: 6,340 parcels, nine subdivisions, created in 1924 to 1925.
– Clear Lake Beach Annex No. 2, Lucerne: 356 lots, one subdivision, created in 1925.
– Clearlake Oaks Subdivision: 367 lots, three subdivisions, created in 1925 to 1926.
– Mountain View, Clearlake Oaks: 222 lots, one subdivision, created in 1926.
– New Cacheville, located along Cache Creek near the eastern county line: 134 parcels, created 1912.
– Pine Dell, north of Clearlake Park: 337 parcels, one subdivision, created in 1924.
– Whispering Pines, Camp Calso and Sunset View, Cobb: 80 parcels, three subdivisions. Calso was created in 1926, Sunset View in 1942 and Whispering Pines in 1944.
The speculators who created the subdivisions didn’t provide for water, sewer, drainage or even adequate roads to support development, and in the decades since the lots have continued to cause problems. Many of the lots also are very small – some containing as little as 1,000 square feet of space.
The draft paper subdivision plan explains that many of the lots are “geographically unsuitable.”
Case in point: A rocky outcropping above Lucerne is divided up into a number of lots – none of them remotely buildable.
Coel said creating the plan began about two years ago as he and other county officials had discussions about the ongoing problems with the paper subdivision lots.
“The problems are numerous,” he said.
Due to the lack of control of the lots, there are issues with off-highway vehicle use, resulting in erosion problems, with illegal dumping also a common occurrence, according to Coel.
Illegal marijuana growing on the lots also has occurred, with Coel reporting that the New Cacheville subdivision near Lower Lake – an area that he said is commonly forgotten about – had a large marijuana grow a few years ago that was pulling water out of Cache Creek.
The problems also include having the lots continually being bought and sold, with some out-of-area buyers sinking large amounts of money into the property, believing they have valuable, buildable homesites, only to discover otherwise, Coel said.
The lots keep popping up on eBay and Craigslist, with people continuing to buy them. There is high turnover in the property ownership. “They get recycled,” said Coel.
County officials have reported getting calls from people who have invested their life savings in the idea of having a home with a lake view, only to come to Lake County and not even be able to find their lots.
Then there is the property tax issue. Many of the owners stop paying the property tax, according to Coel.
Clearlake Oaks residents Chuck Lamb and Holly Harris, who have studied the issues with the lots as part of their work with the Konocti Regional Trail System, reported that 25 percent of all of the subdivision parcels are in tax default from between five to 20 years.
About 5,000 to 6,000 of the lots have been in tax default for more five years, with another 400 lots in three- to four-year tax default, Harris said.
Many of the lot owners tend to believe that if they don't pay the property tax, the lots will simply go back to the county. But Harris said that's not true. Yearly taxes range between $55 and $75, with those amounts multiplied by the number of years the lots are behind in taxes.
“So, basically, the money keeps accruing,” Harris said.
That property tax isn't just owed to the county, but to local school and fire districts, which Harris suggested could be approached and asked if they would be willing to forgive a portion of the property taxes that are owed should the county try to acquire the lots.
Options for addressing the problem
Coel said one of the approaches to dealing with the lots is for the county to acquire and consolidate them into larger properties for purposes including oak woodlands mitigation.
Another option is to make the lots part of a regional trail system already under development in the county.
Harris said the pilot project for trails that they're proposing involves developing a trail system in the subdivisions above Lucerne.
She said the subdivision roads originally were offered to the county, but in the 1920s the county declined to take over those roads. Harris said the county could decide to take the roads back for public use, but not for public roads.
Those roads, she said, are “beautiful.” The ones above Marymount California University would create four-plus miles of hiking trails. She said they also have been in talks with the Mendocino National Forest about linking those trails to the forest.
Lamb noted that Marymount's new campus is a game changer for the county, and as a result it caused the Konocti Regional Trails group to reassess priorities for trail location.
With Marymount here, Lamb said there's almost a moral feeling that students should have that trail experience.
As a result, Konocti Regional Trails decided to focus on the area around Marymount's Lucerne campus as an opportunity for trail development, and a plan that would be good for Lucerne, the community and tourism. Lamb said it also would link in with the Ridgeline Trail.
Harris said one of the first things that needs to happen is that the board needs to have a discussion about whether or not they're interested in taking back some of the old subdivision roads into the county system, as that would be the backbone of the trails system. She said that plan will require that specific lots need to be acquired.
There could then be a fundraising effort in the community to acquire the lots, such as an “adopt a parcel” effort, she said.
At the November meeting, members of the Board of Supervisors acknowledged that the process of acquiring the lots could take decades.
However, it was reported that, when the county's redevelopment agency was still in operation, a request was put out to paper subdivision lot owners, asking if they wanted to donate the lots. The county received a favorable response from 15 percent of those property owners.
Harris said they want to send out a letter to see who is interested in donating the lots back to the county. They can then start looking at taking back tax default lots.
Harris acknowledged that it will be a longterm project. She said the county could do land swaps to get parcels needed for the trails, and could also merge lots and put in a building envelope, then sell the larger properties to bring money in for the project. Those are just some of the many ideas being considered.
However, Harris told Lake County News that she thinks the effort will be worth it.
“This is a phenomenal opportunity to create a ‘destination area,’” she said, noting the closeness to town and the ability to tap into Marymount California University.
Ultimately, the trails established above Lucerne would good for the students, residents and tourists, she said.
“The views are outstanding,” she said, with stunning views of Clear Lake and Mt. Konocti.
Except for the impact of dirt bikes and other off-highway vehicles, Harris said the bulk of potential trails remains in place, and will provide a direct connection to Mendocino National Forest and the back country.
There's also a second project proposal for the Mountain View subdivision in Clearlake Oaks, which is a smaller area than the Lucerne paper subdivision, according to Harris.
The Mountain View area has very high sediment loading due to erosion. The draft paper subdivision lot shows a picture of a fire hydrant on one of that subdivision's dirt roads, buried in sedimentation.
There also is the matter of illegal dumping in Mountain View, which volunteers have stepped in to help address, according to Coel.
Next steps
Among the many issues and challenges still ahead are funding, property acquisition and limited county staff, according to Harris.
She said there also are areas in the paper subdivisions where people have blocked off the public roads claiming that they’re private property, which she said needs to be addressed.
Harris said the supervisors also need to approve accepting the "offer for dedication" of the roads in those subdivisions for beneficial uses, but not back into the county road system.
“We had planned on using these roads as the trails – they are perfect. If they don't do this, it will be a decades long process,” she said.
There also will need to be an effort to search for grants and other funding to repair the off-highway vehicle damage, which Harris said is “extensive.”
Regarding acquiring the parcels, Harris said donations are easy, but tax defaults with have varying degrees of complexity. “We need a way to acquire these, without letting the unscrupulous land buyers acquire them to resell on eBay and other places.”
Taking over the lots when property tax is owed isn’t a simple matter. The outstanding amount would have to be paid, although no property tax would be owed once the land is owned by the county, County Counsel Anita Grant told the Board of Supervisors at its November meeting.
Grant, at that time, volunteered to have her office work on studying the issues surrounding the acquisition of the property, noting it could save the county a lot of time.
Grant said she could review the existing law to see what mechanisms may be available to the board to acquire the lots with less fiscal impact, including not having to pay accumulated penalties and fines.
Harris said there may be another way to address the lots in tax default – through the Teeter Plan, an alternate method of dealing with secured property tax revenue, which County Administrative Officer Matt Perry mentioned at the November board meeting.
According to county documents, under the Teeter Plan, penalties and interest collected on delinquent secured taxes are required to be held in trust in the Tax Loss Recovery Fund, the primary purpose of which is to cover losses that may occur as a result of special sales of tax-defaulted property.
Harris said Konocti Regional Trails leadership is now working on fleshing out more of the proposed trail project in Lucerne so that the supervisors understand the costs and issues.
“We did have a trails meeting the beginning of December, and everyone is excited at the idea of developing trails in Lucerne, but there was no additional input on the paper subdivision plan itself,” she said.
Coel told Lake County News that he’s adding some items to the draft plan, mainly involving revisions regarding the clarification of the potential options available to the county for purchasing and accepting the lots.
He said he also wants to make sure the county has the proper internal review procedures in place whenever accepting or purchasing the lots in order to minimize liability exposure to the county and taxpayers.
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Carnegie Library reuse study, vacating right-of-way near Soper Reese Theatre on Lakeport City Council agenda
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council this week will look at a reuse study completed for the city's historic Carnegie Library and consider setting in motion the necessary actions to vacate a portion of city-owned right-of-way next to the Soper Reese Theatre in order for the theater's renovations to continue.
The council will meet beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, in the chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
On the agenda is the Carnegie Library Reuse Feasibility Study, finished by San Francisco-based Garavaglia Architecture late last year, as Lake County News has reported.
The report makes a number of suggestions about the nearly 97-year-old building – which sits across from city hall in the heart of Library Park – including creating community partnerships to renovate the building and pursuing potential leasing options for raising money to make needed upgrades.
Also on Tuesday, the council will consider approving a resolution to initiate the necessary proceedings and the setting of a public hearing to vacate a narrow strip of right-of-way on Martin Street next to the Soper Reese Theatre.
Theater Executive Director Mike Adams asked the council last July to consider vacating the 5.4-foot strip that covers a landscaped courtyard.
Vacating the land will allow continuing renovations, including a 750-square-foot addition on the building's south side in order to provide bathrooms compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and an access ramp to the theater.
The Lakeport Planning Commission, at its Nov. 12 meeting, found that the proposal did not conflict with the city general plan's transportation element.
The council on Tuesday also will consider leasing the caretaker home at Westside Park to the Westside Community Park, the nonprofit corporation that is developing the park for the city. The single-family home, in turn, is expected to be leased out as a residence, according to Public Works Director Mark Brannigan's report to the council.
In other business, city Finance Director Dan Buffalo will present the comprehensive annual financial report for the year ended June 30, 2014, and the auditor's communication with governance letter dated Dec. 30, 2014.
Buffalo also will take to the council the recognized obligation payment schedule for the city's redevelopment successor agency for the period of July 1, 2015, through Dec. 31, 2015.
On the meeting's consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; the Jan. 8 warrant registers; minutes of the council's Jan. 6 meeting; and adoption of resolutions revising the city of Lakeport's personnel policies and a proclamation terminating a local emergency.
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