How to resolve AdBlock issue? Clearlake City Council delays action on Lakeshore Drive design guidelines
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council delayed action Thursday concerning a recommendation by the Clearlake Planning Commission for adoption of design guidelines within the Lakeshore Drive corridor.
Action is expected no earlier than January, at which time the council may conduct a workshop for further discussion.
Additionally, a presentation regarding the Lakeshore Drive Downtown Corridor Plan, which the city is currently in the process of implementing, is scheduled for the council's regular meeting on Dec. 12.
The Lakeshore Drive design guidelines were developed by the Clearlake Vision Task Force and submitted to the council in 2008. However, the guidelines were never adopted.
The Clearlake Planning Commission has spent the past several months reviewing the guidelines, with particular attention paid to permitted and conditional uses within the design district on Lakeshore Drive between Olympic Drive and Old Highway 53.
The proposed document includes several uses recommended by the commission for deletion, many of which are existing.
Business owner Joan Mingori, who said she has owned three parcels on Lakeshore Drive since 1982, voiced concern for lack of written notification to business owners who will be affected by the proposed changes to code.
She said her business, and the existing businesses of many others, will be out of compliance should the proposed guidelines be adopted.
While City Manager Joan Phillipe said that existing businesses could continue to operate as a permitted nonconforming use, Mingori said such a designation would complicate, and possibly eliminate, business owners' ability to gain a “decent” loan.
Mingori said the city should be directing efforts toward establishing a loan program to encourage growth and assist business owners.
“You need to be a little more friendly to the people here in the business community,” she said.
Mingori's husband, Bob, pointed out several areas of concern, including prohibiting businesses permitted as nonconforming uses from expanding.
He also questioned the recommended deletion of parking lots, public and private, and its interpretation in relation to parking requirements attached to the operation of a business.
District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith also questioned the parking lot component and said his interpretation would lead him to believe the parking lot at Highlands Park would be illegal and, in addition, would make the city-owned Austin Resort property “unsellable.”
Smith expressed concern for the limited number of identified uses as well. “I know we want to make (Lakeshore Drive) visitor-oriented, but right now we just want it to succeed,” he said.
After hearing comments from the public, the discussion continued amongst members of the council.
Councilwoman Jeri Spittler said when the Vision Task Force created the guidelines, possible use of redevelopment agency funds was in mind.
She said it was her belief that the commission was directing its attention more toward aesthetics than toward what can and can't be placed on Lakeshore Drive.
Spittler said she shared concerns expressed by the Mingoris. “Everything we currently have operating is earmarked for deletion,” she said, indicating she did not support the document as proposed.
Councilwoman Gina Fortino Dickson said she wanted to remind the council that they were addressing a document that underwent extensive planning and which, ultimately, was overlooked and not adopted, and she said she thought it should be implemented.
She said her greatest concern was for possibly extending the building moratorium on Lakeshore Drive currently in place since this summer. She said she was against an extension.
Phillipe said the moratorium will expire in mid-December and ample time for proper notification to extend it is not available. She said the council would have to restart the process if it decides to continue the moratorium.
Mayor Joyce Overton said she agreed with Spittler, adding there were too many businesses in the plan that the would be deleting if they accepted the recommendation.
Overton said that in light of information offered by the Mingoris regarding business loans, she is not comfortable moving forward with the document at this time.
The council intends to receive its scheduled presentation on the Lakeshore Drive Downtown Corridor Plan on Dec. 12 prior to making a decision as to how it will proceed with the proposed document, which is available for public review at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
Email Denise Rockenstein at
- Details
- Written by: Denise Rockenstein
County planning commissioners recommend marijuana cultivation ordinance move forward
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A new proposed medical marijuana cultivation ordinance will head to the Board of Supervisors next month after the Lake County Planning Commission recommended it move forward following a Thursday public hearing.
With the county's interim urgency cultivation ordinance set to expire next July, the Community Development Department – at the direction of the Board of Supervisors – drafted the 26-page ordinance.
The draft ordinance prohibits outdoor cultivation altogether within community growth boundaries, limits indoor cultivation to 100 square feet with indoor lighting not to exceed 1,200 watts, and sets a cap of six mature or 12 immature plants on parcels larger than one acre located outside of community growth boundaries.
It also allows medical marijuana collectives composed of Lake County residents to cultivate up to 48 mature or 72 immature plants on minimum 20-acre parcels in the agricultural zoning district, and prohibits outdoor cultivation within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, substance rehabilitation facilities, child care facilities or nursery schools, and churches.
In a 5-0 vote, the commission found that the draft ordinance is exempt from California Environmental Quality Act guidelines, and in a 4-1 vote – with Commissioner Don Deuchar voting no – recommended approval of the proposed zoning ordinance text amendment.
The draft document states that outdoor cultivation also cannot take place within 50 feet of any spring, top of the bank of any creek or seasonal stream, edge of lake, delineated wetland or vernal pool under the rules. The commission recommended that setback from water sources be increased from 50 feet to 100 feet.
The commission also is asking the board to consider establishing a dispensaries ordinance – which the commission had recommended previously – in order to make certain that medical marijuana patients can have a supply of the plant. In 2011 the county took action to close all of the dispensaries in the unincorporated county due to notices of violation.
Addressing neighborhood impacts and crime
Community Development Director Rick Coel said the new draft cultivation ordinance seeks to address impacts on neighborhoods – including everything from nuisance odors to crime – as well as environmental concerns arising from unpermitted grading and fertilizer use, and the overall growth of commercial grows as people come to Lake County from around the country to grow marijuana.
He said he had input from a number of local and state agencies, and looked at numerous ordinances from around the state.
The Thursday hearing lasted just over six and a half hours. Altogether, planning commissioners heard from 35 community members – some of them speaking more than once – as well as Sheriff Frank Rivero, whose agency would be given the primary responsibility for enforcing the ordinance.
Ed Robey, a former county planning commissioner and retired supervisor who now chairs the Sierra Club Lake Group, agreed that the marijuana problem needed to be addressed. However, he said the Sierra Club makes sure local rules adhere to CEQA, and he didn't think the ordinance was legally defensible because it hasn't had an initial study.
If the county makes people grow indoors, “It's obvious there’s going to be environmental impacts,” said Robey, who added that he doesn't want the Sierra Club to sue the county over an easy-to-solve problem.
Tom Guthrie, co-leader of Lake County Neighbors Against Commercial Marijuana Growing, said grows don't belong in areas where seniors live and children play, recounting threats people have received and impacts on the economy.
Lower Lake attorney Ron Green, speaking on behalf of Emerald Unity Coalition, told the commission, “This proposal is total overkill,” adding that there was no input from stakeholders or members of the marijuana community.
He agreed that the large commercial growers are giving the little guys a bad name. “It's punishing everybody for the sins of the few.”
Janelle Schneider suggested the ordinance was too generous, but said it will at least give her fresh air and the ability to use her backyard once again. She recounted being chased by the neighbor grower's pit bulls and finding a man hanging over her fence in an attempt to get a neighbor's plants.
“Lake County cannot afford to keep pushing the good people out,” she said.
Kelseyville farmer Broc Zoller, who has seen big grows proliferate around his property, told the commission, “I wonder if we're really dealing with the real issues here.”
He was concerned that the ordinance would actually benefit large-scale growers. “This is not really solving the problem, it's just taking it out of someone's back yard and moving it into someone else's.”
Finley farmer Phil Murphy suggested that the genesis of the problem was the closure of the county's dispensaries. A lot of people don't want to be utterly surrounded by pot grows in residential neighborhood. “That's understandable,” he said.
Murphy said he's always felt that marijuana production should be on agricultural land, where people already are used to noise, dust and odor. Reopening dispensaries also would give people a legal alternative to get the drug.
He said the criminal element would only increase if the proposal goes forward, saying he saw a dozen points ripe for legal challenge.
Rivero told the commission that, philosophically, he believes marijuana should be legalized, taxed and regulated. However, that isn't the case currently. “We're here to deal with reality.”
He said a great deal of violence is involved in commercial marijuana production, with 14 home invasion robberies reported this year. “How many have gone unreported?”
Rivero said many people are coming to Lake County to make an enormous profit growing the drug, and are leaving trash and their problems behind for him and others to deal with later. He also suggested some of the testimony given by those who use the drug offered “noncredible” stories of its benefits, including that it cures cancer.
“I think it's been exaggerated, and I think the board needs to hear that from me directly,” he said.
He agreed with Murphy that dispensaries need to be part of the solution.
When people talk about leaving the county, they're serious, and Rivero said that hurts the tax base, which shouldn't be traded for the betterment of the businesses that make money by selling growers potting soil and other goods.
The spirit and intent of Proposition 215 has been hijacked by organized crime, with Rivero stating that criminals are hiding behind the proposition that was passed “because of the decency and the mercy of the people of this state.”
He said an interdiction program he is running now is working well, and his deputies are seizing caches of drugs and guns – including AR-15s, AK-47s, Uzis and Thompson submachine guns – in record numbers.
Rivero said he went back and forth with Coel on points in the ordinance – including asking Coel to reduce the maximum number of plants, which he did – and Rivero said he supports the document.
“In passing this you are not denying a dying cancer patient their medication,” he said. “You are not denying anyone their medication.”
Balancing many concerns
Commissioner Olga Martin Steele asked how the county could allow for the legal purposes of Proposition 215 in a way that that doesn’t violate public safety, property rights and the environment. “That's a big question that I think we have to grapple with.”
She recalled the dispensary ordinance that the commission worked on which didn’t go anywhere. “I think that is part of the solution.”
Commissioners also asked Coel about the CEQA issues Robey raised. Coel said he and his staff looked at numerous ordinances, with all of them using the same CEQA provisions that the draft ordinance employs. “The CEQA arguments I've heard are very weak.”
Chair Bob Malley asked Deputy County Counsel Shanda Harry if she agreed with Coel regarding CEQA.
Harry said in May the California Supreme Court decided in the case City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center Inc. that Proposition 215 did not divest counties or cities from their land use planning powers, which is “exactly what we're trying to do here.”
Since then, there have been legal challenges mounted to the CEQA provisions used in marijuana-related ordinances. Harry said she thinks it's a “fairly benign” issue that's still being worked out, but she agreed with Coel's assessment.
Steele asked what the commission could do to invoke a review of the dispensaries ordinance. Coel said he was glad she brought it up, and suggested they could make that suggestion to reintroduce the dispensaries ordinance. “I think it's a good idea.”
“I agree that folks need to be able to get whatever medicine is available to them. I don't think they should be allowed to impact neighborhoods in order to have that medicine,” said Malley.
There are people growing the plant who don't care that what they're doing is impacting people trying to get marijuana for medical needs. In those cases, he said, “It has nothing to do with medicine.”
When Proposition 215 was approved in 1996, the state should have stepped up and established regulations, but it didn't, Malley said. So, it's fallen to the counties. “That's what this is, a step to protect our citizens.”
He added, “I don't think that it belongs in residential areas, period.”
In assessing the testimony from the public, Steele suggested the ordinance – which had been posted online more than a week – perhaps should have been made available much longer. She said they didn't get specific recommendations about changes to the ordinance, only general ones.
While they did receive a lot of emotional testimony about the benefits of medical marijuana, “That really wasn't what we were here to do,” she said.
Coel noted that the public participation process still has more steps, with the planning commission the preliminary review authority. There is another month before it goes to the Board of Supervisors for a hearing.
Commissioner Joe Sullivan made both motions, which the commission approved.
Coel told Lake County News that the draft ordinance should go to the board sometime during the first half of December.
Email Elizabeth Larson at [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
111413 Lake County Planning Commission - Proposed ordinance regarding marijuana cultivation.pdf
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Lakeport Planning Commission recommends seeking voluntary compliance on temporary signage
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Planning Commission discussed the issue of temporary commercial signs on Wednesday evening, settling on a proposal to ask the city's businesses to come into voluntary compliance with the city's signage ordinance by this spring.
In a unanimous vote, the commission chose the second of five options presented by city planning staff in order to address a large number of temporary signs being used beyond the 30-day time limit.
The option the commission chose – in an effort to balance the needs of businesses with the need to enforce rules meant to maintain the city's aesthetics – was to send out a letter asking business owners to comply with city rules and to upgrade from temporary signs, such as banners, to permanent signs by May 1.
The letter that city Planning Services Manager Andrew Britton will send out also will include a suggestion that temporary signs should also be maintained in good condition – meaning they're legible, and not torn or frayed.
City Manager Margaret Silveira told the commission the city also can remind business owners about the rules when annual business license renewals take place, and can put a reminder in the newsletter sent out to utility customers with their bills.
“We will definitely do a major educational piece to everybody,” Silveira said.
Planning staff canvassed the entire city and found that 92 businesses are using some kind of temporary signage, whether banners, flags or the tall feather-shaped flags, according to Britton.
Of those, 76 are using temporary signs on a longterm basis, and 27 are using temporary signage in a permanent way, Britton said.
He acknowledged that enforcement of signage rules can be an emotional one for business owners, and he said the city is sensitive to the needs of local businesses.
Commissioner Harold Taylor asked if the city had received any complaints. Britton said no, although one sign at Safeway on 11th Street had fallen into the right-of-way.
Britton noted during the discussion that businesses choose to establish their presence in Lakeport for a variety of reasons, including economics and the community's attractiveness.
“I think that business owners have a responsibility to budget accordingly, to install a permanent sign that reflects their investment in the community,” and shows that they're not temporary, Britton said.
Chairman Ken Wicks Jr. asked Britton if, in the 20 years since the city established its signage ordinance, there had been a serious enforcement taking place at any level.
Britton said yes, noting that effort resulted in “a lot of finger pointing.”
The city, Britton explained, had attempted a blanket enforcement approach in order to be fair, and in return was accused of not being business-friendly. “We were trying to be comprehensive and consistent,” Britton said.
During the discussion it was suggested that it might be appropriate to extend the time period for the signs, but Britton noted that won't address the appearance of the signs or their proliferation. If every storefront had feather signs, “I think that would be detrimental to the appearance of our downtown area,” he said.
Wicks asked Britton for a ballpark estimate of how many businesses operate in the city compared to the 92 on the list that use temporary signs. Britton estimated those 92 businesses made up about 25 percent of the city's total businesses.
Lake County Chamber Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton told the commission that businesses want to be respectful of the community, and they don't want 1,000 feather flags around the city.
She said they want businesses to succeed, adding that the chamber had notified businesses of the meeting so they had the chance to come forward. About a dozen people were in the audience.
Marjorie Anderson of H&R Block said the company sends out banners at various times of the year.
She said leaving the same banners up all year leads to them eventually being ignored. At the same time, she said temporary signs do help businesses. She suggested someone from one of the local business organizations like the chamber could conduct outreach on the matter.
Rick Hamilton, vice president of the chamber and a professional sign contractor, told the commission, “This is a tough task, to make this decision.”
Hamilton makes a lot of banners, and in response to questions from Commissioner Suzanne Russell explained that a typical banner can hold up for about a year before it starts to look worn.
He said he charges about $100 for a typical 3-foot by 6-foot banner, whereas a permanent sign – which will begin to show wear after six to seven years – costs $500 to $600, with $150 of that covering installation.
Russell said it made financial sense to purchase a permanent sign.
Commissioner Ross Kauper suggested giving businesses six months to come into compliance, which would mean they wouldn't need to be concerned about the changes during the busy upcoming Christmas season.
Wicks said that the commission actually had two separate concerns – advertising signs, such as the feather flags, and banners in place of permanent signage.
Taylor said the option of starting with a request for voluntary compliance was best both for businesses and the city.
“It is good,” noted Wicks. “It's the voluntary part that is the sticking point.”
He added, “We don't want to force people out of business by hammering them over a sign.”
Wicks said some towns allow certain signage displays at specific times of the year, such as the summer season, with display flags then required to come down at Labor Day. Special signs also are allowed for the holidays.
Commissioners agreed that the May 1 deadline for compliance was appropriate, with Fulton noting that it would be a good time, since the Lakeport Main Street Association does a downtown cleanup at that time. She said the chamber also can send out information to members in its e-newsletter.
Taylor moved to direct staff to forward the voluntary compliance letter option to the Lakeport City Council, which Russell seconded. The motion was approved 5-0.
In other action Wednesday night, commissioners voted unanimously to recommend to the Lakeport City Council that the proposed abandonment of a portion of unimproved Ninth Street right-of-way between Pool and Spurr streets – requested by property owners Gary and Jane Leonard – and the city's requested abandonment of the entire unimproved Harlie Street right-of-way do not conflict with the Lakeport General Plan.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Clearlake City Council to discuss proposed Lakeshore Drive commercial and design guidelines
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council on Thursday will consider a proposed ordinance that would put in place new guidelines for allowed commercial uses along the Lakeshore Drive corridor.
The council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive, for a closed session to discuss a liability claim filed against the city by William Orr and Michael Johnson before convening in open session at 6 p.m.
This summer the council instituted a temporary moratorium on construction projects and major remodels on Lakeshore Drive between Old Highway 53 and Olympic Drive while city staff worked out the guidelines.
The Clearlake Planning Commission, which has worked on the proposals forwarded by staff, voted at its Nov. 5 meeting to recommend the new rules to the council, as Lake County News has reported.
Based on that recommendation, the council will consider the first reading of an ordinance that addresses permitted and conditional uses for the zone districts on the Lakeshore Drive corridor; incorporates other guidelines relating to streetscaping, signage, color and other design components; and further defines what constitutes a drive-through service, portable sidewalk vendors and drinking establishments.
If approved, the ordinance is expected to come back at the council's Dec. 12 meeting.
In other council business for Thursday, the “Today in America” segment showcasing Clearlake will be presented.
Items on the consent agenda – considered to be noncontroversial and accepted as a slate with one vote – include warrant registers; a resolution approving a temporary street closure for the annual Christmas parade and tree lightning; receipt of the League of California Cities final report on resolutions of September 2013; and receipt of the proposed city hall holiday schedule.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
111413 Clearlake City Council - Lakeshore Drive design guidelines ordinance
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Supervisors appoint new treasurer-tax collector
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Eight months after the county's elected treasurer-tax collector stepped down to take an out-of-county job, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday appointed a longtime staffer to fulfill the remainder of the term.
Barbara Ringen, who has been with the county more than two decades and currently serves as chief deputy treasurer-tax collector, received the board's appointment during a brief Tuesday morning discussion.
The need for the appointment arose in March when Sandra Shaul left to take a job with the Marin County Department of Finance, as Lake County News has reported.
Shaul left effective March 10, with the board appointing Kay Lytton, the county's retired treasurer-tax collector, to fill in temporarily beginning March 11.
On May 21 the board considered candidates to serve the remainder of the term, which expires at the end of 2014. In addition to Ringen, they interviewed Sorhna Jordan, Lenord Swope and Allison Hill for the position, continuing the discussing at the June 4 meeting.
During June and July the matter was rescheduled several times and then put it off to a future date while Lytton continued to run the office.
Lytton told the board during its September budget hearing that the department was understaffed, with employees “stretched to the limit.” They were filling the gaps with extra help employees.
On Tuesday Lytton appeared before the board along with Ringen and County Clerk/Auditor-Controller Cathy Saderlund.
County Administrative Officer Matt Perry said Lytton's hours that she's allowed to work under the terms of her retirement are due to expire mid-December. She's reduced her weekly hours in order to extend the time she's available.
Perry said that since the board had last discussed the matter during the summer he had taken action at the board's direction, including speaking to Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office staff.
He said he had confidential discussions with those employees and, as a result, spoke to Ringen about her management practices. Perry said Ringen was anxious and willing to look at ways to improve her management skills.
“I might add that I think everyone has management areas that they can improve upon,” said Perry.
Ringen already has enrolled in an online course offered by the California State Association of Counties, according to Perry.
He said he's also talked to Saderlund to ask if she can offer management assistance and mentoring, and she has agreed.
Perry credited Saderlund – who was appointed by the board in October 2011 to fulfill the unexpired term of Pam Cochrane – with doing a tremendous job of improving her staff's professional skills.
Perry said of Saderlund, “I think she has some experience and some suggestions that could help Barbara in the Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office.”
The board supported putting Ringen in the job.
“I think we know Barbara, we know she's been a valuable employee for many, many years and very loyal to us, and she's been doing the job, essentially,” said Supervisor Rob Brown.
He said she's committed to pursuing the classes, which Ringen confirmed she's already started.
Brown moved to appoint Ringen to fulfill the remainder of the term, receiving a second from Supervisor Jim Comstock.
The board approved the motion unanimously.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
