City Administrator Dale Neiman had submitted to the council a document that went from 33 pages down to 12, but former District 1 Supervisor Ed Robey and Lower Lake attorney Ron Green, who both spoke at the meeting, had concerns over language and possible difficulties the changes might have for businesses in the future.
Key points were Neiman's removal of a paragraph titled regarding “uses not otherwise provided for,” and Robey's and Green's concern that the proposed draft had no proposed language for a time period in which the city's planning director would have to make a decision on a project.
Neiman said staff could make judgments on similar uses as they do now when considering applications, which he said they do on a daily basis.
He said because the city only has one planner, it can take time to process applications, and putting a 45-day or 60-day time limit, as Green and Robey proposed, wouldn't work.
“What the issue really is is the words,” said Robey, explaining that, in five years when none of the people currently involved in the issue are there, people will have to figure out what it means.
Robey said that it's clear that if the planning commission just sits on a project but doesn't make a decision then an appeal is automatically denied, “and that's not right.”
He said Bill Perkins, a planning commissioner, spotted the confusing language. “All I'm saying is, let's make it clear.”
Robey also asked the council to keep the old language on “uses not otherwise provided for,” even though Neiman felt it wasn't needed.
During the discussion, Robey noted, “I just want to make sure that the language is understandable by anybody,” and that the process is fair.
He suggested the city take its time and come up with clear language.
Green suggested some of the wording changes were going to create more problems.
Then he mentioned Liz Byrd, owner of Lakeside Herbal Solutions, and a client of Green, who has filed an appeal with the city over issues with her medical marijuana dispensary. Last year, the city denied her business license renewal.
“Ed didn't want me mentioning this but I feel that I really have to,” Green said of Byrd's case, a final decision for which still hasn't been made.
Green accused Neiman of wanting to change some of the planning procedures because of Byrd's case, which he said Neiman has delayed for five months.
Green said that last Sept. 28 he wrote Neiman a letter stating he was representing Byrd and asking questions about the case, which he said had been appealed based on a determination that a medical marijuana dispensary wasn't covered. On Sept. 30 Neiman suggested removing a similar use provision from the zoning ordinance.
“That makes me suspicious,” said Green.
Neiman responded, “The appeal is based on the laws in effect at the time,” and said that Byrd wouldn't be impacted by these proposed changes in the ordinance.
Green also wanted a sentence adding to the zoning ordinance stating that changes wouldn't apply to any appeal filed prior to adoption of the changes. Neiman said they would just have to come back later and remove that section.
Community member Jack Troyer wanted to speak to Byrd's case during public comment but Mayor Judy Thein told him they were not talking about Byrd's business but the zoning ordinance changes.
Troyer said the zoning should not have to change over Byrd's establishment. “This is not about Liz Byrd's business,” Thein repeated.
He replied that changing the ordinance would put certain places out of business, and he suggested the council knew that.
“You need to take a step back and think about the people once in a while,” said Troyer, adding that the council needed to make a decision on the community's behalf.
Vice Mayor Joyce Overton said she didn't want to make a decision that night. “I just need more time,” she said.
Councilman Chuck Leonard said Robey presented good points, but criticized Green for trying to argue Byrd's case in the midst of the discussion.
“It shows he has a very narrow vision in this thing,” he said.
Leonard and Councilman Roy Simons also said they wanted more time, and the council agreed by consensus to bring it back at a future meeting.
In other news the council awarded a $311,000 bid for phase two of the city's collector street improvement project.
Council members also approved a state Boating and Waterways grant application for phase three of the city's Redbud Park improvements, estimated to cost nearly $1.2 million.
The grant would fund removal and replacement of two docks, extend three docks to the same length, grind and rebuild part of the existing parking area, install new lighting on the docks, piers and boat ramps, dredge the harbor, add curbs, gutters and sidewalks, and install parking lot lighting and an irrigation pump.
At staff's suggestion, the council approved a public nuisance loan program that would be a way to assist property owners with cleaning up their parcels. In turn, the property would secure the loans.
The council also received an informational report on the election procedures for amending the redevelopment plan.
Neiman said a legal opinion from the city's attorney, Malathy Subramanian, concluded that the issue does not need to go before voters but can be done at the city government level, which was Neiman's conclusion in a 2008 report to the council.
During Neiman's report to the council, he stated that an application has come in to the city from Grocery Outlet and the Dollar Tree to open in the former Rite Aid site at the Burns Valley Mall on Olympic Drive.
He said he's also been in discussions with two individuals on affordable housing projects, one for seniors and one involving an existing facility.
The council agreed to cancel its March 25 meeting, as Neiman will be on vacation that week.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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