The Lake County Planning Commission meeting will begin at 9 a.m. this Thursday, July 22, in the Board of Supervisors chambers at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
At 9:15 a.m. the commission will hold a public hearing to consider a mitigated negative declaration for a rezone and general plan of development for a 30-unit subdivision on 105 acres at 10929 Point Lakeview Road, Kelseyville.
Plum Flat LLC is proposing to rezone the land from rural residential – the zoning the land received in the Rivieras Area Plan, which was approved three years ago – to planned development residential, and divide the acreage up into the 30 lots.
Scott Bennett, owner and principal of the Lakeport-based firm Bennett Engineering, along with local architect Vincent Price and a silent Bay Area partner make up Plum Flat LLC, Bennett said Tuesday.
Bennett said they've owned the land for several years and have been taking their time on the plan, working with county officials and the Riviera Advisory Committee and waiting for the economy to improve.
“We want it done correctly,” he said.
The project went before the commission in May of 2008, at which time it was being proposed for 105 residential lots, according to commission minutes. However, after about two hours of discussion and public comment, Bennett asked for a continuation and a list of commission concerns so he could address them.
He and his partners went back to the county and asked how many lots would be approved with only one access road, and the county told them they could have 30 lots.
Bennett said the access road they've secured would use an easement crossing a neighbor's property – acquired for a “pretty healthy fee” – that would travel through a walnut orchard and onto Point Lakeview Road.
The project is in a very early stage, according to Bennett, so they don't yet have a design theme or specifics on the lot sizes, although he suggested the lots likely will range in size between one and five acres.
“This is step one,” he said.
The goal is for a medium-density residential area, on a property that Bennett said is good for homes because it is virtually free of any earthquake faults.
“This is really one of the last pieces in the Riviera that's really developable,” said Bennett, noting that biological surveys have shown no sensitive plants in the area, and an archaeological survey also has been completed.
He said the county also asked the partners to investigate visibility on the encroachment on Point Lakeview Road.
Bennett said some of the plans for the subdivision – which he suggested will have a feel similar to the upscale Buckingham neighborhood at the base of the Black Forest – include bike and hiking trails, a wide roadway with no on street parking, an on site aerobic treatment septic system and an independent water system, and possibly a small park in the middle of the property.
The only concerns they've heard so far from neighbors, according to Bennett, relate to using Bel Air Drive East as an access road, which would only be done if higher project densities were pursued. Even then, he said, it would be used for emergency access only.
As for whether higher densities may be pursued, Bennett said, “not right now.”
So far, the commission has received several protest letters on the project from neighbors in the nearby homeowners association.
Bel Air Drive East residents Hildegard and Peter Krause and Gisela and Erich Ellerbrock stated in a letter to the commission that the plan, as proposed, “is not acceptable.”
They reported that when they purchased their Clear Lake Riviera properties in 1991, they were told that the Bel Air Drive East area was a green belt and wasn't available for new building developments, information which they said influenced their decision to buy.
They stated that their primary concerns included fire hazards, traffic impacts and safety for children and pets, noise and the unnecessary increase of suburban sprawl contrary to widely identified community concerns promoting smart growth and sustainable development.
Another Bel Air Drive East resident, Debi Freeland, said in a letter to the commission that she's a resident of “one of the more quiet neighborhoods” in the Clear Lake Riviera, and she's concerned about the area of Bel Air West and East turning into a thoroughfare for Plum Flat.
Citing concerns similar to those of the Krauses and Ellerbrocks, Freeland also suggested that the project isn't consistent with the general plan, the Rivieras Area Plan, the Lake County 2030 Blueprint and Area Planning Council preferred growth scenarios, which promote smart growth within existing community boundaries.
The Sierra Club Lake Group also has submitted several letters to Emily Minton, the project's planner, regarding the group's concerns over the subdivision.
The letters, written by Victoria Brandon, stretch back several years, and point to nonconforming densities, concerns about on site sewage disposal, lack of wildlife corridor in relation to the open space and destruction of oak woodland.
In the most recent letter from the group, dated this past June 16, Brandon also raises issues of open space, agricultural buffers, infrastructure, piecemealing – she points out that the developer wants the option of adding up to 74 additional lots – and the need for an environmental impact report.
In that same letter Brandon said the group recommended that the project not be considered until secondary access arrangements are complete, and that the application should include a map of the entire subdivision.
Other items on the Thursday Planning Commission agenda include the following:
9:05 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of a mitigated negative declaration based on initial study for major use permit for Michael Mims' proposal to establish a small winery and a tasting room, approval of a free standing outdoor advertising sign adjacent to Highway 20, and approval to hold up to three winery-related events per year, in addition to participating in countywide wine tasting events. The project is located at 737 and 755 E. Highway 20, Upper Lake.
10 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of an administrative appeal of Barry Shaffer regarding the zoning administrator’s approval of a minor use permit based on initial study for Eric Olof to allow a small winery and tasting room at 5615 Highland Springs Road.
11 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of a previously approved mitigated negative declaration based on initial study for a major use permit. The project applicant is Lakeport Outlaw Karting proposing a motor sport go-cart race track. This hearing is to review the compliance with permit conditions and
to consider minor modifications to the permit conditions. The project is located at 2598 S. Main St., Lakeport.
Documents for the plans can be reviewed at the Community Development Department at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport. The department also can be reached by phone at 707-263-2221.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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