LAKEPORT, Calif. – If everything goes according to plan, Lakeport will have a new courthouse in around four years.
The project is still early in the process, but already a lot of community input has been involved, and more is ahead.
The current courthouse in Lakeport was completed in 1968. The fourth floor of the building is dedicated to court activities, with court officials reporting that it has 15,332 square feet of floor space.
The new building, the preferred location for which is 675 Lakeport Blvd., is slated to be just under 51,000 square feet, with on site parking and the ability to locate not just the courts but also file storage and a self-help center all at one site, the Administrative Office of the Courts reported.
State officials held a Wednesday meeting in Lakeport on the project's draft initial study and mitigated negative declaration, as Lake County News has reported.
Judge Richard Martin, the presiding judge of the Lake County Superior Court, is among the local court officials taking part in the planning process.
Martin also is taking on an ambassadorial role in reaching out to community groups to explain the process and the goals involved in building the new facility.
He said the ultimate goal is to create a courthouse that is more functional, and better serves the community, rather than the cramped facilities on the Lake County Courthouse's fourth floor.
“We're looking to build one that's going to last for the next 50 years,” he said.
The planning for the $71.7 million project has been under way for about two years.
In July 2008 the Administrative Office of the Courts, at the direction of the Judicial Council of California, submitted 18 trial court funding projects to the state's Department of Finance, as Lake County News has reported.
Lake County was among eight facilities given priority funding to move forward because of overcrowded conditions and a lack of basic security features that the state found caused “unnecessary risk to the staff and public who use this building.”
The state rated the Lakeport courthouse facility as a 69 on a courthouse safety scale, with 0 being best and 80 being worst, which caused the project to go on an “immediate need” list.
A project advisory group was formed to assist with making recommendations on the courthouse location, officials said Wednesday.
The group most recently included Martin, along with Mark Brannigan, utilities director for the city of Lakeport; local businessman Bill Brunetti; Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira; County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox; Lake County Public Services Director Kim Clymire; District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington; Lake County Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton; District Attorney Jon Hopkins; Lakeport Community Development and Redevelopment Director Richard Knoll; Chris Macedo, chief bailiff of the Lake County Sheriff's Office; Sheriff Rod Mitchell; Anne Ording, project manager, Administrative Office of the Courts; and Mary E. Smith, court executive officer.
Smith said the group begin meeting on an as-needed basis in 2008 after the courthouse project was approved.
The Administrative Office of the Courts has a rule that a project advisory committee is a necessary element of the comprehensive site selection process, said Smith.
While the state ultimately is the decision maker, “I think we want this to be something the community likes and the community is happy with,” Smith said.
She added that the state relies on the committee to help guide the process.
Knoll explained, “In the beginning there were many, many sites being looked at.”
A Santa Rosa real estate firm contacted property owners to find out who was, and wasn't, willing to sell sites. The city of Lakeport turned down a request for information about the Dutch Harbor site on Main Street last November.
Beginning with dozens of locations, the group assisted with reviewing the options and whittling them down to three – the Vista Point Shopping Center on Lakeport Boulevard, a location on Martin Street and the 675 Lakeport Blvd. Spot, said Knoll.
Smith said the group gave the sites numerical ratings based on a state selection criteria.
Once 675 Lakeport Blvd. was selected as the preferred site, the project's architects – TLCD Architecture and Shepley Bulfinch – completed a preliminary site analysis with two options for orienting the building on the site, Knoll said.
The first option placed the building on the north side of the property, facing Lakeport Boulevard, he said. The second option had the building facing east toward Mt. Konocti. Both analyses had parking on a flat portion of the land.
Smith said those orientation options – called “test fits” – were a way of determining if the building would fit on the property.
“We at least know from the test fit process that there are a couple of options that are going to work,” she said, adding that they were not actual preliminary designs.
Beyond that, Knoll said they've seen no building design, which Laura Sainz of the Administrative Office of the Court said Wednesday will come after the land is purchased and the architects start the formal plans.
Seeking a mix between classic form, modern function
About two months ago Martin and fellow judges Andrew Blum and David Herrick took a tour of several new courthouses around Northern California. Martin said they saw design aspects they liked, including waiting areas and service counters.
Right now Martin said a programming process is going in on which judges, court staff and other courthouse users are being interviewed to get ideas about what the facility should offer.
“It will be much more functional,” he said.
Martin said he wants to see a mixture of modern functionality with a design that reflects Lakeport's character, and he's urged the architects to look at the Victorians and other historic buildings for which the city is known.
The kinds of amenities the building will have – including its energy saving measures – are still yet to be determined, said Mark Adams, associate principal with TLCD Architecture of Santa Rosa, who was in Lakeport Wednesday for the meeting on the project's draft environmental documents.
He said a primary design goal will be creating a building that is energy efficient and sustainable. Solar power will be considered but Adams said it isn't a guarantee solar will be used.
“It doesn't always make sense,” he said, explaining that many variables have to be considered.
He said they'll also look at passive design, which is a way of orienting a building in a location to best take advantage of sunlight and weather conditions.
“The whole energy issue is a really important one,” he said.
Adams added that finding the right energy solutions is a balancing act. “It's never one answer.”
TLCD Architecture has done a number of civic and education projects around the region and also is charged with doing an initial design of another county project, Mendocino College's new Lake Center in Lakeport.
The firm is partnering with the Boston-based Shepley Bulfinch, which has projects across the nation, including a number of buildings at leading education institutions – including Georgetown and Stanford universities – as well as having been part of the 1987 South Quadrangle Project for the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.
While there are big changes ahead for court facilities in Lakeport, the south county courthouse in Clearlake will remain at its location on Dam Road Extension, said Martin, who noted the area and its residents needed a courthouse facility.
“It's only fair,” he said.
There are plans to possibly build a second courtroom and expand the area for the court clerk if the Lake County Sheriff's Office moves its substation from the south county courthouse building, Martin said.
Smith said the local committee is waiting for the state to finish the California Environment Quality Act process on the Lakeport project. That includes finalizing the draft initial study and mitigated negative declaration.
She said she believes the committee will be involved in the architectural design process that will begin after the land is purchased early next year.
“Once land is purchased we start moving into design” and the committee will be back at the table, Smith said.
Meantime, Martin is doing his own outreach on the project, and taking a PowerPoint presentation to community groups.
He said he's happy to take the presentation to groups that wish to hear it, and invites calls to the court clerk at 707-263-2232 to schedule a time.
Public comments are being taken on the courthouse project's draft initial study and mitigated negative declaration until 5 p.m. Sept. 22. Download the document at http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/occm/projects_lake_lakeport.htm, where other information about the project also can be found.
Comments on the environmental documents should be submitted to Laura Sainz, Administrative Office of the Courts Office of Court Construction and Management, 2860 Gateway Oaks, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA 95833, telephone 916-263-7992. Sainz said e-mail is the preferred method of receipt; send e-mailed comments to
Below is a list of frequently asked questions the court prepared on the project, which can be downloaded in a flier format from the Lake County Superior Court's Web site, http://www.lake.courts.ca.gov/.
Frequently asked questions about the new Lakeport courthouse project
How is the new courthouse funded?
The courthouse will be funded without impact to the state’s General Fund. The funds will come from statewide increases in court user fees, authorized by Senate Bill 1407, which passed in 2008. This bill approved the issuance of up to $5 billion in lease revenue bonds to fund this project and 40 others throughout the state, to be repaid by court fees, penalties and assessments.
Why is the county spending money on a new courthouse when there are so many other local needs?
The project is funded and managed by the state and not the County. The courts are a separate branch of government, now independent of the County administrative structure. We share the same building, the County collects court-imposed fees and fines, and we work together in many areas, but we are separate branches of government.
Why do we need a new courthouse?
The court occupies the fourth floor of the existing Lakeport Courthouse, which poorly serves the growing needs of the Superior Court. The current courthouse is severely overcrowded, lacks sufficient parking, and lacks adequate security features, causing unnecessary risk to the staff and public who use the building.
Additionally, as anyone who has been summoned for jury duty is very aware, there is no place to wait prior to being sent into a courtroom for the formal jury selection process. The new courthouse will have a jury assembly room with ample seating, vending, and restroom facilities.
What will happen to the current courthouse when the new courthouse is complete?
The court will vacate the fourth floor, but County offices will remain in the existing courthouse building in downtown Lakeport. County departments will eventually be able to utilize the vacated space on the fourth floor to help address the county’s space needs.
How will this project help our local economy?
These projects provide valuable economic stimulus in local communities – the Lakeport project is estimated to create more than 1,700 direct and indirect jobs as it progresses through design, construction and completion. The construction manager for the project will perform local outreach to ensure that qualified local subcontractors and suppliers have the opportunity to bid on construction work when that phase nears. Construction is scheduled for fall of 2012 through the summer of 2014.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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