LAKEPORT, Calif. – The proposed purchase of the historic Lucerne Hotel will be the topic of a Tuesday morning public hearing before the Board of Supervisors.
The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21, in the Board of Supervisors chambers at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport. TV8 will broadcast the meeting live.
At 9:45 a.m. the board will hold the public hearing on the purchase of the Lucerne Hotel – known as “The Castle” – located at 3700 Country Club Drive, 6607 and 6607-B 14th Ave.
The county is proposing to purchase the 75,000-square-foot building and the nearly seven acres it sits on for $1.35 million from Castlepoint Ministries.
The board unanimously approved entering into an option to purchase agreement – which is up on Sept. 30 – at its Aug. 10 meeting, as Lake County News has reported. On Aug. 26, the Lake County Planning Commission found the proposed purchase was in conformance with the 2008 Lake County General Plan.
County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox is proposing that the county general fund loan the Lake County Redevelopment Agency the funds for the purchase, which he said would create a good interest-bearing investment for the county.
Cox's report to the board for the Tuesday meeting explains that pest reports, a phase one environmental assessment and a review of maintenance issues for the more than 80-year-old building have found the need for about $367,000 in repairs, roofing and painting, which he said can be covered by redevelopment.
Other issues would need to be addressed before the building could be placed in full operation, among them, heating and air conditioning and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, he said.
“It is obvious that the acquisition of this property by the redevelopment agency would require a substantial commitment of the agency's future revenues, above and beyond the initial acquisition costs,” Cox wrote.
He suggested that commitment could be decreased significantly if the agency actively markets the property or partners with a private developer or another public entity. “This will largely depend upon what the board’s long-term desires are for this property and whether or not you wish for it to remain in public ownership indefinitely or if you wish to return it to private ownership.”
Cox reported that the county already has been contacted by a private developer who has expressed interest in partnering with the agency on the project.
He said the redevelopment agency staff would like to see the facility become an operating hotel, restaurant and conference center with a strong educational component – the vision shared with the board at the Aug. 10 meeting. Cox said such an operation would create new jobs and economic stimulus for the Northshore town, as well as vocational education opportunities.
The county staff prefers the building be operated under private ownership. “If this is also your desired outcome, out of an abundance of caution the board should enter into this acquisition with an assumption that it will take a minimum of five years before the agency would be able to find a new owner and that in the meantime a significant amount of the agency’s financial resources will need to be invested in this property in order to make it more marketable to private investors,” he wrote.
He said it would likely take at least two to three years before a restaurant or rental of hotel rooms could begin operation, although conferences could probably be conducted within the building’s existing meeting and conference rooms earlier if it's the board's desire to open a portion of the facility for conferences or special events prior to completion of renovations.
The county is looking at educational partnership opportunities with community colleges and also is anticipating reaching out to California State University, Chico, and Sacramento, and University of California, Davis, Cox reported.
The purchase is a major commitment, Cox said.
However, he added, as the board discussed at its Aug. 10 meeting, “we believe this property is a key to future economic development and blight elimination in the community of Lucerne. It could also be key to the entire Northshore area and beyond if it is utilized to its fullest potential and attracts out-of-county visitors. If the redevelopment agency has any chance of success in achieving its goal to make 13th Avenue the new commercial center of Lucerne, the Castle cannot continue to exist in its present deteriorating and blighted condition.”
He said the building should not be allowed to be converted “to a use that would be incompatible with or contrary to the agency’s goals of promoting business and commerce in this area.”
At the least, purchasing the property would enable the agency to establish a regional conference center, which has been one of the agency’s long-term goals, Cox said.
In other board news, at 10:30 a.m. the board will once again take up the matter of U Wanna Camp's notice of violation, which was discussed last week and continued so owner Teresa Thurman could provide additional information, as Lake County News has reported. The campground is located at 2699 Scotts Creek Road in Lakeport. The county cited the campground for allowing long-term occupancy of RV spaces on a site with an expired use permit.
At 1:30 p.m. supervisors will discuss ongoing algae and weed abatement efforts for Clear Lake and what kinds of program and departmental options they have.
That will lead to a 2 p.m. discussion regarding the creation of a lake steering committee to explore revenue options, both current and future, in order to provide long-term ongoing funding to combat lake algae and aquatic weeds, and to bring recommendations to the board for its consideration. They'll also consider who to appoint to the committee.
The board also will hold a closed session to discuss labor negotiations and an existing case of litigation, Robey v. Scott, et al.
Other items on the agenda include the following.
Timed items
9 a.m.: Approval of consent agenda, which includes items that are expected to be routine and noncontroversial, and will be acted upon by the board at one time without discussion; presentation of animals available for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control; consideration of items not appearing on the posted agenda.
9:05 a.m.: Citizen's input. Any person may speak for three minutes about any subject of concern,
provided that it is within the jurisdiction of the Board of Supervisors and is not already on the agenda. Prior to this time, speakers must fill out a slip giving name, address and subject (available in the Clerk of the Board’s Office, first floor, courthouse).
9:15 a.m.: Public hearing – discussion/consideration of proposed resolution adopting rules and regulations for in-use agricultural compression ignition engines (adopting District Rule 470
modifications and directing staff to submit Rule Adoption Package to the California Air Resources Board and Environmental Protection Agency for SIP approval and inclusion).
10:15 a.m.: Hearing, abatement assessment confirmation and proposed recordation of notice of lien in the amount of $2,042.76 – 16350 Second St., Lower Lake (APN 024-282-020 - Daniel Darnell).
10:20 a.m.: Presentation of the annual Library Advisory Board Report.
11:30 a.m. Assessment appeal hearing: Masoud Shahedi Mehr - Application No. 64-2009 - 13685 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake, CA - APN 037-361-260-000.
Nontimed items
– Supervisors’ weekly calendar, travel and reports.
– Consideration of applications for appointment to the In Home Support Services (IHSS) Advisory Committee.
– Consideration of proposed Agreement between the county of Lake and the California Association of Realtors – Lake Realty, for rental property located at 14954 Burns Valley, in the amount of $950 per
month (with a one-time security deposit of $1900) for a mental health facility.
– Update on emergency action taken on March 2, 2010, regarding the Southeast Regional Wastewater Collection System - Interim Collection System improvements.
Consent agenda
– Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meeting held on Sept. 14, 2010.
– Approve agreement between the county of Lake and the Lake County Chamber of Commerce for marketing, economic development and visitor information services, in the amount of $65,000, and
authorize the chair to sign.
– Adopt Resolution No. _____ approving the application for grant funds from the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal-EMA) for the Lake County Underserved Victim Advocacy and Outreach Program.
– Adopt Resolution No. _____ approving the application for grant funds from the State of California Parks and Recreation Recreational Trails Program for trails development for Mt. Konocti and Rodman Slough County Parks.
– Adopt Resolution No. _____ amending Resolution No. 2010-165 establishing position allocations for Fiscal Year 2010-2011, Budget Unit No. 8695, Special Districts Administration.
– Adopt Resolution No. _____ authorizing the chairman of the Board to approve and direct the Tax Collector to sell, by an agreement, tax defaulted property which is subject to the power of sale in accordance with Chapter 8 of Part 6 Division 1, of the California Revenue and Taxation Code.
– Approve revision to Redevelopment Agency’s Facade Improvement Program Guidelines.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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