CLEARLAKE, Calif. – At the end of a Thursday evening closed session, the Clearlake City Council announced that it had approved a settlement agreement with the Sierra Club Lake Group.

Last year the Sierra Club Lake Group sued the Clearlake Redevelopment Agency and KK Raphel Properties LLC over a plan to develop a regional shopping center at the now-closed Pearce Field airport property on Highway 53, as Lake County News has reported.

The lawsuit effectively stopped the project, which the Sierra Club had argued should have had an environmental impact report rather than a mitigated negative declaration.

When the council – minus Council member Judy Thein, who was absent – emerged from closed session Thursday, Mayor Joyce Overton announced the council had agreed to the settlement.

Some of the major points of the agreement, according to Overton, include the council rescinding the project's mitigated negative declaration and the disposition and development agreement with KK Raphel Properties; proceeding with a purchase and sales agreement between the redevelopment agency and KK Raphel Properties; agreeing to proceed with an environmental impact report; and paying just under $16,000 in attorney's fees to the Sierra Club Lake Group.

Overton also announced that the council had appointed interim City Administrator Steve Albright as the interim redevelopment agency executive director effective June 13 and lasting through Dec. 31.

During Albright's report later in the meeting, he explained that there are still a number of things the council will need to do to finalize the settlement agreement with the Sierra Club Lake Group.

“The council will have to act to actually carry out the settlement in an open session,” which Albright said he will schedule for the May 26 meeting.

The sale and purchase agreement with KK Raphel Properties will be scheduled for the May 26 meeting or for sometime in early June, said Albright, noting a property appraisal will need to be completed.

He said he'll begin writing a request for proposals for the environmental impact report, which also will require a notice of preparation.

Albright said he was “pretty confident” that an environmental impact report could be started by the end of summer.

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