LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday evening approved a proposal to pay off early a promissory note on a property purchased near Westside Community Park several years ago.
The city general fund will front the money for the early payoff to Charles Witt, who sold the city the five-acre property with a modular home in 2007, according to City Attorney Steve Brookes' report to the council.
Assuming a March 1 payoff date, the principal sum on the note would be $73,866.44, Brookes reported.
The note, which is due in June 2014, is being paid off at a rate of $1,291 per month, with interest at 4.5 percent. Brookes said the purchase agreement called for the city to lease back to Witt the property for $750 a month via a deduction of that rental cost from the promissory note's principal balance.
Brookes said there would be significant cleanup required to remove items that had been left on the property. He said the modular could be used for a rental, and a shed could be used for storing supplies.
Witt – who previously has gone to the council to ask for advance payments on the loan, as he did last summer – said he no longer lives on the property, having moved into a more central Lakeport location due to his health.
“I have no use for the property,” he said.
He asked the council to at least give him $8,000 to pay off some bills.
Mayor Tom Engstrom told Witt that the council was considering the total payoff, which Witt said would be fine with him.
The council unanimously approved making the early payment to Witt, who said the property could be fully turned over to the city within 30 days.
In other business Tuesday, the council held two public hearings, the first to consider the appeal of Marci Psalmonds, whose use permit for a daycare operation on 11th Street had been revoked by the Lakeport Planning Commission due to lack of upkeep on a shared driveway, which was a permit condition.
However, with Psalmonds having recently completed significant upgrades to the driveway, Planning Services Manager Andrew Britton said staff proposed that the council grant Psalmonds' appeal based on the improvements so far, as well as the condition that Psalmonds comply with the project's terms in the future. The council approved the appeal 5-0.
In the second public hearing, which had no community input, the council unanimously approved a first reading of a proposed ordinance to change city regulations related to constructing secondary accessory
dwelling units in the city’s residential zoning districts.
Britton's report to the council noted that the Lakeport General Plan discusses the importance of second units as a means of affordable housing.
The units would be allowed in R-1 Low Density Residential, R-2 Medium Density Residential and UR Urban Reserve zoning districts, with minimum parcel size for a second unit reduced from 9,000 square feet to 7,500 square feet, he reported.
On parcels under 7,500 square feet, a second unit can be approved if the Lakeport Planning Commission grants a use permit and other requirements in the ordinance are met, Britton's report explained.
Mayor Pro Tem Stacey Mattina asked how often people approach the city about building such units. Britton said about twice a year.
Reducing the minimum parcel size would make an additional 200 parcels in the city eligible for such units, Britton's report noted.
As part of its initial approval, the council also set the second and final reading of the ordinance for Feb. 19.
Also on Tuesday, the council approved a proposal to name the playing fields in the second phase of Westside Community Park for the late Jane Barnes, a longtime youth and community leader whose family has donated about $90,000 to the park.
Engstrom also appointed council members to a number of city boards and commissions; the council voted to appoint George Spurr as the city's representative to the Lake County Vector Control District Board, succeeding longtime board member Mel Gatton, who died last year; John Norcio was appointed to the city of Lakeport Business and Housing Loan Committee; several new members were approved for the Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee; and the council gave city staff approval to contract with the county elections office for work on an anticipated city initiative.
The council also heard a report on Lakeport Police volunteers and presented a certificate of appreciation to the Lakeport Rotary Club for its efforts in renovating the gazebo in Library Park.
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