LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Planning Commission this week will consider a proposal by Lake County Vector Control to construct a new building as part of ongoing improvements to its Todd Road property.
The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, July 23, in the Board of Supervisors' chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The Vector Control project is timed for 9:05 a.m.
The commission will hold a hearing to consider the agency's use permit application and a mitigated negative declaration based on an initial study for the construction of a new 6,615-square-foot metal building to store vehicles, equipment and mosquito control products, and to house a fabrication and maintenance shop at its property at 610 Todd Road in Lakeport.
The property is zoned “SR-SC” – which means Suburban Reserve-Scenic – and is a legal nonconforming use based on Vector Control's continuous use of the property since 1962, according to Lake County Assistant Planner Mark Roberts.
Planning staff is recommending that the commission approve the mitigated negative declaration and the use permit application.
Vector Control District Manager and Research Director Jamie Scott said the plans for the Todd Road property have been in the works for several years.
She said the district has owned the 2.5-acre property since 1962. “The district purchased this to do Clear Lake gnat research,” she said.
That research no longer takes place there. Instead, the district in recent years redeveloped two ponds on the property to make them more suitable for raising mosquitofish, which it distributes to area residents to keep mosquitoes out of water features.
Previously, the ponds had been too steep. Now, they're easier for Vector Control staff to use, she said. A third pond that also was updated is used for water control.
The property no longer stores barges, which were donated to the county. Scott said the district's pesticide storage facility is located there.
The upgrades to the ponds were the first part of the Todd Road project; the second part is to replace an older building that was demolished. That's the project currently going to the commission, Scott said.
The upgrades will include the metal building and a new pesticide storage facility that will be big enough for a forklift to be driven into it, making the moving of pesticides easier and safer for employees, Scott said.
Scott said the Todd Road project is separate from the request Vector Control had taken to the city of Lakeport to make improvements at its administrative headquarters on Esplanade Street.
That project request by the district had followed one of the Vector Control Board's frequent reviews of its capital improvement plan, Scott said.
In January, the Lakeport Planning Commission recommended the Lakeport City Council approve general plan and rezoning changes sought by the district for its main location at 410 Main St. – where it has been located since 1954 – as well as its properties at 408 Esplanade St. and 35 C St.
The district wanted to merge the properties, amend the zoning designation from resort residential to public and civil uses in order to make the zoning consistent with adjoining district properties, and get a general plan designation to correct inconsistencies between the general plan and the three parcels’ zoning designations.
Those updates were in anticipation of future expansion plans that included removing an existing laboratory building and replacing it with a new one at 410 Esplanade, expanding and reconfiguring the existing shop and garage structure onto the 35 C. St. property, and replacing the steel garage and shop building located at 408 Esplanade with an enclosed garage for parking district vehicles.
Scott said the goal was to have facilities that better met Vector Control's needs, complied with modern standards and fit in with a neighborhood that has a variety of uses – from residential to commercial.
“The neighbors felt differently,” she said.
Faced with opposition to the proposal from the agency's neighbors, in April the council denied Vector Control's requests, as Lake County News has reported.
“We were disappointed by this and it's different than what we planned,” Scott said.
While the council was clear that Vector Control could continue its operations on Esplanade and C streets as a legal nonconforming use, Scott said it has limited the district's plans.
As for how it will move forward on needed updates to those current facilities – including replacing the HVAC units and making the lab space more workable – she said the Vector Control Board has to consider what steps to take next.
Scott said there aren't plans to move the district's operations to Todd Road, as neighbors had suggested to the council might be more appropriate.
She said the entire Todd Road site is built on fill, which limits the septic capacity and therefore means it can't be set up for a staff of 10 full-time employees – unless that area were to be annexed by the city and given sewer service, which Scott said she didn't anticipate happening.
If the Lake County Planning Commission approves Vector Control's Todd Road project proposal on Thursday, the next steps would involve the district acquiring the necessary permits, Roberts said.
“Our goal is to get it in by the end of the year,” said Scott, noting that Vector Control is ready to put the project out to bid.
She said the weather will have an impact on how fast the project can be completed. “We'll move it along as quickly as we're able to.”
The commission on Thursday also will consider a mitigated negative declaration based on an initial
study for a subdivision map that Damon Fanucchi is seeking or order to divide a 0.82-acre parcel at 15385 Stonefield Court in Middletown into two parcels. That item is timed for 9:15 a.m.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Lake County Planning Commission to discuss Vector Control building project
- Elizabeth Larson
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