LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday honored a longtime city planning commissioner on his retirement, approved zoning changes and general plan amendment requests, and gave the OK to an updated environmental document for the Downtown Improvement Project.

Mayor Marc Spillman presented Ross Kauper with a proclamation thanking him for his 13 years of service on the Lakeport Planning Commission. Kauper announced his retirement late last year, and last month the council appointed George Spurr to succeed him.

Kauper said he expects to stay involved in the community and bring forward a number of his own projects.

He said he appreciated the time he had spent with city staff and the council, as well as other planning commissioners.

“It's just time for me to move on,” he said, adding that he is planning some vacation time.

One of the meeting's main discussions was part of a public hearing to approve Ray Somberg's request for a general plan amendment and zone changes for properties at 1930 S. Main St. and 10 Queen Ann Way, which previously were part of the “Victorian Village” development.

In 2003 the city had approved a 95-lost condominium development there, but only the first 14-lot phase was developed, according to city documents.

Somberg acquired the property early last year through a bank foreclosure action, and does not have a desire to finish the development as originally proposed, according to city Community Development Director Kevin Ingram.

Ingram said the condominium development was approved “under a completely different economic reality,” and in the current economic climate a development at that density and location no longer makes sense.

He said the location also lacks access and services, and its proximity to a flood plain also doesn't work for the proposed high density. City staff worked with Somberg to reconfigure the properties for better access.

Somberg's plans call for creating four separate parcels at the location, three of them for single-family homes and the one parcel on S. Main Street being changed from resort residential to major retail.

He told the council that he intends to build a home for himself and his brother on the parcels at the back of the property.

When he purchased the property in 2015 – including five lots in the homeowners association – he said there were problems in the subdivision, including that the city was about to shut off the water service for lack of payment and the association hadn't collected dues in seven years.

Since then, he hired attorney Mike Ewing to help put the homeowners association back together and John Tomkins to take over the accounting. The association is now back up and running, has collected dues and has $9,000 in reserve, Somberg said.

One home was built in the development last year, and three more are expected to be built this year, he said.

Somberg said he's been building projects for 42 years and hasn't yet built himself a home. His projects have included more than one million square feet of commercial space in the Bay Area.

He said he was excited about becoming a part of the Lakeport community, and added that city planning staff has been very helpful.

“This is a great use of the property,” said Mayor Pro Tem Stacey Mattina.

Mattina said the city was lucky that Somberg came in and cleaned up the mess with the subdivisions. Ingram said it was one of the best situations the city could have hoped for.

Mitigations for the project require that the city develop an agreement with local tribes that includes a tribal monitor who will be on site during excavation for new utility connections that will involve the disturbance of areas not previously excavated as part of past development activities.

Somberg said he was concerned that tribes could hold up development on the property.

He said that AutoZone, which is proposing to build a new store on Industrial Avenue, wouldn't sign a 150-page agreement submitted by the tribe, adding that the document is one-sided and didn't represent cooperation between the tribe and the developer.

Ingram noted during the discussion that he didn't feel the tribe was intending to stop development in its proposed agreement.

The council unanimously approved Somberg's requests.

In other business, the council unanimously approved an amended mitigated negative declaration for the city of Lakeport's Downtown Improvement Project. The updated environmental documents were necessary, in part, because of the proposal to have work take place at night.

The nighttime construction schedule is a way to avoid shutdowns of Main Street businesses and help the project move forward quickly, Ingram said.

“We feel very comfortable moving forward. We feel this is a great solution,” he said.

Bids for the project are due March 24, with staff expecting to have the proposal for the contract award before the council on April 5, Ingram said.

The council also approved a professional services agreement with Polestar Computers IT services.

The Lakeport Main Street Association's proposal for a St. Patrick's Day parade on March 12 was pulled from the agenda, as it has been canceled.

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