LAKEPORT, Calif. – The plans to build a dormitory for volunteers who will come from around the United States and Canada to help with the Valley and Clayton fire rebuilding effort have gotten the go-ahead from the Lake County Planning Commission.
On the recommendation of county planning staff, the commission gave the plans – proposed by the Middletown Central Park Association and the Hope Crisis Response Network's Hope City project – unanimous approval at its meeting Aug. 25 in Lakeport.
The Hope Crisis Response Network is a faith-based organization that has been present in Lake County since just days after the Valley fire last year, the organization's founder and chief executive officer, Kevin Cox, told Lake County News.
The organization has been involved in the response to 200 disasters, he said.
He said Hope City is the name for the Hope Crisis Response Network's Lake County rebuilding project.
In its rebuilding projects, Cox said the Hope Crisis Response Network typically brings in volunteers from churches around the United States and Canada for about a week at a time, with the volunteers paying their own expenses.
Normally, Cox's association finds housing for its volunteers in the communities it serves, but this time around he said it has became necessary to build a dormitory because of not being able to find adequate accommodations.
Earlier this year, the Board of Supervisors had decided to locate the building at Middletown Trailside Park, but after community opposition grew in response, Hope City partnered with the Middletown Central Park Association for a new location.
Overall, the project has taken nine months, and in the meantime they have had to turn away 340 volunteers for lack of housing, Cox said.
Those challenges also have delayed building plans, Cox said. “We should have 12 houses completed by now but we don't.”
The dormitory plans that received approval last week call for the association to demolish its current 2,400-square-foot clubhouse at 15299 Central Park Road and replace it with the new 6,000-square-foot building, Cox said.
Cox said Hope City will use the new building as a volunteer dormitory for the next three to five years, while it remains on the ground building new homes for low-income, uninsured and underinsured survivors of the Valley and Clayton fires.
The building is being designed to have a barn look, which Cox said will fit nicely into the community, especially with the arena next door.
He said the design will allow the building to house men and women separately, with a total of 60 beds and full showers. The center of the building will have a dining hall and recreational area, and there also will be a commercial kitchen.
Once the organization completes its work in the rebuilding effort, the building will be donated back to the association. “So it will become a community center and 4-H building for the kids,” said Cox.
Planner Mireya Turner told the commission last week that Hope City so far has six permits for Valley fire rebuilds, and anticipates building as many as 100 new homes for wildland fire survivors. She said the group also has integrated Clayton fire rebuilding into its overall scope, which originally focused on the Valley fire.
Middletown resident Fletcher Thornton recalled being evacuated from the Valley fire and sitting in Calistoga at a shelter.
“I lost everything that I accumulated in 45 years of marriage,” he told the commission. “So I know how important is to have this project approved as fast as possible.”
Thornton, who also chairs the Middletown Area Town Hall but did not speak in his official capacity, asked the commission to expedite the permit so the project can get started.
He said the short-term benefits of the project will be immediately felt, while the long-term effect will be even greater.
Pointing out that the Middletown Central Park Association already has a great arena and equestrian center, Thornton said it also is in need of a good building for events. He added that the current clubhouse is in poor condition, and is a small structure that has been repeatedly added onto over the years.
“It's just a mess,” Thornton said.
Middletown resident Kimberly Haynie said the town is lucky that the Hope Crisis Response Network chose to help the community with its recovery, and agreed with the estimation of future benefits. She wanted attention paid to the building details to make sure that the community doesn't end up with a building that is less than it wants.
Kevin Tighe, the association's arena director, pointed out that the building slated to be removed had for many years also served as Middletown's senior center.
He said the new building that will replace it will be a benefit to Lake County, and he also encouraged the commission's approval.
Cox told the commission that his organization has been on the ground and at work in Lake County since Sept. 15, 2015, three days after the Valley fire broke out.
“We absolutely love being here,” he said.
Cox's organization is a donor-supported ministry that raises all of its own support, he said. There are no governmental funds, and no strings attached.
The organization doesn't place mortgages on the homes it builds for families in need, but rather makes them a gift, he said.
The team members come from all over the country and pay their own way, he said.
Hope City's economic investment in the community over the five-year period it expects to operate in Lake County is estimated at between $8 million and $10 million, all of it donated dollars, Cox said.
In addition, he said every penny's worth of construction materials are being purchased in Lake County.
Cox said Supervisor Rob Brown personally wrote the organization a check for the balance of his campaign fund, and was out with them the previous weekend handing out supplies to fire survivors.
He told the organization that his organization looked forward to being in Lake County over the next several years, “And with your help we will.”
Ed Robey, who is chairing Team Lake county – of which Hope City is a part – expressed total support for the plan. “It's really important.”
Commissioner Bob Malley offered both project's motions – for approval of a mitigated negative declaration and the use permit – which the commission approved unanimously.
“Build it!” said Commission Chair Joe Sullivan to applause.
The next steps, Cox told Lake County News, is that Hope City will be submitting its blueprint for the new building to the county this week for final approval.
They also can begin to tear down the old building now. Cox said Kevin Smith Construction has offered to do the demolition for Hope City, at his own cost.
He expected that work on the new building could begin within 30 days and be completed by Nov. 1.
“We have all local contractors coming in to help us put this building up,” he said.
Thanks to the many donations the organization has received, Cox said they're looking forward to getting the project completed.
He gave particular thanks to Lake County Rising and Kelseyville Lumber for their support, noting that without it, the dormitory project wouldn't be possible.
For more information about the Hope Crisis Response Network and Hope City, visit http://www.hcrn.info/ .
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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