LAKEPORT, Calif. – With the Anderson Springs community facing numerous difficulties in the post-Valley fire rebuilding process, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday considered new policies proposed by the Community Development Department to help both county staff and property owners navigate the challenges.

Community Development Director Robert Massarelli presented to the board a proposed resolution meant to address myriad issues, primarily those for setbacks from Anderson Creek, for property front yards and for septic systems.

His written report said that more than 180 structures on 130 parcels in Anderson Springs were damaged or destroyed by the Valley fire.

“I know a lot of people in Anderson Springs are very frustrated with the process of trying to rebuild, and frankly the staff shares their frustration because there's a lot of issues in the Anderson Springs area. And each lot is a unique combination of those issues,” said Massarelli.

He said he's been trying to come up with policy guidance to recommend to the Board of Supervisors to help the rebuilding effort move forward. Massarelli said he and County Counsel Anita Grant still have some final work to do on the resolution's language, and he plans to bring the resolution in its final form to the Dec. 6 meeting.

The primary issue, said Massarelli, is “down in the valley” in Anderson Springs, or the area along the creek, where rebuilding is not moving forward while new homes are being built in the higher elevations.

Massarelli said the policy would allow those rebuilding on existing lots to go forward, with the only exception being for those who are in the floodway that would need to adhere to the floodway management ordinance.

That ordinance, Massarelli said, maintains the county's eligibility in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Flood Insurance Program and affects flood insurance rates countywide.

The county's waterway combining district sets lots setbacks at 30 feet from Anderson Creek, measured from the top of the bank. However, Massarelli said the ordinance didn't define what the top of the bank is.

He said that setback isn't a state requirement but a local standard, and one defined differently throughout California.

The goal, he said, is not to require people to restore the old bank in order to build. Rather, he wants to enforce the 30-foot setback where there is a reasonable use of the property.

If there is a hardship in that, there is a process to get an exception that's already included in county code which calls for mitigation, such as a swale to catch runoff, and landscaping with native vegetation, Massarelli said.

Those lots with identified hardships would be looked at on a case-by-case basis, said Massarelli.

He said that for property owners seeking an exception to those setback rules, there would be a process that would include a filing fee of $2,216.25. That process also would require an individual study under the California Environmental Quality act.

Massarelli said the county's floodplain ordinance is based on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood insurance maps, which he acknowledged have been criticized across the nation.

He said FEMA has flown the area and used light detection and ranging, or LIDAR, to get better information as a prelude to updating the maps.

While he said he understands that residents of the area have said there hasn't been the kind of large flood event that the FEMA flood program is meant to protect against, he said the program is set up on statistical probability. He said he didn't want to create a problem elsewhere in the county by not applying the floodplain ordinance to Anderson Springs.

Some of the other issues Massarelli brought up Tuesday included that nonconforming structures that were damaged or destroyed by the Valley fire may rebuilt in the same footprint and the size of the original home.

He said the community has had front yard setbacks of 20 feet, which historically were designed so a car could be parked in front of homes. Massarelli said the community's roads are extremely narrow and he doesn't want to encourage onstreet parking, so he wants additional consideration given to where buildings are put to ensure adequate parking.

Massarelli also is encouraging people to buy adjacent parcels where there are nonconforming issues, which he said is happening.

Community Development also is encouraging people to get surveys to guarantee property boundaries.
He said property owners will have to sign documents acknowledging the risks of not having properties surveyed.

Septic setbacks from property lines are being required in order to keep areas open for the sewer line project that Special Districts is working on, Massarelli said.

Joan Clay, a member of the Anderson Springs Community Alliance, is one of the community members waiting to find out if she can rebuild her home, explaining that she and others like her don't yet know what they can and can't do.

She said that at one point, former Community Development Director Rick Coel had estimated that five of the parcels impacted by the fire were not buildable, she said.

Clay said community members need to know if their lots are buildable. If hers isn't, she said she could possibly sell it.

“It's getting to be pretty depressing,” she said.

Board Chair Rob Brown questioned if it would be possible for staff to make a map that would identify where rebuilding can take place no matter what and then identify lots with other issues. He said that would be fair to people whose lots aren't buildable; he said they need to know so they can move on.

“And we're prepared for that,” Clay said.

Massarelli said creating such a map is a possibility, but staff will need to start setting the criteria. He said some of the issues will be about economics – how much are people willing to pay to rebuild – while there also will be matters of policy.

There also remain issues about accessibility to the community, about which Cal Fire has been very concerned, said Brown. He said he has guaranteed the agency an alternative route in and out so rebuilding can move forward, and he's called weekly by Cal Fire officials asking about the status of that secondary route.

Brown said he also was on a call earlier that day with State Sen. Mike McGuire to discuss Anderson Springs, including insurance-related issues.

Voris Brumfield, president of the Anderson Springs Community Alliance, thanked Massarelli before noting the incredible frustration on the part of the 90 percent of the Anderson Springs community who lost their homes.

“This is a modest community. It has been here since 1873,” she said.

Brumfield said they are not in a valley where there is a large watershed, and questioned if there is a way to limit the expertise required in the rebuilding process. She said builders understand the issues, and pointed out that a home being rebuilt across from hers has been raised four feet in order to meet the floodway requirements.

Brown said they can't assume every builder is doing it right, and he wasn't going to subject the county to liability. Brumfield in turn asked for the county to evaluate all of the properties along the creek.

Brown suggested the alliance could approach the nonprofits helping to raise funds for the recovery to cover the costs of the studies to help move the rebuilding forward. He said the nonprofits are more likely to respond to that request from a local group, since they don't want to fund governments.

The board approved the first consideration of the resolution, with the final version to be brought back in two weeks.

Also on Tuesday, the board unanimously approved a request of a small property donation to the city of Clearlake for additional right-of-way for the city's Safe Routes to School pedestrian improvement project at Phillips and 18th avenues. Public Works Director Scott De Leon said the county previously had made a similar right-of-way donation for the city's Dam Road extension work in 2014.

The supervisors also approved requests from county staff to continue emergency declarations related to the wildland fires of the last two summers.

An appeal of the Lake County Planning Commission's approval of a mitigated negative declaration and major use permit to allow a large animal kennel at 11767 Candy Lane in Lower Lake was postponed until next month at Community Development Department staff's request.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.