The workshops will take place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3, and Thursday, Dec. 4, at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
On Sept. 2, after a six-year process, the Board of Supervisors approved the county's final updated general plan. Now it's Lakeport's turn to work through the process.
No formal action will be taken at the meetings on the 185-page general plan document – which sets the long-range planning goals for the city through 2025 – or the accompanying draft environmental impact report, which looks at the proposed plan's impacts.
The general plan proposes updates to general plan designations and reorganization of plan elements. Most significantly, it would expand the city's sphere of influence to include 600 city-owned acres south of the city limits, which is the site of the City of Lakeport Municipal Sewer District facility and irrigation fields.
That addition to the sphere of influence would be designated a “specific plan area,” where the city has proposed to build an 18-hole golf course and residential subdivision.
The general plan update recommends for the land “a mixed combination of residential development, including cooperative ownership properties to serve the vacation market, plus very limited commercial.” The density of one to four units per acre would allow for a buildout of between 600 and 2,400 residential units.
According to the Lakeport Community Development Department, the draft environmental impact report (EIR) identifies the following potentially significant environmental effects: aesthetic/visual, agricultural resources, air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, geology soils, hazards and hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality, land use and planning, noise, population and housing, public services and utility systems, recreation, and transportation and traffic.
The 382-page document's public review period began Nov. 4 and will end Dec. 18. In addition to comments offered at the workshops, written comments also may be submitted to the city.
The draft EIR summarizes the following proposed land use designations contained in the general plan:
From residential to office, bordered by Fourth, Tunis and First streets;
From commercial to high density residential along South Smith Street;
From major retail to office and residential, located on the east side of Highway 29, bisected by Central Park Avenue;
From major retail/low density residential to residential, bordered by Sandy Lane, Todd Road and Edith Way;
From commercial to residential along 20th Street to be consistent with underlying zoning;
Change the industrial designation in the vicinity of Kimberly Lane to major retail;
The expanded sphere of influence is designated “Specific Plan Area” and comprises approximately 600 acres;
The current general plan designation of “low density residential” and “medium density residential” are proposed to be combined into the classification “residential.”
As part of the general plan update the city also will modify the land use, transportation, community design, conservation, open space and parks, noise and safety elements, and create two new ones – urban boundary and economic development. A housing element adopted in July 2004 will not be revised.
According to the general plan, the urban boundary element defines “the limits for extending city services and infrastructure in order to accommodate new development anticipated within the 20-year time frame of this General Plan.” It's also intended to provide guidance related to future annexation of the sphere of influence.
While not a state-mandated element, it's important, the plan notes, “because it limits leap-frog development and provides for an orderly transition from rural to urban land uses. The element recognizes the community’s dedication to orderly and managed growth of the city’s boundaries and the desire to maintain the rural character of many of the areas and neighborhoods within the Lakeport Sphere of Influence.”
An issue that could cause controversy, according to the draft EIR, is conversation of agricultural land uses and loss of prime farmland in the proposed specific plan area.
While the city has no lands designated as farmlands of statewide importance, it does contain soil types classified as unique and prime farmland. The specific plan area contains prime farmland, as does the vicinity of Scotts Valley and south of Clear Lake.
The draft general plan can be downloaded at www.cityoflakeport.com/departments/docs.aspx?deptID=39&catID=40, while the environmental report can be downloaded at www.cityoflakeport.com/departments/docs.aspx?deptID=39&catID=113. Hard copies of both documents also can be picked up at Lakeport City Hall.
Anyone who has questions can contact the Lakeport Community Development Department at 263-5613, Extension 25.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:3}
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
