LAKE COUNTY – A countywide effort to plan for community growth is getting off the ground, with a series of workshops planned to introduce the concept to county residents. {sidebar id=126}
The Lake County/City Area Planning Council, the regional transportation planning agency, is hosting the first round of five workshops in March as part of Lake County 2030, a regional blueprint planning program, according to Terri Persons, associate planner with the Lake County/City Area Planning Council.
The workshops will take place March 4, 5, 7, 11 and 14 (for full details see sidebar, “Blueprint planning program workshops set for March”).
Persons presented information on the plan to the Lakeport City Council last week, to the supervisors on Tuesday and will go to the Clearlake City Council on Thursday evening.
She explained that the goal for the Lake County 2030 is to create a comprehensive regional growth strategy for Lake County.
The plan, which Persons said would need the approval of the county and cities, will guide local government planning and policies over the next 20 years, particularly for land use and transportation.
The work is supported through a grant from Caltrans, Persons said. The planning effort just received its third and final phase of grant funding.
According to Lisa Davey-Bates, executive director of the area planning council, “A long-range vision such as Lake County 2030 is critical, mainly because transportation, jobs, housing and open space must be planned together.”
A key aspect of the plan is to facilitate regional collaboration and encourage local agencies to work together, said Persons.
Persons said Lake County's population is projected to grow by 56 percent by 2030.
That will require planning to increase local communities' economic vitality, balance jobs and housing, and provide for services, roads, sewer, water and infrastructure while protecting cultural, historical, agricultural and recreational resources, she said.
The area planning council hopes to get to a shared vision through community input, which Persons said is the purpose of the workshops.
She told the Lakeport City Council that the time frame for completing the plan is the summer of 2010.
They will use computer models that allow planners to input information and multiple scenarios in order to see how communities might grow. Persons said that model will be available at a second series of workshops planned later this year.
Persons said the plan will not have the authority to limit local decisions. That was a concern for Lakeport City Councilman Bob Rumfelt, who worried about Lakeport having to compete for growth.
Each of the two-hour community workshops will be highly interactive, Persons said. Participants will break into groups and go through activities to facilitate discussion.
She said that each workshop will be the same, and they aren't specific to the communities where they'll be held.
In the first round of Lake County 2030 workshops, participants will identify their most important values and visions for the county, the area planning council reported. In follow-up workshops to be held later this year, they will be asked to weigh in on proposed growth principles and maps of alternative 2030 land use scenarios.
The results will be incorporated into the final Lake County 2030 Blueprint, which will include a vision, guiding principles, and a map of the preferred land use scenario, according to the area planning council.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
