Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a mitigated negative declaration based on an initial study, a rezone from rural residential and rural residential-substandard older subdivision to planned development commercial-design review, and a general plan of development for the resort, which Dr. Robert Gardner proposes to be built on the hillside between Nice and Lucerne.

Gardner’s resort would be built on a number of paper subdivision lots he assembled at 5440, 5460, 5490 and 5610 E. State Highway 20; 5130 Foothill Drive; 5161, 5163, 5171 and 5173 Dunstan Road; 5563 and 5573 Dunstan Drive; 5637, 5647, 5667, 5687 and 5697 Fennel Road; and 5707 Fennel Drive, Lucerne.

The plan calls for the project to be built in phases, with Gardner stating that he wants to begin with a lodge and 10 to 15 guest units as phase one.

At ultimate buildout, the resort would include a total of 24 villas, 25 cabins, 100 suites, an infinity pool overlooking the lake and other health-related amenities. Senior Planner Kevin Ingram’s report said the the ownership of the suites, cabins and villas may be fractional.

Gardner told the commission that at buildout there would be about 30 jobs required to run the resort.

Ingram said Gardner has completed a number of reports for the project, but more environmental review will be required, and numerous mitigations will be required prior to development being allowed.

The site previously was used for mercury mining, although Ingram said the actual mine is on Caltrans property near the road and has been capped. He said further analysis is needed to determine the mercury levels and potential impacts.

An oak mitigation plan also will be needed, and Ingram said a cultural resources survey has been conducted.

Overall, planning staff considered the project as proposed to be consistent with the general plan, Ingram said.

Gardner told the commission that tests he’s had done at the site revealed lower-than-average mercury levels.

He showed pictures of the property, where he has removed garbage and old buildings, and improved the roadway. A sewer connection has been extended to the lodge site, which he said will be tucked into trees and not easy to see from a distance. Utilities also will be installed underground.

“The natural beauty is just incredible,” he said.

Gardner also is proposing to construct buildings on a pier extending from a narrow lakeside strip of the property, which also would include a marina. He even discussed building a gondola from the marina up to the lodge site.

Commissioner Gil Schoux asked Gardner when the project would start. Gardner said he wanted to see work begin on the first phase next spring.

Commissioner Cliff Swetnam asked about road access to the site. “There’s a potential for a lot of people to be up there, so my concern is fire access,” Swetnam said.

Gardner assured him that the Northshore Fire chief oversaw the road design, and there were turnarounds and adequate access.

Commissioner Olga Martin Steele pointed out that the project has implications for wildlife on the water and the land, and Clear Lake’s lakeshore has lost a lot of emergent vegetation. She wanted to know how Gardner would address that if he built on the lake. Gardner said he intended to replace equal amounts or more of any affected vegetation.

He said he’s working with a permaculturist to keep the property’s oaks and animals happy. “In order to keep people healthy at the resort we have to keep the land healthy.”

Eleven community members spoke about the project during public comment, most of them in favor, including Monica Rosenthal, representing the Sierra Club Lake Group, who said the group sees the project as a good one.

Rod McCleary, whose family has owned property near the resort site for 60 years, said he was concerned about the buildings over the lake and erosion control.

“I think any time you build out over the lake it’s a bad idea,” he said. In the event the project goes bankrupt, the buildings on the lake would start to deteriorate, he added.

Another nearby landowner, Bill Weeks, was concerned about having a resort in the midst of an area where there are many residences.

“Let him buy Konocti Resort if he wants a resort,” Weeks said.

Andy Peterson, the county’s retired redevelopment deputy director, said the project fits with a proposal in the Northshore redevelopment plan for a lakeside resort. He said he thinks the resort would “substantially help the environment” within Lucerne if it’s developed.

Swetnam said it was a concept before the commission. “I think we ought to give everybody a shot at making the dream work if it’s feasible.”

Martin Steele said she agreed with Swetnam “wholeheartedly, and Commissioner Michael van der Boon said he also very much liked the concept.

The commission then took three votes, each unanimous, to approve the rezone and general plan of development’s mitigated negative declaration, the rezones and general plan of development.

Commission Chair Bob Malley said the project now will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors. Ingram told Lake County News this week that the project’s ultimate approval is up to the board.

Also on Thursday, the commission found that the county’s proposed purchase of a sheriff’s substation property at 21277 Calistoga St. in Middletown conformed with the general plan.

Commissioners also voted 4-1, with Swetnam voting no, to approve a mitigated negative declaration based on an initial study for Westgate Petroleum’s proposed general plan amendment to convert 30,000 square feet of its facility at 3740 Highland Springs Road in Lakeport from agriculture to service commercial, a rezone of the property and a general plan of development and use permit for a specific plan of development for bulk and retail fuel sales, outdoor storage of vehicles and propane, an office and a convenience store.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

112811 Utopia Mine Health Resort Staff Report

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

COUNTY OF LAKE

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Supervisors, County of Lake, State of California, has set TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012, at 1:30 P.M., Board Chambers, Courthouse, Lakeport, as time and place to consider the proposed VACATION OF A PORTION OF ROADWAY, MALPAS WAY, AS SHOWN ON THAT CERTAIN MAP ENTITLED “BLUE LAKES RESORT SUBDIVISION” FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER OF SAID LAKE COUNTY ON JULY 6, 1951 IN BOOK 6 OF TOWN MAPS AT PAGE 64. A copy of the proposed ordinance is available at the Office of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, 255 North Forbes Street, Room 109, Lakeport, CA 95453.

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that at said time and place any interested person may appear and be heard.

If you challenge the action of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on any of the above stated items in court, it may be limited to only those issues raised at the public hearing described in this notice or in written correspondence delivered to the Clerk of the Board, at or prior to the public hearing.

KELLY F. COX

Clerk of the Board

By: Mireya G. Turner

Assistant Clerk to the Board

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive. TV8 will broadcast the meeting live.

Joyce Overton and Joey Luiz have served as mayor and vice mayor, respectively, in 2011, and the council will choose new leadership to succeed them at its first December meeting.

Overton and Luiz also are scheduled to make presentations at the Thursday night meeting. Traditionally, the outgoing mayor and vice mayor offer recognition and thanks to council members and staff at the end of their one-year terms.

The remainder of the evening’s business will be brief.

Two action items are planned, the first, to consider adoption and resolutions authorizing the city’s participation in the Lake County Energy & Water Efficiency Program.

The council also will consider funding for debt service for the Clearlake Redevelopment Agency’s Series A Bonds.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

At the start of the meeting, the council unanimously elected Stacey Mattina as the new mayor, with Tom Engstrom elected mayor pro tem.

Suzanne Lyons, this past year’s mayor, handed over the gavel and switched seats with Mattina, who began her mayoral duties by leading Tuesday night’s meeting.

When it came time to discuss the annexation proposal, Community Development and Redevelopment Director Richard Knoll told the council that the city had, that afternoon, received two additional letters on the matter, one from the Lake County Administrative Office and the second from the Sierra Club Lake Group.

He said the letters raised issues and concerns that needed to be addressed before the city moved forward with approving the annexation’s environmental clearance.

Based on that need, Knoll said city staff suggested that the public hearing be postponed indefinitely, and that the council direct staff to address the letters and the issues they contained, and prepare a report with recommendations for actions to take.

“It does not make sense at this stage to take any public comment,” Knoll said, as the city’s documents for the annexation may change.

He suggested that the document also may be the subject of new public notices and may be recirculated.

Councilman Roy Parmentier asked if Knoll could speak about the issues at the meeting.

“I’m not prepared to tonight,” said Knoll.

Engstrom moved to approve the staff recommendation, which was approved 4-0. Councilman Bob Rumfelt was absent from the meeting.

The council had been scheduled to hold a similar discussion on Nov. 1, but a letter from County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox had caused them to hold off on the discussion then as well.

Lakeport resident Bob Bridges told the council Tuesday that he’d come to meetings twice to speak on the annexation and had been twice told to go home before being allowed to make a comment.

He asked if he could speak to the annexation, and Mattina told him no.

County faults city’s process

The county’s 14-page letter to the city that was delivered on Tuesday, and signed by Cox, is the latest in a series of strongly worded communications between the two local governments regarding the annexation. The document can be seen below.

In it, Cox questions the city’s adherence to state environmental law and advocates that a full environmental impact report be completed.

The letter also asserted that most of the property owners in the South Main Street/Soda Bay Road annexation area don’t want to be taken into the city limits and accuses the city of wanting the annexation as a new source of funds.

“As previously noted, we believe the City’s motivation for annexing this area is to receive a windfall of tax revenue,” Cox wrote. “While we understand the City’s desire to increase its revenue, this area provides a substantial percentage of the County’s annual sales tax revenue, and a diversion of this revenue stream would result in an unfortunate but significant degradation of public services, both within the immediate county and Countywide.”

Cox went on to question if the city had complied with the California Environmental Quality Act, alleging there was inaccurate public noticing and document posting.

The letter said the city didn’t follow CEQA’s public review process, which he said “shows a pattern of disregard for public input and compliance with the law.”

According to Cox, Lakeport also hasn’t proven the annexation is needed for orderly growth and suggested that the city “cobbled together a process from components of both the negative declaration and EIR processes.”

Cox said the county has raised concerns “multiple times” about “apparent conflicts” between existing plan designations and pre-zoning designations in place in the proposed annexation area.

Among its many other points the letter also raised issues with annexing farmland and the failure to consider cumulative environmental impacts.

“In conclusion, it has become apparent that the environmental review process for this project has been based simply on argument, speculation and unsupported opinion, with no substantial evidence, and in essence is nothing more than post hoc rationalizations made to support the pre-conceived goal of diverting tax revenue to the City coffers,” Cox wrote.

The letter continued, “The City cannot hide behind its own failure to gather data. The City has the burden of environmental investigation, and since facts clearly exist which support a fair argument of significant environmental impacts, its failure to fully study those impacts mandate that an EIR be prepared.”

Cox’s letter finished by asking that the council find the proposed initial study and mitigated negative declaration inadequate and direct that an EIR be prepared.

The Sierra Club Lake Group letter, signed by Lower Lake resident Victoria Brandon, also raises issues about loss of farmland, as well as inclusion of sensitive wetlands in the annexation area.

The group also asked that an EIR be completed; that the city conduct a “comprehensive reevaluation” of its general plan, zoning ordinance and pre-zoning designations; that it work with the county to do outreach to residents and business owners of the proposed annexation area; and formulate a plan to improve the delivery of necessary public services there.

Another request the group made is that the city reevaluate its sphere of influence, which expands beyond the city’s boundaries and includes not just the proposed annexation area but also the City of Lakeport Municipal Sewer District property south of town.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

120611 Lake County Annexation Letter to City of Lakeport

The commission meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

The public hearing on Dr. Robert Gardner’s Utopia Mine Resort plan is scheduled to begin at 9:40 a.m.

Gardner is proposing to build a health and hospitality resort with a guest lodge, 24 villas, 25 cabins, 100 suites together with medical health and spa-related amenities on several parcels – 5440, 5460, 5490 and 5610 E. State Highway 20; 5130 Foothill Drive; 5161, 5163, 5171 and 5173 Dunstan Road; 5563 and 5573 Dunstan Drive; 5637, 5647, 5667, 5687 and 5697 Fennel Road; and 5707 Fennel Drive, Lucerne, according to county planning documents.

The commission will consider several items as part of the hearing: a mitigated negative declaration based on an initial study; a proposed rezone from rural residential and rural residential-substandard older subdivision to planned development commercial-design review; and a general plan of development.

Gardner told Lake County News that he believes it’s a special project that can be beneficial for the county in a number of ways, from economic to educational.

He called the land where the project will be located “magical,” and said it can connect with the Northshore trail system on land as well as the nearby water trails.

“A resort that is done in a quality manner can attract people from across the country just like the health tourism that used to be in the county when Bartlett Springs was in existence,” he said.

The old mercury mine, which operated for a few years around the turn of the 20th century, is not on Gardner’s property, but at the highway level on state property, Gardner said.

Gardner, who has been acquiring the property since 2001, said he envisions the resort as a gathering place for community groups, an education center and a venue for special occasions such as weddings and family reunions.

County Senior Planner Kevin Ingram said the main things for the commission to consider Thursday are the general plan of redevelopment and rezone, which requires the commissioners to decide if Gardner’s proposed concept is an appropriate use for the site.

“All the planning commission is doing is making a recommendation,” said Ingram, explaining that approving a general plan of development doesn’t allow any grading or building to start.

He said the ultimate decision on whether the project should move forward will rest with the Board of Supervisors.

Ingram said he doesn’t have a date certain yet for when the board would consider the project, but if the commission gives Gardner the OK, it could go before the board early next year.

Gardner said he would like to start the lodge of clubhouses and some of the guest units next spring. He said total buildout depends on many factors, including the economy.

The general plan of development will give Gardner two years to vest the project, which Ingram said will include creating a specific plan of development.

Gardner is proposing to do the project in phases, and therefore will need to do specific plans of development for each phase, Ingram explained.

Later in the process, Ingram said it would be determined whether or not an environmental impact report would be necessary.

Ingram said the first phase includes the lodge and 10 to 15 guest units.

“It’s a neat concept,” said Ingram. “It’s a beautiful site. There’s some fantastic views.”

However, the project also has some challenges, Ingram said.

“There’s some severe environmental concerns in regard to this project,” which Ingram said would be more appropriately addressed when Gardner comes back for a use permit.

For Ingram, the area of greatest concern is dealing with landslides and unstable soils on the hillsides. He thinks Gardner can mitigate for most of those, depending on how much he is willing to put into engineering.

Gardner said that geotechnical experts who he’s hired to review the project dug large test pits and found nothing that would interfere with construction on the land.

He’s also had mercury and runoff measured in the ground and runoff areas, and said the results showed less mercury there than in most areas.

The Clear Lake Watershed Total Maximum Daily Load Monitoring Program Final Report stated that a consistent and focused amount of monitoring has taken place around the mine, and that researchers didn’t believe the mine is continuing to contribute significant amounts of mercury to Clearlake.

Other items on the Thursday Planning Commission agenda include the following:

9:05 a.m. Public hearing on consideration of General Plan Conformity (GPC 11-16). The project applicant is Lake County Administration and Lake County Sheriff’s Office proposing purchase of improved property to use as a Sheriff substation. The project is located at 21277 Calistoga Street, Middletown and further described as APN 024-405-08.

9:10 a.m. Public Hearing on consideration of a mitigated negative declaration based on Initial Study (IS 11-07) for GPAP 11-01, RZ 11-01, GPD 11-01 and UP 11-12. The project applicant is Westgate Petroleum proposing: (1) a general plan amendment of approximately 30,000 square feet from Agriculture to Service Commercial; (2) a rezone from “C3-DR-FF-AA”, Service Commercial – Design Review – Floodway Fringe – Airport Approach and “A-SC-AA”, Agriculture - Scenic – Airport Approach to “PDC-DR-FF-AA”, Planned Development Commercial – Design Review – Floodway Fringe – Airport Approach and “A-SC-AA”, Agriculture – Scenic – Airport Approach; (3) a general plan of development and use permit for a specific plan of development for bulk and retail fuel sales, outdoor storage of vehicles and propane, an office and a convenience store. The project is located at 3740 Highland Springs Road, Lakeport and further described as APN 008-022-31.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

112811 Utopia Mine Health Resort Staff Report

After about an hour’s worth of discussion, Board Chair Jim Comstock scheduled the discussion to continue at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington brought the matter to the board, explaining that he was following up on statements he had made at a previous meeting about wanting to further discuss and clarify the abatement process.

In October, the board rescinded its medical marijuana dispensaries ordinance after it was challenged by a referendum, as Lake County News has reported.

County officials maintain that dispensaries are not a permitted use in the county’s zoning ordinance because they aren’t specifically allowed.

“It is clear to this day that they are not allowed by the zoning ordinance,” Community Development Director Rick Coel told the board Tuesday.

As a result, early last month the county sent out notices of violation to the 10 dispensaries operating in the unincorporated county, as well as to those facilities’ landlords, Coel said.

Coel said those “courtesy notices” are the first step in the abatement process.

The discussion on the matter started late, and in the midst of an agenda that would keep the board in session until nearly 8 p.m., supervisors decided to continue the matter for a week.

In the mean time, they directed Coel to delay – not suspend – the actions against the dispensaries in order to give themselves time to formulate direction for Coel on how to proceed.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .