The Lucerne Motel (pictured) and the neighboring Lake Sands Resort (blue building in the background) in a photo taken Monday by Deputy Redevelopment Director Eric Seely.

LAKEPORT – On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors told the owners of two dilapidated motels on the lakeshore in Lucerne that the properties must be abated or the county will step in and take action.

The two motels, owned by Dominic Affinito, are the Lake Sands Resort, located at 6335 E. Highway 20, and the Lucerne Motel, 6339 E. Highway 20.

Supervisor Denise Rushing asked the board to consider taking some action on the motels, which she said have been identified by the county's redevelopment agency, Lucerne's citizens and herself as a “significant impediment” to revitalizing the lakeshore town.

Rushing said she's been in office nearly two years, and the buildings have been a consistent source of complaints from area residents. She said they're the most complained about buildings in Lucerne.

“I have to ask the question of staff – why haven't we abated them? It seems the codes were designed for problems like this,” Rushing said.

She said her intention in bringing the issue forward was to come away with an action plan which could include strengthening local ordinances.

Deputy Redevelopment Director Eric Seely presented pictures of the buildings he took Monday, which showed the properties to be overgrown with weeds. On the lake side of the buildings, Seely's photographs revealed a collapsed sea wall and sharp metal pilings protruding out of the beach.

The Affinitos received a permit to board up the Lake Sands Resort and the neighboring Lucerne Motel in August. Photo courtesy of Eric Seely.

A soda machine recently had been found submerged in the lake, and there was onsite storage of floats for a dock system. The beach also was littered with debris and garbage, including an old sofa. Children have been climbing on the pilings, Seely noted.

Rushing pointed out that the buildings dominate the frontage on Highway 20 at the town's entrance. The remedy to her appeared to be abatement – removing the buildings and structures entirely.

She noted that a house near her home in Upper Lake was completely removed by the county. That structure couldn't be seen from the road, but was quickly addressed.

“The underlying question is, why haven't we abated these properties?” she asked.

The county's chief administrative officer Kelly Cox, who also is the redevelopment agency's executive director, said the properties are highly visible and next door to an operating resort.

He said he didn't believe the county's redevelopment goals in Lucerne would succeed unless something was done about the motels. “These properties are keeping people from investing in that community.”

Supervisor Rob Brown agreed with Cox. “From the lake side of it, it's horrible,” said Brown, noting that, even if a visitor sees Ceago del Lago down the road, it's the broken down motels that they'll remember.

A collapsed sea wall behind the hotels. Photo courtesy of Eric Seely.

County Counsel Anita Grant said her office has been looking at the situation and has made some recommendations. She said that, given the buildings' location, the county can modify the nuisance ordinance to address the unsightliness of the properties. She said the abandoned building ordinance also needs to be revised to include maintenance requirements and time limits.

Community Development Director Rick Coel said Lakebed Management needed to begin some of the enforcement processes, starting with the lakebed pilings. That agency – due to meet with Affinito later on Tuesday – will formally notify the owner of the problems.

Cox said neighbors have reported that the buildings are attracting rats.

Grant added that the rats pose an immediate health and safety issue. Rushing asked if the buildings could now be abated as a result.

Vermin and health risks could lead to abatement, said Grant. “Where you have rats you generally have disease,” she said. “Rats are usually a good sign that abatement is necessary.”

Code Enforcement Manager Voris Brumfield said Affinito received permission in August to board up the buildings for six months; at the end of that period, he'll have to reapply. She said she needed to look at the abandoned building ordinance to see who would grant the extension.

“Those buildings really need to go, that's what needs to happen,” said Rushing.

The pier area behind the motels, with a visible failure in some of the pilings. Photo courtesy of Eric Seely.

She recommended not extending Affinito's permit to have the buildings boarded, adding that the properties are affecting the town's economy. “I'm as frustrated as can be about this.”

Dominic Affinito's son, Robert, said his family intends to build a new hotel on the properties, which he said can't be repaired.

“Right now getting a loan to build such a project is not an easy task,” he said.

The problems, said Affinito, are getting enough rooms and parking to make the project worth doing.

Setting up additional parking has been an ongoing issue between the Affinitos and the county.

Affinito said he's done whatever the county has asked when it has come to fixing problems at the motels. He was concerned that he only found out about the board discussing the properties the night before. His father – who he said isn't involved with the property any more – received the notice but he didn't.

“Regardless of what you do there, you're going to take it down, right?” Brown asked Affinito.

Affinito said he's taken down buildings before when a new plan wasn't finalized, and the result has been that the community doesn't want anything to replace the removed building.

Brown said it will be more expensive for the Affinitos if the county decides to demolish the buildings. That's because, in addition to contractor fees, the county will charge for administrative services.

He added that the minute Rushing moved to abate the buildings, he would second her motion.

Coel noted that current zoning allows for commercial lodging facilities, so future use as a hotel isn't in question. That was Affinito's concern, that if they tore the building down immediately they could lose their user.

In response, Coel offered to put the guarantee of use in writing and tie it to existing zoning and proposed zoning in the Shoreline Area Plan.

Affinitio said within the next 30 days they will determine whether or not to rebuild or tear down the motels. He said he's concerned that they will only be able to fit 30 to 40 units on the land, without enough parking.

Robey pointed out that the boarding time limit will be up on Feb. 8, 2009. If Affinito hasn't started demolition by then, Robey – who retires from the board later this month – said he would encourage abatement. “One way or the other, it's going to have to be dealt with.”

Affinito suggested it would be best to wait until summer to tear down the building. Robey countered that the best time would be soon, while the lake is low.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington said he wanted to direct staff to deal with the health and safety issues. He added that he understood Affinito's position, but the economy doesn't preclude tearing down the buildings.

Farrington said he will honor the current zoning and pledged to work with Affinito, but said he had no interest in seeing the buildings refurbished, which he estimated would be more expensive than building new structures.

Parking, Farrington noted, has been a contentious aspect of the issue with the Affinitos, but he said he was committed to facilitating the demolition of the buildings and getting a new hotel project parking. “I'm going to keep running for office until this is handled, even though it's not in my district,” he joked.

Cox said the redevelopment agency has been very supportive of a new lodging facility. “We want it to happen very much.”

Previously, the county offered financial support to Affinito to tear down the buildings – but Affinito decided not to move forward, Cox said.

Supervisor Jeff Smith wondered if the problem would have been solved long ago if an agreement had been reached on the parking.

Affinito said even with the offer of county property next door as parking, it wasn't enough spaces.

Rushing said she wanted to separate the parking issue from the abatement, because she didn't feel it was a negotiating item.

She urged the board to direct staff to address the health and safety issues with the properties and at the end of six months to have them abated. Rushing added that the abandoned building ordinance needed to be strengthened to regulate commercial properties and make clearer the guidelines for extending permits to board up buildings.

Farrington suggested having staff partner with the Affinitos to get the demolition done, and to put the offer of financial help back on the table.

“That was on the table the entire time and the buildings remained standing,” said Rushing.

Affinito asked to be contacted personally if the county had problems with the property. Brumfield pointed out that he was not the property owner, which was why he hadn't directly received any notices. She said many different agencies are involved with monitoring the properties, and said she would make sure they had his contact information.

Brown said it was important for one department to take the lead.

Pete Peterson, who owns the Beachcomber Resort next door to the motels, said he's been worried about them. People who slow down to check out his property speed off thinking it's one of the Affinito buildings. He asked if a sign can be placed on the motels explaining that they're closed.

Rushing offered three motions, all of which were accepted unanimously at the end of the 45-minute discussion.

They included directing staff to deal with the immediate health and safety issues caused by the properties' condition and the rats; to not allow an extension on the permit to board up the buildings when the six-month time period ends in February, and to bring the matter back for abatement; and last, to ask county staff to bring back a strengthened abandoned building code.

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The Clearlake Planning Commission will meet to discuss the Provinsalia project beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive. They'll receive public comment on the project's final environmental impact report (EIR).

On Dec. 16, the commission is expected to hold another meeting on Provinsalia, at which time commissioners will discuss the project further and consider making recommendations to the Clearlake City Council on the EIR's certification. At that time they'll also consider a proposed general plan amendment and rezone.

The project has been on the drawing board for several years, and during that time it has changed significantly.

Dick Price of the Modesto-based Price Group is representing the property's owners, Lake County Resort Partners Inc.

He said the project, on 292 acres along Cache Creek, is currently slated to include 665 units – 565 single family homes and 100 condominium units in duplexes and fourplexes. That's down from the original 735 units. Originally, it also called for an 18-hole golf course, which since has been reduced to nine holes, and the overall size of the property also has decreased by more than 200 acres.

Price told Lake County News in a weekend interview that he plans to be at the Tuesday meeting and will return for the Dec. 16 meeting as well.

He said Clearlake city staff has been extremely professional in its handling of the project. “Everybody is making an effort to do their part to get it before the Planning Commission for a vote.”

Price said he expects the Planning Commission will approve the final EIR on Dec. 16. “I don't know that there's anything more to do to make it complete.”

The Sierra Club Lake Group, which has followed the project for several years, has quite a different opinion.

In a six-page letter to the Planning Commission and Clearlake City Administrator Dale Neiman, group chair Victoria Brandon urges against accepting the EIR, the rezone or general plan amendment, citing, among other things, “procedural and substantive lapses in the EIR make certification unwise, and could in all likelihood expose the city to legal action.”

Brandon writes that many comments on the draft EIR were omitted – among them, input from Supervisor Ed Robey and Lake County Community Development Director Richard Coel. Further, she says that the evaluation of the project's impacts on climate change is “grossly inadequate” and counters the state's policies of reducing and controlling carbon emissions.

Provinsalia will have “numerous adverse environmental impacts,” according to Brandon, including loss of natural undisturbed open space and rural lands, increased traffic and air pollution, destructions of cultural resources and a contribution to the jobs/housing imbalance, fire hazards, impacts to wildlife and stress on the school district, among other things.

Infrastructure is another concern Brandon mentions.

Provinsalia will get its drinking water supply from the Konocti County Water District, said Price. That will require annexing the property into the district under the auspice of the Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO).

“That issue of water is pretty well settled,” Price said, adding that the district, which has an agreement with Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, has more than enough water to serve Provinsalia.

Getting the water to the subdivision won't be easy; Price said it will require putting a water line in under the freeway.

Sanitation may be a bigger issue. Lake County Sanitation District's current system can't support the hundreds of proposed homes that would be built.

“It's not a question of whether or not they could handle us – they can't,” Price said.

In order to hook up to the system Price said the subdivision will have to provide new sewer lines and a new pumping station. That will run about $2 million, Price estimated.

But Brandon's letter suggests that hooking Provinsalia up to the Southeast Treatment Plant on the north edge of the city will cost at least $13 million.

She points out that five miles of sewer lines cannot be constructed incrementally; “the full costs will be incurred before the first residents can move in, meaning that the expense must be assumed by the taxpayers of Clearlake or the county of Lake.”

The only acceptable solution, she suggests, is that the developers pay for the improvements up front and recover their costs later, which would require the housing units be priced about $22,000 higher than comparable properties.

Price said Provinsalia will be built in 10 phases, but not by Lake County Resort Partners Inc.

Rather, the company hopes to sell off the phases to national-level builders. Some of the companies they're speaking to include Del Webb and Foremost.

“They're all telling me not to call them until 2010,” said Price. “They're not interested in going forward at the moment on anything.”

He added, “Everyone's concerned about what the future may bring.”

The people behind the property

During a joint City Council and Planning Commission meeting in April to discuss Provinsalia, the prospect of bond funding to help move the project forward had been suggested. Brandon's letter also mentions Mello-Roos bonds underwritten by the city.

“If Provinsalia becomes yet another lamentable example of Lake County’s many paper subdivisions

the City will still be liable for this obligation, and will furthermore be burdened with the costs of repairing this pristine parcel if the project is abandoned after grading has taken place,” Brandon notes. “This scenario seems far from improbable in the current real estate market: given Lake County’s spiraling foreclosure rate, the rising number of homes with mortgage debt exceeding their market value, and the gloomy economic outlook generally, it’s hard to see who the purchasers of these large, jammed together houses might be.”

However, Price said that bond funding isn't a consideration at this point, because the property's owners don't believe it's needed.

The main owner of Lake County Resort Partners Inc. is Jorge Rangel de Alba, said Price.

Rangel de Alba is a wealthy Mexican businessman whose business interests are multinational, and include banking, automotive, tourism and development. Based in Mexico City, he's also reportedly an honorary consul general to the Republic of Mongolia.

According to Price, Rangel de Alba became involved with the property when he was approached by another developer, Agustin Rosas-Maxemin, whose Armax International Inc. – with offices in both San Francisco and Mexico City – has built everything from single-family homes to commercial and multi-unit residential projects.

Price, who works with Armax, said Rosas-Maxemin had purchased the property initially. He and Rangel de Alba became acquainted after Rangel de Alba purchased several condominium units in San Francisco's posh Nobb Hill neighborhood that Rosas-Maxemin had built.

Rosas-Maxemin was seeking a financial backer for the project and so approached Rangel de Alba. “Jorge had never done anything like this, ever, so this is his first experience,” said Price.

Eventually, Rosas-Maxemin sold his rights to the project after Rangel de Alba decided not to have him continue, said Price.

The project got its name from Rosas-Maxemin, who also has a development named Provinsalia in San Jose. That Provinsalia consists of 72 hillside homes between 1,500 and 2,000 square feet each – built in a style “reminiscent of those found in Provence or Tuscany” – and ranging in price from $432,000 to $733,700, according to the Armax Web site.

Price said it was at his urging that Rangel de Alba sold off the additional land originally included in the Provinsalia proposal – and purchased before he was brought on – because it had “unacceptable” terrain that could be built on, and too many trees which couldn't be easily replaced. That property, he added, also was in the county jurisdiction and outside of the city's, where the majority of the land is.

The company listed as the property's owner has changed several times. It was previously Cache Creek LLC, incorporated in Delaware, according to property records. In April, it was stated at the Clearlake meeting on Provinsalia that the company was Cache Creek Inc. Since then, the company has reformed under the new name, Lake County Resort Partners Inc., said Price.

It was as Cache Creek LLC that the company sold off the additional 219.7 acres, which stretch down along Cache Creek toward the dam, to Starlite Ventures LLC, based in Houston, Texas. The property was transferred on June 23, 2005, for a reported $2 million. Starlite Ventures formed on June 15, 2005, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

Price said he doesn't know who is behind Starlite Ventures. “They made a point of not telling me who it was.”

The company's registered agent is Eric Villasenor of Houston. The company has no Web site or phone number, but is reported in good standing through May 15, 2009.

However, Rangel de Alba's family also owns furniture stores including Roche Bobois and Bang and Olufsen. An Eric Villasenor is listed as chief financial officer of European Designs, which operates stores under luxury brands including those owned by Rangel de Alba's family.

Price said he doesn't believe the additional property that was sold to Starlite Ventures can be developed due to terrain, trees and lack of an entry.

The city's oak tree ordinance, adopted earlier this year, also would challenge the property's development, he said. “Even without that, that other property that Starlite took was just impossible to work with.”

What's ahead for the project

If Provinsalia gets the Planning Commission's go ahead this month, the project is scheduled to go before the City Council on Jan. 10, 2009, Price said.

After that, Price said the company will need to apply for a tentative subdivision map, which could take six to eight months, at which point they'll have to decide how to move forward.

“I can't imagine us starting construction until the spring of '10,” he said.

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The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at the board chambers at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport. TV 8 usually broadcasts the meetings live but the service has been irregular in recent weeks.

District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing is asking the board to take up the matter of the Lake Sands Resort, located at 6335 E. Highway 20, and the Lucerne Motel, 6339 E. Highway 20, both of which belong to developer Dominic Affinito of Fort Bragg. The matter is scheduled to be heard at 9:30 a.m.

In June 2007, the board ordered Affinito to abate the two blighted properties, which have been part of a long-running abatement case stretching back to March 2004.

Since then, Affinito has evicted the renters who had lived at the two motels and boarded up the buildings, which he has stated he plans to demolish in order to build a new hotel facility on the Lake Sands site. He reportedly is due to apply for an extension to keep the buildings boarded up for another six months, according to Code Enforcement.

This past August, the board decided to abate an Affinito property on Hammond Avenue in Nice, where grading had left a large cut that was causing erosion. They voted to repair the grading work at the site which Affinito had proposed to develop and charge him for the work.

In October 2007, the board decided against giving Affinito an extension to his tentative subdivision map for that same property, which means he must start the application process over if he's to build a subdivision project there.

In other planned business for Tuesday, at 11 a.m. the board will receive an update on mobile home park owner responses to the proposed rent stability lease agreement. Supervisors also will discuss enacting the agreement in mobile home parks in the county's unincorporated areas.

Community Development Director Rick Coel, in an untimed item, will ask the board to waive the consultant planning division selection policy and contract with Melissa Floyd to act as the county's geothermal coordinator. The proposed contract with Floyd is not to exceed $60,000; it's recommended that the funds be reimbursed through geothermal royalty revenues.

The Tuesday agenda also includes the following items.

Timed:

9:15 a.m.: Annual meeting of the Lake County Redevelopment Agency and Redevelopment Agency presentation of the agency’s annual report for fiscal year 2007-08 (Northshore Project Area).

10 a.m.: Consideration of various recommended actions to provide an economic stimulus to local businesses and the local economy, including a proposed ordinance amending the county purchasing ordinance to increase the current local vendor preference allowances.

10:30 a.m.: Presentation regarding the State Water Resources Control Board proposed amendments establishing statewide regulations for onsite wastewater treatment systems (septic systems), and

an overview of the impact these regulations would have on the county’s local septic permit program.

Untimed items:

– Consideration of approval of findings of fact and deny the appeal of the Sierra Club Lake Group of the Eachus View Estates Parcel Map and rezone approved by the Planning Commission.

The board also will hold a closed session to discuss labor negotiations and conduct a performance evaluation of the county's information technology director.

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The 5-0 decision was made at the board's Tuesday meeting.

Before the item came up before the board, Spring Valley residents Cathy and David Jones spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting regarding a citation issued against the Spring Valley water system last year by the California Department of Public Health.

The Joneses claimed that Lake County Special Districts had not addressed the citation or made the necessary fixes, and the board could therefore be responsible for people becoming sick.

Supervisor Denise Rushing said the citation is being worked on, and that Special Districts met with state officials and the Spring Valley system's advisory board last week regarding the citation.

During the board's consideration of the moratorium, the Joneses again spoke up, and were the only Spring Valley residents to do so.

Cathy Jones said the board passed an urgency ordinance previously to protect the area's residents, but failed to demand Special Districts fix the problem that led to the citation.

“This ordinance does not fix the ignored citation issue,” she said.

Jones further suggested that noncompliance with the citation was being used as a lever to pressure Spring Valley residents into expanding their water system, and suggested their water could become contaminated due to “outlandish delays.”

“Fixing our system is necessary, we know that,” she said. “Expansion beyond that is not financially realistic. It's asking too much of property owners to fund an expansion we might need down the road for growth.”

Rushing said the board and the county aren't “ignoring” the citation. She said the board directed Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger to work with the state, which he's done, and the result is they've reached a conclusion.

She said Dellinger met with Bruce Burton of the Department of Public Health on Nov. 6, and the county will install flow meters as part of a capital project to improve and expand the system.

Dellinger said the state may allow Special Districts to defer a stationary backup generation and some storage, which will put their overall system project at $1.4 million, down from $2.1 million.

He said the county has $400,000 in reserves for the project, but will need an extra $1 million in grants. A fee increase in Spring Valley also will be needed.

That will be handled by lifting the connection moratorium for 55 homes, each of which would pay $18,000 in fees, which Dellinger said would fund the next series of improvements.

David Jones disagreed with Dellinger's summation of the situation. At an October meeting the board held in Spring Valley, Jones passed out water production numbers which showed that valley residents only used 43 percent of the water system's capacity, and 34 percent was unaccounted for.

Jones said there are dozens of vacant homes in the area, with foreclosed homes and homes for sale that aren't moving.

“The urgency ordinance as written has a problem,” he said. “There are no water shortages out there. There never were.”

Jones told the board he didn't want to see the urgency ordinance continued.

Dellinger said the state felt the ordinance and hookup moratorium were necessary.

Rushing added that if the county didn't implement the urgency ordinance and the state decided to instead take its own action, “It will take us forever to get out from under it.”

Cathy Jones asked why the county couldn't just fix the flow meters. Rushing relied that the flow meters have to be part of the larger project. Dellinger added that flow meters alone won't solve the capacity problem.

Rushing moved the ordinance, which the board accepted unanimously.

In other board business on Tuesday, members recognized World AIDS Week, which will be commemorated locally Nov. 30 through Dec. 6. Rushing presented a proclamation designating the week to Ken Young, program coordinator for the Community Care HIV/AIDS Project Drop In Center.

Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton gave a presentation to the board as part of its consideration of an agreement with the chamber for marketing, economic development and visitor information services. Fulton said the chamber and the county have been working together for more than 15 years.

The board was in favor of the agreement, but Rushing and Board Chair Ed Robey questioned the chamber's endorsement of political candidates. Fulton said in December 2007, the chamber surveyed its members, 44 percent of which said they didn't support making candidate endorsements, which have since stopped.

The chamber does, however, speak on issues, such as it did when it recently came out against a proposed ban on genetically engineered crops.

Robey said he wanted to see a clause inserted in the county's contract with the chamber that will prevent endorsing candidates in the future.

Also on Tuesday, Robey and other board members noted ongoing problems with service by television and Internet provider Mediacom, which broadcasts board meetings on TV Channel 8 as part of its franchise agreement. However, recent meeting broadcasts haven't taken place due to a variety of technical and equipment issues.

“We've had a series of problems for a series of weeks,” said Robey. “I'm getting a little concerned.”

Supervisor Anthony Farrington, who has been in the midst of taking his law school finals online, said Mediacom's Internet service also has been intermittent in the last few weeks.

“It's just ludicrous,” he said, reporting hundreds of people without their Internet connections, with no explanation.

He said the board needs to let the company know how the outages affect business, commerce and education locally.

Robey plans to have the issue agendized for an upcoming meeting.

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The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

On the short agenda is the consent calendar, which includes approval of the warrant register dated Dec. 2; council minutes from the Nov. 18 meeting; an agreement between the city and William Turner for provision of housing program inspector services; and consideration of an amendment to the Housing Program Policies and Guidelines.

The council also will hold a closed session for property negotiations relating to 1473 Martin St.

At the end of Tuesday's meeting, the council will adjourn to the following day – Wednesday, Dec. 3 – for a review of the city's draft general plan and draft environmental impact report.

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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.

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