PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: February 21, 2020 – April 7, 2020

The County of Lake (County), as lead agency, has completed a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Guenoc Valley Mixed-Use Planned Development Project (Proposed Project) in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Draft EIR will be available for review and comment beginning on Friday, February 21, 2020. Members of the public and other interested agencies and individuals are invited to provide written comments, which will be accepted through 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7, 2020.

Please mail or email your written comments to:

County of Lake
Attn: Mark Roberts, Principal Planner
255 N. Forbes Street
Lakeport, CA 95453
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY

A complete copy of the Draft EIR and documents incorporated by reference are available during normal business hours at the County of Lake, Community Development Department, 255 N. Forbes Street, Lakeport, CA 95453. The Draft EIR is also available at the Middletown Library, 21256 Washington Street, Middletown, CA 95461, and the following website address:
http://www.lakecountyca.gov/Government/Directory/Community_Development/Planning/GuenocValley.htm .

PROJECT LOCATION

The primary project site (Guenoc Valley Site) is comprised of 49 assessor parcels totaling approximately 16,000 acres (25 square miles) in southeast Lake County, with an address of 22000 Butts Canyon Road, CA 95461. This site excludes approximately 500 acres of non-owned interior area where the Langtry winery and vineyards are located. A five-mile stretch of Butts Canyon Road bisects the Guenoc Valley Site, which is approximately four miles east of the intersection of State Route (SR) 29 / Butts Canyon Road, and 1.5 miles west of the intersection of Snell Valley Road / Butts Canyon Road. The Middletown Housing Site is an approximately 12.75-acre site located at 21000 Santa Clara in Middletown (APN 014-380-09). The off-site well property (Off-site Well Site) is located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Butts Canyon Road and HWY 29, (APNs 014-430-13;-12). The proposed water pipeline would be constructed along six miles of the Butts Canyon Road right-of-way from the Off-site Well Site to the Guenoc Valley site.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Proposed Project includes a General Plan amendment to designate the Guenoc Valley Site as Resort Commercial and rezone it to Guenoc Valley District (GVD), pursuant to the Middletown Area Plan Policy 6.3.1b. These amendments, if approved, would allow for the development of up to 400 hotel rooms, 450 resort residential units, 1,400 residential estates, and 500 workforce co-housing units within the zoning district. The Draft EIR analyzes the effects of the proposed General Plan amendment and rezoning of the Guenoc Valley Site to GVD on a programmatic level.

In addition to the program level analysis, the Draft EIR provides a project level analysis of the impacts of the first phase (Phase 1) of the Proposed Project. Phase 1 proposes a phased subdivision and related entitlements to allow at full buildout up to 401 residential estates, 141 resort residential units, and 177 hotel units and accessory resort and commercial uses within the Guenoc Valley Site. In addition, Phase 1 includes a subdivision and rezone of the Middletown Housing Site to accommodate workforce housing, including 21 single family residences with optional accessory dwelling units, 29 duplex units in 15 structures, and a community clubhouse and associated infrastructure. Off-site infrastructure improvements under the Proposed Project include a proposed water supply well on the Off-site Well Site and pipeline located adjacent to and within Butts Canyon Road, along with intersection and electrical improvements.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

The Draft EIR found that impacts associated with the following issue areas would be less than significant or less than significant with mitigation: Air Quality, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Geology and Soils, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Hydrology and Water Quality, Land Use, Population and Housing, Public Services, Utilities, Energy, Wildfire. The Draft EIR concludes that the Proposed Project would have the following Significant and Unavoidable impacts: i) the visual alteration of the Guenoc Valley Site resulting from construction of the Primary Access Road Option 2 during Phase 1 would constitute a significant and unavoidable impact to the visual character and scenic views of the site; ii) the visual alteration of the Guenoc Valley Site under future phases of the Proposed Project is conservatively assumed to constitute a significant and unavoidable aesthetic impact due to the unknown exact location, scale, design and density of development; iii) Phase 1 would convert approximately 50 acres of Important Farmland to non-agricultural use and future phases may convert Important Farmland to non-agricultural use; iv) Phase 1 and future phases would result in emissions of GHGs that would contribute on a cumulative level to impacts associated with climate change and would result in a major increase in GHG emissions above BAAQMD thresholds and therefore conflict with the AB 32 Scoping Plan; v) a substantial increase in traffic related noise at sensitive receptors would be experienced along Butts Canyon Road between SR-29 and the project driveways under Phase 1 and future phases; vi) Phase 1 and future phases would not meet the recommended OPR threshold of a 15 percent reduction in per capita VMT below the regional average; vii) future phases would cause the level of service at three intersections outside Lake County jurisdiction to exceed acceptable levels.
Planning Commission Informational Presentation and Comment Opportunity

The County of Lake Planning Commission will host an informational presentation on the Proposed Project and Draft EIR, and hold a public comment hearing on the Draft EIR on Thursday, March 12th, 2020 at 1:00 P.M in the Board of Chambers on the first floor of the Courthouse at 255 North Forbes Street in Lakeport, CA at 1 pm. Written and verbal comments will be accepted.


Date: February 21, 2020

By: Scott DeLeon, Interim Community Development Director
County of Lake, Community Development Department

Details

Written by: Lake County Community Development Department

Published: 21 February 2020

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Planning Commission of the County of Lake, State of California, will hold a public hearing to consider MINOR USE PERMIT (MUP 19-11) on Thursday, February 27, 2020, at 9:05 a.m., in the Board of Supervisors’ Chambers, 255 N. Forbes Street, Lakeport, California.

Applicant: Nick Needham. Owner: Randy Putman.

Proposed Project: (1) A Type 2 (medium outdoor) Commercial Cannabis Cultivation license. Location: 1409 and 1419 Vernal Drive, Lakeport, CA; APN: 007-059-02 and 007-059-03.

Environmental Evaluation: Categorical Exemption (CE 19-95).

Planner: Victor Fernandez, (707) 263-2221 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The staff report is available for review on February 17, 2020.

If you challenge the action of the Planning Commission 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 Lake County Planning Commission at, or prior to, the public hearing.

The following is a link to the Planning Commission Agenda posted 72 hours prior to the hearing: https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.

A hard copy of the staff report is available upon request.


COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
Scott DeLeon, Interim Community Development Director

By: ____________________________________
Danae LoDolce, Office Assistant III

Details

Written by: Lake County Community Development Department

Published: 14 February 2020

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Planning Commission of the County of Lake, State of California, will hold a public hearing on application Amendment to the Lake County Zoning Ordinance (AM 20-01) and Categorical Exemption (CE 20-07) on Thursday, February 27, 2020, at 9:30 a.m., in the Board of Supervisors’ Chambers, 255 N. Forbes Street, Lakeport, CA.

Proposing: Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment prepared for the County of Lake to Amend the Lake County Zoning Ordinance to establish regulations and development standards for the cultivation of industrial hemp.

Said amendments shall include: 1. The addition of "(ab) Industrial Hemp APZ, A, TPZ, RL, RR, SR, PDC, and O" to Table 27.2 of Article 27 of the Lake County Zoning Ordinance to add industrial hemp as a use generally permitted with a zoning permit; 2. The addition of Section 27.3 (ab) Industrial Hemp to Section 27.3 (Conditions requiring of uses permitted by a zoning permit of the Lake County Zoning Ordinance to provide as follows: (a) The provisions of this Subsection shall not apply to any of the provisions outlined in the Article 27.11; (b) The parcel shall contain a minimum of one (1) acre for indoor/greenhouse cultivation and a minimum of five (5) acres for outdoor cultivation. (c). If grading is required, all grading shall comply with the standards set forth by Chapter 30 of the Lake County Code. (d) Hemp cultivation site shall be setback a minimum of 150 feet from an off-site residence: (i) A waiver signed by neighboring property owners can be submitted which may decrease the minimum setback. (e) Hemp cultivation is prohibited within 1000 feet of Community Growth Boundaries as described in the Lake County General Plan; (f) Seed production of any type shall only be grown indoors or within engineered greenhouses with filters.

Planner: Mark Roberts, (707) 263-2221 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . The staff report is available for review on February 17, 2020. If you challenge the action of the Planning Commission 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 Lake County Planning Commission at, or prior to, the public hearing.

The following is a link to the Planning Commission Agenda posted 72 hours prior to the hearing: https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.

A hard copy of the staff report is available upon request.


COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
Scott DeLeon, Interim Community Development Director

By: ____________________________________
Danae LoDolce, Office Assistant III

Details

Written by: Lake County Community Development Department

Published: 14 February 2020