Thomas Hunt with Ruzicka Associates has been granted a use permit to construct a 5,000-square-foot metal building on the north side of Ogulin Canyon Road, approximately one-third of a mile east of its intersection with State Route 53.
Tim Yarbrough is the owner of record for the parcel, which is presently vacant land and is zoned C4, Heavy Service Commercial-Light Industrial. Once constructed, “House of Stainless” would be used for metal fabrication and would employ two to four people.
City of Clearlake Planning Commission members voted 3-0 to approve the application during the meeting of Tuesday, June 20. Those commissioners who were present were Carl Webb, Bob Gordon and Curt Giambruno.
Forty-eight conditions were attached to the city”s granting the use permit, including improvements to Ogulin Canyon Road; however, city staff recommended deferring offsite improvements as the applicant had agreed to address drainage. These off-site improvements will be deferred for five years.
Commissioners additionally revised a condition that required asphalt paving on the parking lot. Two access driveways will be constructed onto Ogulin Canyon Road and these will be paved with asphalt in compliance with city standards. Handicapped parking will also be paved with asphalt.
“On the majority of the parking lot, we would like to do chipseal instead of asphalt,” Hunt told commissioners, adding that paving the entire parking lot with asphalt would be a hardship monetarily. Commissioners modified the applicable requirement to allow chipseal on the regular parking area. It was noted during the June 20 hearing that Clearlake municipal code requires parking lots to be treated with either asphalt or concrete.
Public input during the hearing came from neighbor Jim Herman, who said he was in support of the project and that he had waited for culverts to go in along Ogulin Canyon Road but that he would have to get a permit to remove gravel that would be dropped on his property. Herman additionally stated that he did not receive a notice concerning the public hearing. Findings of fact contained in the staff report indicate that notice of the public hearing was published in the Clear Lake ObserverHAmerican and mailed to property owners within 300 feet of the subject property.
Responding to Herman”s concerns, commissioners included in their motion that the city would support any streambed alterations that would result from Herman”s having to clean out gravel. These permits are granted through Lake County Environmental Health according to the city”s Interim Community Development Director Angela Basch.
Contact Cynthia Parkhill at cparkhill@clearlakeobserver.com.
