CLEARLAKE — A scoping meeting held Thursday, Nov. 16, at Clearlake City Hall afforded local residents an opportunity to comment on an initial study for the Provinsalia Golf Community. The next step is for a municipal consultant to prepare a draft Environmental Impact Report, which will be circulated for additional review.
“This meeting is a required step under CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act),” said Ben Ritchie with Pacific Municipal Consultants. “We will be preparing an EIR and assessing the impacts it will have. Tonight”s meeting was only a preliminary step.”
If the setting seemed familiar, it was because a prior consultant, RMM Environmental Planning, completed a draft EIR one year earlier that was submitted to peer review. “The city made a determination that it was not up to their standards,” Ritchie said on Wednesday. “We are starting from scratch procedurally.”
The city recently publicized a 30-day review period for the Notice of Preparation and Initial Study that began Wednesday, Nov. 1. The review period continues through Thursday, Nov. 30.
Lake County Resort Partners LLC proposes to locate the Provinsalia Golf Community on 292.2 acres of land in the southeast corner of Clearlake, east of Dam Road and north of Cache Creek. It is requesting a General Plan amendment to change the current designation of the site from Resource Protection and Environment to Specific Plan and a rezone of the property from Resource Protection and Environment to Specific Plan. The developer proposes construction of 600 single-family homes, 120 attached residences and a nine-hole public golf course.
Ritchie noted that proposed primary access to Provinsalia has been revised from that described within the Initial Study. Dam Road in its current alignment would provide secondary access and not primary access as the Initial Study had stated.
Primary access would instead be provided via a segment of street that would be constructed off Dam Road at what is approximately the halfway point between the road”s intersection with Lake Street and its connection to State Route 53. Ritchie noted that the city would have to secure right-of-way from the property owner.
The segment would split into one-way lanes that connect to Seventh and Eighth Avenues, two roads that exist “only on paper.” These would provide one-way traffic going in each direction.
The lanes occupying these avenues would reconverge for two-way travel as the road proceeded to the project site.
Some of the concerns raised on Wednesday included the fact that biological analysis for the previous draft EIR had been performed by an arborist and not a Registered Professional Forester. Responding to Victoria Brandon, who represented the Sierra Club Lake Group, Ritchie said that there are differing interpretations of CEQA requirements that concern mitigation of the removal of woodlands and that PMC would utilize the services of a certified arborist.
Konocti representatives Superintendent Dr. Louise Nan and board trustee Herb Gura both addressed potential impacts to Lake Street in Lower Lake, which goes past Konocti schools and which is used as a route by area motorists to connect with southbound State Route 29.
Impacts upon Cache Creek, which borders the project area, and upon local wildlife were also cited by local residents.
Ritchie took notes during Wednesday”s meeting to compile the various concerns. “I”m going to go away for a few months and work hard and when I come back, we”ll have a big, thick document to look at,” Ritchie said.
The comment period for Initial Study extends through Thursday, Nov. 30. The document can be reviewed at Clearlake City Hall. Written comments can be sent to the City of Clearlake Planning Department, 14050 Olympic Drive in Clearlake, Clearlake, CA 95422 or to Pacific Municipal Consultants, 10461 Old Placerville Road, Suite 110, Sacramento, CA 95827. Comments can also be e-mailed to Ritchie at britchie@pacificmunicipal.com.
Ritchie noted that the draft EIR, once it is completed, will be subject to 45 days of additional public review. Written comments will be compiled, with responses by PMC, in the final EIR that is brought before the City of Clearlake.
Contact Cynthia Parkhill at cparkhill@clearlakeobserver.com.
