There are many idealistic visions when it comes to public lake access, open shoreline, and city/county parks. Recent Record Bee opinion letters rally for the designation of open space or parks vs. commercial development for parcels such as the Natural High property.
And why not, especially when we look at the extremes: would you rather have a commercial property with a locked gate blocking all view of the lake and available to only the wealthy that can afford to rent a room, or would you prefer another Library Park with complete access to all?
Simple decision. However, it gets more complex when one investigates the reality of when Lakeport (with or without county assistance) would be able to fund the development of another park let alone have the funds to maintain it. Even open space is costly to provide, maintain, insure etc. When it comes time to spend money on this idealistic vision, priorities such as paving roads and filling potholes will trump another waterfront park in Lakeport.
However, it does not have to be black or white as described above. Many waterfront commercial properties (e.g. Lake Tahoe, San Francisco Bay, Southern California) are now developed commercially in such a manner that the water frontage is maintained for public access, viewing, fishing, etc. at no expense to the community.
Visualize commercial development of the Willow-Point property, the Natural High Property and the Dutch Harbor property in a manner that resulted in a lake promenade connecting all of them with Library Park, including benches, walkways, bike paths, beaches, and wetlands.
The public sector part of this property is for the most part already developed. The commercial part will be funded by developers adhering to an architected plan approved by all of us. Most of the property will be generating rather than using tax revenues.
Such a plan is a workable solution (not a never to be funded vision) that is a compromise between the extremes described above. Presented with this commentary is a summary of a “Lakeshore Redevelopment Plan” provided last year to the City of Lakeport by the Clear Lake Advisory Subcommittee (CLAS), towards the goal of providing long-term sustainable public lake access.
This collection of properties on the shoreline of Lakeport could easily be one of the premier waterfronts in the entire state of California. It is up to us because Lakeport”s destiny is everyone”s business.
Editor”s Note: Ed Calkins is Chairman of Clear Lake Advisory Subcommittee. A copy of the Lakeshore Redevelopment Plan referenced appears on this same website at www.record-bee.com. The plan does not necessarily reflect the views of the Record-Bee or its staff, and it is presented for public information purposes only.
