LAKEPORT — City council will hold a public hearing Tuesday evening regarding an environmental review of a proposed 150.7-acre Parallel Drive annexation. The council will adopt a mitigated negative declaration, essentially confirming review findings that such mitigation would reduce environmental impacts, Redevelopment Manager Richard Knoll said.
Part of the property includes about 30 acres an Arizona-based developer is considering selling to Mendocino College. The college would build a new, permanent campus on the site. The developer, Tom Adamson, has in the past proposed a housing project on additional land he owns next to the proposed Mendocino College site, and is now talking about some commercial development on the property, Knoll said.
Annexation of the land has been approved by city council and has been included as a priority goal for the city as part of its general plan since 1992, when the current general plan was adopted.
“If the project [annexation] is implemented, the mitigation that has been recommended will reduce some of the environmental impacts that were identified,” Knoll said.
He said state environmental law requires any project, including annexation, to go through an environmental review process. That same process is required when a developer undertakes a site-specific project, such as a proposed housing or commercial development.
In other council business, an ordinance will be introduced correcting and amending the Lakeport zoning ordinance to limit the maximum number of guest bedrooms in bed and breakfast inns to five. The ordinance will be set for a second reading and public hearing on May 6.
The council will also consider approval of documents authorizing the sale of the Redevelopment Agency”s tax increment bonds in the amount of up to $4 million. Those funds will go to the downtown Lakeport transformation project. The project, slated to begin this summer, will include an architectural make-over of downtown business facades, as well as landscaping and sidewalk improvements.
The city expects to receive about $3.5 million from the bonds. “If we”re able to sell a higher level of bonds, we want to be able to go up to that level. For authorization purposes, we”ll be able to go up to $4 million,” Knoll said.
On the consent agenda, the council will receive and file a staff report regarding completion of Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) improvements to the city”s sewer system and finalization of a bond to pay for those improvements. The improvements were completed in November as part of a cease and desist order placed on the city by the RWQCB due to sewage spills.
The council will hear reports regarding placing staff reports ? public materials that include staff recommendations to city council members on various issues ? on the city”s Web site.
The meeting starts at 5 p.m. for a 2008/09 budget overview. The regular meeting begins at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers at 225 Park Street in Lakeport.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com
