LAKEPORT — City council at its Tuesday meeting approved a mitigation to reduce environmental impacts in the proposed annexation of 150.7 acres of Parallel Drive property.
The next step is for LAFCO to approve the project, which last year denied it. The city “hopes to submit the formal application within the next week, and get it to LAFCO in May,” Redevelopment Manager Richard Knoll said.
The project includes six total mitigation measures that would reduce environmental impacts to a “less than significant level,” Knoll said.
Councilman Jim Irwin asked whether the city government could afford the annexation of land that is sparsely populated and wouldn”t immediately bring in tax revenues comparable to what the city would spend on services to the area.
City Manager Jerry Gillham said the proposed developments on the property are a new, permanent Mendocino College campus and potential residential developments.
The 150-acre annexation includes 30 acres owned by Arizona-based developer Tom Adamson that Mendocino College is currently in negotiations to purchase. The additional 100 acres owned by Adamson is not part of the proposed annexation. The proposed annexation includes several parcels of land located near Parallel Drive.
Irwin said he is not opposed to growth, but the city “needs more people to share in the same pot.”
“Infill is how we do that. We keep the problem growing by getting bigger. I”m guessing our densities will go down, with this annexation. It”s a pretty sparsely populated area. If the college goes in instead of the big mass of homes, that land doesn”t pay property taxes. I”m all for growing, but are we going to lay off an employee in the short term to pay for it?” Irwin asked, referring to the city”s budget woes.
Director of Facility Services at Mendocino College Mike Adams said the college is tax exempt. “Whatever property that we end up on is tax exempt,” Adams said. He said there will be a “trade-off” once the college leaves its current, tax-exempt Lakeport location because once the move takes place, that facility will again be taxed.
Mayor Buzz Bruns called the annexation a “stepping stone for our future annexations.”
“That”s as important to us as anything, with the sewer area and golf course [a city-approved future housing and golf course development off of Highway 175], I think you have to look forward to that,” Bruns said.
After approving the annexation mitigation, the council discussed changing an ordinance regarding limiting bedrooms in bed and breakfasts to five. The word “maximum” was recommended by the Planning Commission to be included after the ordinance”s mention of five bedrooms. After the council spent about half-an-hour deliberating over the meaning of the word “maximum,” Jan Bruns, the wife of Buzz Bruns, addressed the council. “I think you should keep the word ?maximum” because you can then have two, three, four ? up to five bedrooms.”
The council decided to send the ordinance back to the Planning Commission for re-wording. “Bring it back to us and make it right,” Mayor Bruns said.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com.
