LAKEPORT — Sitting as the Lakeport Redevelopment Agency (RDA) Board of Directors Tuesday night, the Lakeport City Council approved the next steps in a plan to sell Dutch Harbor property to the redevelopment agency.
The board”s unanimous vote directed RDA Director Richard Knoll to start due diligence processes involved in buying the land from the city, which included updating an appraisal report, contacting developer Matt Boeger and getting a legal opinion about any specific issues, among other items.
“Due diligence needs to be performed in order to move forward. This would just initiate that process. It is not a decision to purchase. The acquisition will be brought back before the board after due diligence is completed,” Knoll said.
The approximately 4-acre harbor property has 200 feet of frontage on Main Street between Ninth and Tenth streets and widens to include approximately 325 feet Clear Lake shoreline.
According to City Attorney Steve Brooks, the property was part of an agreement the city entered into with Boeger in 2006 to develop a residential golf course project on City of Lakeport Municipal Sewer District (CLMSD) property. Brooks said as part of that agreement, Boeger has the first right of refusal to the property, meaning he will be given the opportunity to meet another developer”s offered purchase price for the property.
Brooks said the agreement was made on the premise that the lake access made the golf course development more attractive to potential buyers.
“Once you lose your open space it”s not easy to find again. That”s something we need to keep in mind, because there”s not much left,” Lakeport resident Suzanne Lyons said.
Knoll said one advantage the RDA would have in owning the land was the ability to put requirements on potential developers, including allowing a public access easement. Other advantages include the ability to regulate when and how development occurs and the quality of development. He said the land, and the neighboring Natural High School property, falls within 618 acres of city property identified as blighted.
He said the definition of blight includes oddly-shaped parcels, vacant lots and facilities in disrepair.
Knoll told the board the land was part of a waterfront development project that includes land between Library Park to Clear Lake Avenue, including Dutch Haror and Natural High School properties. He said the public will be invited to comment on the project in its second phase.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
