LAKEPORT ? Opposition from five people and a missing council member Tuesday night prompted the Lakeport City Council to put off the adoption of the city”s General Plan update. The discussion will continue April 21.
“There”s a lot that”s been said tonight, and a lot to digest,” city attorney Steve Brooks said.
The 20-year planning document is designed to update the city”s current General Plan. It contains policies to guide growth that incorporate land use, traffic and growth projections. The project has been in the works for five years, according to Lakeport Community Development Director Mark Brannigan.
Councilwoman Suzanne Lyons suggested that the plan might be better off without its preparations for changing the city”s sphere of influence. The city”s sphere of influence is land outside the city”s borders that the city hopes to eventually annex through application to the Local Area Formation Committee.
Echoing speakers” concerns, Lyons referred to possible plans to develop a golf course, subdivision and shopping area on a portion of the City of Lakeport Municipal Sewer District (CLMSD) land south of the city”s border.
“If what you do is you build 1,200 units out there and some shopping, there goes the downtown, it seems to me. What we”ve been saying is that we wanted to preserve our downtown. So it”s like a schizophrenic plan,” Lyons said.
Speaker Janet Cawn said portions of the process hadn”t been handled correctly or properly advertised to allow adequate public participation. She referred to an agreement the city has with a developer for the CLMSD land.
Brannigan said growth south of the city”s current border is a logical progression. He said no specific plans have been outlined for the area, but later confirmed that the city has an agreement with a developer for the area. Brannigan said the agreement is separate from the General Plan, which only identifies the area as land the city would eventually like to develop.
Lakeport”s updated plan projects that by the year 2025 the city”s population will increase 42.3 percent. Brannigan said that estimate assumes the city will grow at a rate of approximately 1 percent, based on previous growth patterns.
Speaker Bob Bridges said based on his calculations, the plan allows 2,000 sites for an estimated 1,000 new homes that would be built if the city grew at a rate of 3 percent.
“This plan has so much extra area built into it ? I don”t know how this got by everybody, but I”m not that smart, and I sat down with a little calculator and did a little math, and it seemed like wow, this thing is proposing that our small-town charm ? we”re going to become like a Rohnert Park, the way this is looking,” Bridges said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
