LAKE COUNTY ? June 5 is the deadline to comment on the draft environmental impact report (EIR) for the Shoreline Communities Area Plan, a land use document that will guide planning and growth along the Northshore.
Planning staff at the Lake County Community Development Department will include written comments on the EIR in the planning document until that date. Comments on the plan itself and the EIR will be addressed in a June 11 public hearing scheduled at 1 p.m. at the Lake County Courthouse.
The Lake County Planning Commission held the first public hearing regarding the EIR Thursday. Out of 15 speakers, one commented on the EIR and the rest had questions and concerns about specific properties.
“I think it went pretty well,” Lake County Community Development Department Project Manager Kevin Ingram said. “I thought that was consistent with the public comments I”ve been getting.”
The plan establishes policies to guide growth in the area for 20 years. The 283-square-mile planning area spans approximately 22 percent of Lake County. It sweeps from Lucerne to the easternmost county line and includes Kono Tayee, Paradise Cove, Glenhaven, Clearlake Oaks, Spring Valley, portions of Clearlake Park and the unincorporated areas north of the City of Clearlake.
The area contains the last of Lake County”s unclassified zoning, according to Ingram. He said the county is under a court order to eliminate the unclassified areas by assigning appropriate zoning.
Clearlake Park resident Michael Dunlap, who owns an approximately 5-acre parcel on the peninsula, said he didn”t want tighter restrictions on his property. Dunlap”s property would be rezoned Suburban Residential (SR) in the plan. Dunlap asked the commission to create a new zone, specific to his property.
“I don”t think we”re going to be inventing any new zoning designations here today,” Commissioner Cliff Swetnam said.
Lake County Community Department Director Rick Coel said the SR zoning was the best fit, but asked Dunlap to submit a letter with specific requests so alternate zoning could be considered.
Coel and Ingram answered questions regarding specific properties for more than two hours.
Lucerne resident Caroline Evans asked about a new requirement in the plan for land that currently allows singlewide mobile homes. The plan would require new homes on the land to be at least 720 square feet in area and 15 feet wide, up from current requirements. Coel said the new standards would not apply to existing homes unless there are health and safety hazards, or until the homes are replaced.
The plan also contains a formal process through which owners of thousands of “paper subdivisions” in the hills above Lucerne will have to go in order to develop the parcels.
Ingram said illegal dumping, marijuana gardens and off-road vehicle riding are common in the area.
For more information, contact the Community Development Department at 263-1222. Coel said an address or assessor”s parcel number is helpful if the question concerns a specific property.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
