LAKEPORT ? After debating traffic hazards and crop dusting effects, the Lake County Planning Commission approved a permit Thursday for a coffee kiosk and a remodeled gas station on Highland Springs Road and Highway 29.
The commission voted to approve the permit 4-0, with Commissioner Clelia Baur absent. Baur was absent because of a family emergency.
The commission was concerned about farmers spraying the fields surrounding the coffee kiosk. Agricultural commissioner Steve Hajik asked that the kiosk be set back 150 feet from fields and that it not be open during crop dusting. The commissioners agreed.
Commissioner Gil Schoux said he expects a lot of construction workers to buy coffee at the kiosk.
“Bein” an ex-construction guy, I”m kinda in favor of the kiosk,” Schoux said.
Assistant planner Brian Horn recommended that the board approve the permit for the gas station but not the coffee kiosk because the drive thru might create a traffic hazard, he said. Westgate Petroleum will also build a commercial office on the gas station property.
The commission also approved by 4-0 vote the acquisition of a parcel and the removal of a house on the property to incorporate it into the public beach surrounding it at 3555 Lakeshore Blvd. in Nice. “This will allow a continuous strip of beach front,” Eric Seeley, county deputy redevelopment director said.
The Planning Commission meets again Sept. 8.
