Nationwide, golf clubs are closing and the resorts and residential developments tied to them are falling into bankruptcy ? even before recent scandals involving Tiger Woods that are predicted to result in a 50 percent decline in the audience for televised golf.
The economic evaluation of Cristallago”s resort component was based on the assumption that dedicated marina facilities would be provided to resort guests and homeowners, but now the lakeshore property intended for those amenities has gone into foreclosure.
The overwhelming majority of jobs created by the project would be in the service sector, with low pay and few if any benefits, and their number will be greatly reduced if the resort component fails to meet the improbably rosy projections that have been offered.
The shaky financial condition of the developers raises the specter of a project that has been begun but which cannot be completed. This scenario has been repeated far too often in Lake County already, with a previous example on this very project site. We cannot afford another paper subdivision, especially not on this massive scale.
Leaving the worst for last, Cristallago conflicts grossly with the Lake County General Plan. The most obvious defect ? residential densities forbidden outside Community Growth Boundaries ? is only one among dozens of acknowledged inconsistencies. For a list, see the Sierra Club comment letter posted on line at http://www.lakelive.info/cristallago/pdffiles/SCBOS1.20.10.pdf.
State Planning and Zoning law explicitly forbids approval of a project which conflicts with General Plan policies or which renders the General Plan internally inconsistent. No exception can be made to this requirement, nor do any “overriding considerations” apply. Amending the General Plan for the sake of the project is not an option. This is commonly done with designations on particular parcels, but these conflicts stem from fundamental policies that are the very backbone of the document. It is inconceivable that for any reasons the Board of Supervisors would choose to dismantle an excellent General Plan that was recently adopted after years of effort and the expenditure of millions of dollars, and certainly not in order to facilitate a tenuous project that offers so little in the way of tangible benefits to the community.
In short, approval of this application would eviscerate our General Plan, set devastating precedents for the rest of Lake County, distort growth patterns in the Lakeport region, and create environmental havoc, all without a viable expectation of realizing the compensatory benefits that have been promised.
Please call or write your supervisors and urge them to reject this application.
Victoria Brandon submitted this on behalf of the Sierra Club Lake Group.
