LAKEPORT — An environmental group filed an appeal to Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) on Wednesday regarding several Lake County Planning Commission approval motions associated with the Bottle Rock Power (BRP) proposed expansion project.
“This is a very highly industrialized project that is being proposed on the edge of the residential area of Cobb,” Hamilton Hess, chairman of Friends of Cobb Mountain, said. Hess filed the appeal Wednesday on behalf of the organization and other Cobb residents.
On Jan. 13, the commission approved minor modifications to BRP”s existing use permit and associated traffic control plan, approved the new use permit for the project and recommended the project”s rezone proposal to the BOS.
BRP has proposed to construct two new geothermal well pads, drill up to 22 production and injection wells and add about 1.3 miles of new pipeline on roughly 470 acres of surface land the company currently leases on High Valley Road in Cobb.
Hess said some community members want the county to rework some of the environmental documents and the use permits, focusing on better addressing potential project concerns such as visual impact, noise and large truck traffic.
Brian Harms, BRP general manager, said the company recognizes that appeals are part of the public process. “Obviously, it is important for us to get through the appeal process,” he said.
The appeal will be heard during a mid-February BOS regular meeting, according to Community Development Director Richard Coel.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
