LAKEPORT — The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) indicated Tuesday it would oppose any design of the new county courthouse that would block the view of Clear Lake from the Vista Point visitor center.
The BOS discussed the issue with state representatives and concerned citizens for one hour during Tuesday”s regular meeting at the Lake County Courthouse.
The state”s Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) is under contract for nearly six acres of land immediately east of the visitor center on which to construct the new courthouse.
One preliminary design option proposed to construct the two-story, nearly 51,000-square-foot building on the north end of the property. The “North option” placement would result in the courthouse rising 10 feet above the visitor center parking lot.
District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington, a member of the Courthouse Project Advisory Committee, said he opposed the preliminary “North option,” which was presented to the committee earlier this month. The state also presented a “South option” to the committee.
Farrington said he considered the “South option” more preferable for the proposed site because its impact to the Vista Point lake view would be significantly less than that of the “North option.”
The “North option” is currently preferred by the state, AOC representative Anne Ording said.
The preliminary “South option” design presents issues related to the entry roadway and daylight access, according to the AOC. The courthouse would also be less visible from portions of Lakeport Boulevard at that location.
AOC representative Rona Rothenberg told the BOS that the presented designs were only preliminary and a final design is far from solidified. She said her office would “take all of this input under very serious consideration.”
The current courthouse on North Forbes Street ranked among the most poorly equipped in the state, making the development of a new Lake County Courthouse important for the AOC, Rothenberg said.
The new courthouse would house only courtrooms and other spaces required for the courts, all of which are now primarily located on the fourth floor of the current Lakeport courthouse.
The BOS voted unanimously to send letters to Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro and State Senator Noreen Evans, informing them of the Supervisors” opposition to any courthouse design blocking the lake view from the Vista Point center parking lot and asking the legislators to encourage the AOC to address the local concerns.
The BOS also voted to send a similar letter to the Lakeport City Council.
Farrington also said he disliked the conceptual design for the new courthouse, saying, “It looks like a big boxed Wal-mart with nice windows.” None of the BOS-approved letters addressed such building design concerns.
Currently, the projected construction start date for the new courthouse is fall 2012, with a mid-2014 completion date for the $53 million project, according to AOC spokesperson Teresa Ruano. The architectural design process, which has just begun, typically takes about a year, she said.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
