LAKEPORT — A part-time Buckingham resident with two related items before the Lake County Planning Commission Thursday had one project denied and the other approved.
Dennis De La Montanya petitioned the commission to amend the general plan and rezone a large parcel within the Buckingham subdivision from single-family residential to suburban reserve to possibly install a 15-acre vineyard. The property, located at 8255 Point Drive, is a large field near the end of the Buckingham peninsula.
De La Montanya also proposed a minor modification to a previously approved tentative subdivision map to reduce the number of proposed lots from 11 to six. The property, located at 8245 Point Drive, is adjacent to the proposed vineyard.
About a half-dozen Buckingham residents attended the meeting. Many said De La Montanya discussed the vineyard project and they were opposed to it.
Commissioners reminded the public the vineyard was not being discussed, only the general plan amendment and rezone petition. District II Commissioner Bob Malley was absent from the meeting.
Principal Planner Emily Minton said the parcel was previously zoned for crop conversion, but was rezoned to “R1” single-family residential following the adoption of the last county grading ordinance in 2006. All other parcels are zoned “R1” in Buckingham, according to Minton.
De La Montanya said he purchased the parcel around 2006 or 2007 and was told upon the purchase that it was approved for a vineyard. Minton said “SR” suburban reserve zoning would allow for some agricultural uses, such as crop and tree farming and animal husbandry.
Many longtime residents spoke of a long-gone walnut orchard that was located at the site. Agricultural Commissioner Steven Hajik said the walnut orchard was stopped because of complaints about the spraying of pesticides and other agricultural-related issues, such as dust.
Many residents were concerned the spraying of pesticides at the potential vineyard would seep into the groundwater and nearby Clear Lake.
Commissioners Olga Martin-Steele and Cliff Swetnam said the requests did not make sense for residential Buckingham, and Commissioner Gil Schoux agreed.
The commission moved to deny the rezone request and general plan amendment on consecutive 4-0 votes.
De La Montanya”s other request was an amendment to a subdivision proposal that was approved by the planning commission in 2007. De La Montanya requested a minor modification to reduce the number of parcels planned from 11 to six on 12 acres.
De La Montanya said he was working with a partner on the project in 2007, but that partner went bankrupt and the parcel nearly went into foreclosure. He said he was able to salvage the property and his petition was a “re-think” of the project.
Ellen Pearson, general manager for the Buckingham Park Water District, said four of the six proposed parcels could not be served from the water system because of a moratorium on new hookups.
The commissioners debated whether the planned subdivision should hook up to the water system. Pearson said the system could not provide new hookups until a new engineering study on the system was performed, which she said could not happen for about 10 years.
De La Montanya said he needed to act quickly and submit a tentative map for the subdivision to the bank or the project would go back into foreclosure.
The commissioners agreed that the two existing hookups would connect to the Buckingham Park Water District, with provisions for the other four parcels to connect to the system or drill wells in the future. The commissioners approved the tentative subdivision map and adopted the previously adopted mitigated negative declaration for the project on consecutive 4-0 votes.
In other matters, the commissioners approved a minor use permit for construction of a 2,500-square-foot building for an auto repair shop on Soda Bay Road in the south Lakeport corridor. Commercial and industrial businesses exist in the area currently. The commissioners adopted a mitigated negative declaration for the project and approved the issuance of a minor use permit for the project on consecutive 4-0 votes.
The commissioners approved a proposed parcel split for a property on Mahoney Drive in rural Upper Lake. Three residences, one constructed without a building permit, sit on the property. The split required an extension of Mahoney Drive, which required a deviation approval. The commissioners approved a mitigated negative declaration, deviation for the road extension and a tentative map approval on consecutive 4-0 votes.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14. Follow on Twitter: @KevinNHume.
