LAKEPORT >> Just like the people of Kelseyville, the residents of Middletown sent a clear message to the Lake County government on Thursday: they don’t want a Dollar General store in their community.
That opposition outcry was voiced clearly during the Planning Commission’s regular meeting when it considered a mitigated negative declaration and an application for a major use permit for the proposed store at 20900 State Highway 29. It struck down the proposal unanimously, 5-0.
“We don’t need Dollar General,” Fairlight Algren of Valley Fire Phoenix Rising said. “It’s the opposite of economic development.”
More than 10 residents participated in public comment, in addition to a number of letters the planning department received against the proposal. The most potent of these came from the Middletown Area Merchants Association. All expressed fears that the store would further harm local businesses in the downtown area, which have already taken a massive hit due to the fire.
Some were calm but others, like Lisa Kaplan of the Middletown Art Center, were impassioned. She felt, just like many other commenters, that the store would destroy jobs and take away local money.
“We want to grow from within,” she said in a dramatic address to the board. “We’ve been stymied by the fire; we don’t need to be further stymied by ‘economic development’ that doesn’t actually suit the tone of our community … we want to keep growing it the way it is.”
The issue was also addressed by District 2 Commissioner Bob Malley when he asked Cross Development representative Joe Dell how he justifies bringing the store to the town “that’s already been blighted.”
In response, Dell said that there is a need for services now that these businesses are struggling. His words elicited gasps and sarcastic laughter from the crowd behind him.
“Businesses are closing down,” he said. “Yeah, half the households are gone, but not all the people are gone … there’s a need in Lake County for more retail options.”
The public also expressed grievances about the building’s design — especially its outward appearance. The complaints came from many, including District 1 Candidate Monica Rosenthal and Lake County Sierra Club Chapter Chair Victoria Brandon. Opponents felt like the design didn’t adhere to Section 7 of the Middletown Area Plan, failing to have the 9,100 square foot fit in with the “mystique” as one resident described it.
If approved, Dell said Cross Development would continue working with the community to get a better design that would be more suitable to their community.
Yet, even their new design (which was different from the one presented at the most recent Middletown Area Town Hall Meeting) didn’t satisfy. Algren called it “garbage” while Kaplan observed it a “big box store.”
“It permanents the image of poverty and economic distress in Middletown,” one resident said.
“This is a great big inconsistency,” Brandon added. “I don’t think that any bits of design juggling can change that.”
The last major complaint focused the on the proposed site’s location, which would be in the vicinity of four schools. Not only were safety and environmental issues addressed, but Malley even implied that Dollar General stores are being deliberately placed near schools — just like the ones in Nice and Clearlake Oaks, as well as the denied proposal in Kelseyville.
Dell countered that assertion and claimed that the locations were just in parcels that were properly zoned and high traffic.
“It makes sense to develop it for retail,” he added.
But his arguments were futile in convincing any members of the commission.
In his final statements District 1 Commissioner and Chair Joseph Sullivan addressed the design and economic issues.
“If we break our own area plan with the first development, it really shoehorns us in to what we don’t want to be,” Sullivan said.
The Middletown Area Merchants Association also opposed this proposal.
“Based on our research, we have serious misgivings regarding this project. We believe that Lake County, with its natural lake, outdoor adventure, and growing wine industry, is poised to regain its title as a desirable vacation destination for the greater Bay Area,” the organization wrote in a letter to the planning division. “As Middletown is the gateway to South Lake County, it is imperative that we maintain and continue to develop it as a charming, historic town by following the design guidelines specified
by the community via the Middletown Area Plan, adopted August 17, 2010. Our future wellbeing as a community and as a county depend on it.”
