I confess. I do not get the nudity thing at Harbin. When a friend convinced me to enjoy the hot springs a few years back, I strode out among the naked bodies as the only person wearing a swimsuit — a one piece LL Bean suite with a built-in skirt.
But even with a swimsuit firmly affixed to my petite frame, I get the Harbin thing. I get why Napa and Bay Area people undertake the 16 miles of curving road from Calistoga to Middletown. It is for the enchantment of nature, authenticity and beauty.
Other places can build fountains. They can build Italian facades and miles of glamour. But developers cannot build the wonder of nature, authenticity and beauty.
Harbin has it. The whole of Middletown has it. Souls not dimmed by the drag of life can feel it.
Last week I took my daughters to a local store to have a key made. The man helping us has helped us many times previously. Early in the process of making the key he noticed my youngest daughter, Lucia, looking over the counter towards the carving machine. With a sparkle in his eye, he slowed down and said, “Let’s see. Let me show how this machine works.” Like beauty unfolding before us, he explained each step, pointed out parts of the machine, and let Lucia feel the new key during each step of the process. But most of all, he saw a child before him. He saw a member of the community.
This is Middletown. This is how we operate here.
There is an authenticity in small town, locally owned shops that is difficult to replicate and impossible to fake. Postal employees bring packages up the counter when they see people coming. Gift shop owners send customers back and forth between stores to find the items sought. They carry brands customers request. People gather at the Middletown Art Center for conversation, classes and to celebrate local artists. Nearby, children splash in the river on warm days.
Of course, development is coming to Middletown. Enchantment like this cannot be hidden. And the County needs the revenue development brings.
Let us build smartly so we can hold onto what we have … and so the County can ensure Middletown will continue to be a destination tourists from Napa and the Bay Area value.
Development is already before us. Harbin is reopening for day guests. The glamorous Guenoc development recently donated one million dollars to the post-fire rebuild effort to evidence their commitment to South Lake County. Wineries are hosting events bringing in more traffic. A new residential development is planned near Hidden Valley Lake.
If we are careful in how we grow, Middletown can strengthen its identity as a charming, artistic community of nature, authenticity and beauty. If we are careless in how we build, Middletown will become just another generic, dirty little town. A town few tourists will deem worthy of driving 16 miles of curving roads to get to.
Thankfully, we have a document outlining the smart growth necessary to maintain the integrity and beauty of our sweet town. It is called the Middletown Area Plan. And thankfully, we have a Planning Commission who has steadfastly reviewed this plan and earlier this year unanimously denied a boringly ugly Dollar General store proposed by Cross Development. And finally, we are fortunate to have two or three County Supervisors who see the vision our community has worked so hard these past two years to protect (in the ongoing battle to convince Cross Development to either not build here or to design a building in line with the Middletown Area Plan).
But alas, it is not enough. There is a problem. We need all five Supervisors to see the enchantment we are trying to hold on to. We need all five to understand the fiscal viability of a beautiful town. We need all five to require outside businesses to meticulously respect local area plans because failing to do so sets a precedent for other corporations to ignore local zoning laws and build drab, generic buildings that can irrevocably damage Middletown and harm Lake County in the long term.
Wednesday, May 31, is a big day for Middletown and other towns in our county. It is the final chance the Board of Supervisors possesses to uphold the Middletown Area Plan and honor the decision made by the Planning Commission to not grant Cross Development permission to create a building out of compliance with the legally binding document long in place to ensure smart growth within our town. I esteem Supervisor Tina Scott, along with Supervisors Jim Steele and Rob Brown, for making this opportunity possible. It was Scott who made an unprecedented decision at last Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting to state that the Finding of Facts used to grant an April 18, 2017 appeal for Cross Development to build the proposed Dollar General (despite the Planning Commission’s denial) were not entirely accurate. The project fails to align with Lake County Zoning Ordinance Sec. 54.5(a)6, which requires proposed buildings to conform to local area plans. Thus, Scott publically reversed her decision to grant the appeal.
After the community’s two-year struggle to stop this project, the process is not yet over. On Wednesday, May 31 at 9am the Board will again review the Finding of Facts. Potentially, Cross Development can sue the County if it is not happy with the outcome of Wednesday’s decision. If you believe outside corporations must be held to task in conforming to local area plans and zoning laws created by our community, please attend the meeting to show your concrete support for Supervisors Scott, Brown and Steele. Leaders who hold fast to our laws and the expertise of our Planning Commission deserve our support.
Perhaps together we can hold on to a place people drive from miles around to enjoy. We have the enchantment of nature, authenticity and beauty. For the sake of our children and for the sake of the fiscal health of our County, let us protect it.
Carolynn Spezza is a Middletown resident.
