LAKEPORT >> Dollar General looked to make its way into Lakeport after jumping through some hoops of the Planning Commission and City Council to receive approval for a Categorical Exemption from CEQA.
When Dollar General Store brought their documents to the Planning Commission, the CEQA aspect was denied. Believing they were still exempt, Dollar General’s contracted company, Cross Development, put in an appeal of this denial to have it heard by the Lakeport City Council.
The proposed location is at 1405 South Main St. Due to the property’s condition, the City Council approved their appeal, deciding that there were no issues at the current stage of the process.
Kevin Ingram, Community Development Director for Lakeport, said the proposed store, much like others in the county, will be 9,100 square feet. Since the Planning Commission decided Dollar General was not Categorically Exempt, they did not take action on the Architect and Design Review portion at this time.
“In order to qualify for this exemption, the project must first be consistent with the existing General Plan and Zoning Designations. It must also be located within an incorporated area less than five acres in size,” Ingram said.
Other regulations that must be followed for exemptions include being on a site that has no endangerment of rare or threatened species or result in significant effects related to traffic, noise, air quality or water quality.
Although these studies are important and will be required at the Building Permit phase of the process, Ingram said there is no reason at this time to conduct these costly studies if the store is unsure if they will even be approved.
With the location of the property and the studies that were given with their initial report, Dollar General does meet the requirements for a Categorical Exemption from CEQA.
Cross Development Representative Joe Dell said the site they are looking into is3 acres which will provide more than enough room for their parking lot, their store and other developments they might need to incorporate while building.
“We will abide by all city ordinances when it comes to drainage and maintaining it on site. We have a civil engineer that does a great job,” Dell said. “If we make it to the Building Permit process we will make sure that all the Ts are crossed and Is are dotted.”
City Council member Kenneth Parlet said he does not like what Dollar General has to offer and that they are an unhealthy shopping option, however, because they do comply with all ordinances and General Plan for Lakeport there is no reason to deny their appeal.
“The one big thing that I would have a problem with was traffic and they did a traffic study. It looks to me that staff has done their job and Cross Development has done their job,” Parlet said. “I really can’t see denying the appeal.”
He added that he does wish a different retail store would come to the city instead because there is already a 450 percent surplus of retail grocery in the city but leakage in other sections such as clothing and sporting goods.
Dollar General will come back to the Planning Commission at a later date with their Architect and Design Review in hopes for approval to move the project forward.
