LAKEPORT
City Council to revisit outdoor dining ordinance post pandemic
The Lakeport City Council will hold two public hearings during their regularly scheduled Tuesday meeting this week one regarding a proposed outdoor dining ordinance and another on the Parkside Residential Project.
The outdoor dining ordinance is being brought back after city staff received some recommended changes from city council.
Changes include wording modifications and the addition of on street dining.
The Lakeport staff recommends businesses that used the emergency temporary use zoning permits be provided no more than three months from adoption of guidelines to submit an application and no more than six months to finalize construction.
The public hearing for the Parkside Residential Project will be a first reading to consider an updated General Plan amendment, zoning code amendments and approval of a Mitigated Negative Declaration under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
After a public hearing on Sept. 20, 2022, Waterstone residential project requested that the meeting be continued to a later date to provide time to meet with residents and revise the originally proposed plan.
The original plan included 128 multi-family dwellings and 48 attached and detached single-family dwellings in a small-lot subdivision format with a mixture of single-homes and apartments.
Citizens were concerned about a lack of evacuation plans if a fire were to occur in the area. Residents expressed concerns that there would be limited egress in the area for people to evacuate the area safely.
Waterstone will now subsequently process and separately seek approval of a Tentative Parcel Map creating four separate parcels for the entire project site and will use a portion of the site to develop a 64-unit apartment according to the staff report.
—Zack Jordan
WASHINGTON
Thompson announces $9 million for wildfire prevention research
Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) announced $9 million in new grant opportunities from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to advance research into wildfire prevention and post-fire restoration on federal lands. The Joint Fire Science Program is accepting applications for grants to research innovative fuels treatments and post-fire rehabilitation efforts through December 20, 2022, for fiscal year 2023.
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is delivering much needed funding to assist our communities in combatting the impact of climate change,” said Thompson. “As California remains on the frontlines of the climate crisis, wildfires pose a significant risk and it remains a top priority to provide the funding we need to mitigate the risk of wildfires and protect our communities.”
This funding is in addition to $3.4 billion in wildfire suppression and mitigation included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This includes investments such as:
- $600 million to increase federal firefighter salaries by up to $20,000/year and convert at least 1,000 seasonal firefighters to year-round positions.
- $500 million for hazardous fuels mitigation
- $500 million for prescribed fires
- $500 million for communities to implement their community wildfire defense plan, a collaborative plan to address local hazards and risks from wildfire.
- $500 million for developing control locations and installing fuel breaks
- $100 million for preplanning fire response workshops and workforce training
- $40 million for radio frequency interoperability and to create Reverse-911 systems.
- $20 million for NOAA to create a satellite that rapidly detect fires in areas the federal government has financial responsibility
- $10 million to procure real-time wildfire detection and monitoring equipment in high-risk or post-burn areas.
Funding opportunities for wildland fire research priorities are posted on the Joint Fire Science Program’s website at https://www.firescience.gov/JFSP_funding_announcements.cfm.
—Submitted
