The Judicial Council of California's Administrative Office of the Courts is planning to build the $53 million project at 675 Lakeport Blvd. in Lakeport.
“The Administrative Office of the Courts is assessing the altered language in the memorandum of understanding and hopes to have a resolution soon, so as not to hold up the site acquisition any further,” said spokesperson Teresa Ruano.
On Tuesday, the council considered an updated memorandum of understanding with the Administrative Office of the Courts regarding the courthouse development.
In January the council had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the agency, but a title search on 675 Lakeport Blvd. raised questions about legal access across a property that fronts the site, according to city officials.
A staff report to the council explained that the property that fronts the courthouse site had once belonged to Caltrans and was relinquished by the state to the city when Highway 29 was built. That relinquished land was then used by the city for Lakeport Boulevard, although the city didn't officially designate it as street right-of-way.
The Administrative Office of the Courts therefore asked for a new memorandum to formally acquire legal access, seeking “a perpetual, non-exclusive use” of the access area for ingress and egress to the courthouse location, according to city documents.
In turn, as Community Development and Redevelopment Director Richard Knoll told the council Tuesday, city staff proposed that, in return for the access, the Administrative Office of the Courts dedicate land for a right-of-way for a new collector street along the eastern property line of the new courthouse site. The city also was seeking the agency's contribution to constructing the street, including dealing with utilities and drainage.
The state agreed both to the right-of-way dedication and contributing to the construction “if feasible,” which Anne Ording, the project manager for the courthouse, told the council was because details about that proposed roadway were still not clear.
While the state was comfortable with the memorandum's language as it was proposed, Knoll told the council that staff preferred stronger language in favor of the city's requests.
The council voted to remove “if feasible” in the places where it was stated in the proposed memorandum before passing it.
The council also voted to send the Administrative Office of the Courts and state legislators letters asking for concerns about the new building's design and its orientation on the property to be addressed.
Ruano said the Administrative Office of the Courts was taking those concerns into account.
“We are also continuing our exploration with the architect on siting issues and options, and will be working with the project advisory group on this when it next meets in June,” she said.
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