LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County Vector Control’s efforts to get a general plan and zoning change approved for its lakeshore properties in Lakeport received support last week from the city’s planning commission, but over the objections of the agency’s neighbors and ongoing questions about future projects from planning commissioners themselves.
While about a dozen neighbors of the agency looked on from the audience, the commission approved recommending a mitigated negative declaration for the general plan amendment and rezone to the Lakeport City Council in a 3-1 vote, with Commissioner Ross Kauper voting no and Commissioner Suzanne Russell absent from the meeting.
Lake County Vector Control in the spring of 2013 began the process of seeking the changes for its properties at 408 and 410 Esplanade St. and 35 C St.
It asked to merge the properties, as future improvements would extend over existing property lines; amend the zoning designation from resort residential (or “RR”) to public and civil uses (or “PCU”) in order to make the zoning consistent with adjoining district properties; and receive a general plan designation to correct inconsistencies between the general plan and the three parcels’ zoning designations, noting that the PCU zoning was consistent with the properties’ actual use since 1954.
In a letter to the city, Dr. Jamie Scott, the district’s manager and research director, noted that Lake County Vector Control District has operated from its main facility, located at 410 Esplanade, since 1954.
In December 2011, the district purchased the 35 C. St. property – which city staff said Wednesday night had been a dilapidated residence that had been zoned for high density uses.
Scott said in her 2013 letter that the 35 C. St. property – which sits between two other district-owned parcels – is to be used for the required space for “both the anticipated replacement of the existing laboratory/operations building and to meet the offstreet parking requirements for ADA‐compliant parking.”
The district, according to Scott’s letter, intends to continue to operate from its 410 Esplanade main facility.
“The present facility is outdated and does not provide sufficient workspace for the Vector Control technicians or the laboratory requirements of the District. The planned improvements to the main facility are intended to provide adequate working space for the existing employees and to accommodate improvements to the laboratory to meet present safety requirements. The District anticipates no increase in the number of staff or the number of daily visitors (deliveries, residents requesting service), or traffic. Any increase in stormwater impacts from increased runoff will be mitigated in compliance with City regulations.”
Vector Control’s application also included plans for preliminary site improvements that the agency developed as part of its capital improvement plan.
Those plans cover the proposed removal of the existing laboratory building and its replacement with a new structure, as well as the expansion and reconfiguration of the existing shop and garage structure onto the 35 C. St. property.
Scott told Lake County News that the Vector Control District is in the early stages of planning to improve the facility on Esplanade.
If the Lakeport City Council follows up with approval of the general plan and zoning amendments based on the planning commission’s proposal, Scott said the district plans to remove the existing antiquated laboratory and operations building at 410 Esplanade, and replace it with a modern facility that includes a unified workspace for the Vector Control technicians and a laboratory area for mosquito and tick work. That would be in addition to the district’s existing administrative building.
“Removing the original lab/operations building and replacing it with an addition to the admin building will also allow the district to improve the universal accessibility of its laboratory/operations facility and provide off-street disabled parking in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act,” she said.
Scott said the addition would follow the architectural style of the current administrative building and be compatible with the residential character of Esplanade Street.
After that, Scott said the district plans to replace the present steel garage and shop building located at 408 Esplanade with a secure, enclosed garage for parking district vehicles.
“We do not have a cost estimate at this time since those projects are contingent on the adoption of the general plan and zoning amendments,” she said.
On Nov. 12 the Lakeport Planning Commission held a public hearing on the district’s proposals.
At that time, due to the agency’s neighbors raising concerns about hazardous materials storage, parking, lake access and the “piecemealing” of the environmental review process related to potential future development, the commission held the hearing over until Jan. 14 in order for staff to research the issues.
At his first planning commission in his new job, new Lakeport Community Development Director Kevin Ingram – who joined the city Dec. 29 – told the commission last week that after going through each of the issues and consulting with the city attorney, planning staff believed the matters had been addressed and so they were not recommending any changes to the findings and conditions previously presented to the commission.
As such, Ingram said planning staff continued to recommend the proposed general plan amendment and zone change.
Commissioner Ken Wicks Jr. questioned if the approvals were to be used as the basis of future construction. Ingram explained that the main issue before the commission centered on land use, and whether it was consistent with Vector Control’s proposed uses. He said future development would be subject to more review.
Ingram said staff recognized there are impacts that need to be addressed currently and in the future.
Neighbors speak out against Vector Control plans
Verna Schaffer, who lives on the same street as Lake County Vector Control, questioned why the district wasn’t being held to its requirements for parking, estimating they needed 26 spaces but had far fewer. She said they shouldn’t be allowed to use the neighborhood as their personal parking lot.
Schaffer said she didn’t trust Vector Control or the city to act in the best interests of residents, recalling the situation in 1997 when they were told Vector Control was building a new laboratory and had to tear down its old building.
She said Vector Control reneged on that tear down requirement, claiming it didn’t have the money.
Schaffer questioned why the agency was getting special consideration, pointing out that after she remodeled her house, the city required her to make upgrades to the sidewalk.
“Of course we don't trust you to act fairly,” she said, expressing her belief that the city will allow Vector Control to not adhere to other requirements.
Shes said she was strongly opposed to Vector Control’s rezoning and future expansion, and said the agency should have to move to a more appropriate site.
Ron Bertsch, a former city councilman who also has been a Vector Control neighbor for 15 years, said he took a soil sample from the agency’s property after the last big rain and sent IT to an Oregon lab for analysis, along with a list of eight chemicals Vector Control said might be present.
The lab found two of the chemicals in the soil – methoprene and piperonyl butoxide.
Methoprene is an insect growth regulator, while piperonyl butoxide is a substance that’s used to increase the potency of some insecticides.
Bertsch asserted that the chemicals are being washed down the street and contaminating the soil in the neighborhood.
He said he was told that the chemicals can make animals lose their teeth, and he reported that over the last year his dog has lost several teeth and has three tumors, while he and his wife have also been suffering from health issues that they haven’t been able to explain.
“Let’s do what's right,” Bertsch said, asking the commission to pass the matter back to Vector Control and require the building to be torn down. “Chemicals don't belong in a residential area.”
Val McMurdie, who along with his wife lives 600 feet from Vector Control, said that during the November public hearing he had asked that the agency discuss the plan with neighbors due to late notices so that the neighborhood could be “less adamantly opposed” to the zone change.
“No Vector Control representative has made any effort to contact neighbors,” he said, adding that Vector Control’s functions should be reviewed by the county, not the city.
He said Vector Control is carrying out a “heavy industrial” use on a narrow and scenic street, and it’s been 17 years since it refused to comply with the conditions of its project.
Finley resident Phil Murphy, a former Vector Control Board member, agreed that parking issues were serious in the neighborhood, and maintained that the lakeside location is unsuitable for the agency, especially in high water years.
Regarding the district’s three-acre property on Todd Road and why it wasn’t being developed as the main facility, Murphy said the district had been building an office facility at the property, a project that he stopped when they went to put in a septic tank. He said none of the project was permitted and the entire structure recently was demolished.
Murphy said Vector Control has no justification for having lakefront property, noting that it doesn’t carry out significant activity on the lake, that it doesn’t fit with the general plan and is unpopular with neighbors. The Todd Road location, he said, is a better location.
Working to improve the district
Scott, who spoke to the commission following the neighbors, explained, “The reason we're going through this application is because we're trying to make this facility better.”
She said the district – which several years ago was successful in passing an assessment on properties to raise additional funds – now has the money to begin replacing the lab and fulfilling the obligations from 1997.
However, before doing that, the general plan and zoning amendments have to be completed, she said.
Scott said Murphy had suggested having the district transition to the Todd Road location, but due to a creek that runs through it as well as ponds, it was considered unbuildable.
The new sewer line is too far away, with a connection to it being cost prohibitive and more expensive than developing the site, which is why the Vector Control Board ultimately decided against that option, Scott said.
The lab testing information that Bertsch presented at the meeting was new to Scott, who told the commission, “We don’t store pesticides on Esplanade. It's not our pesticide storage facility.”
She said Bertsch has been to her lab, where they store minor chemicals like ethanol, and minor amounts of acetone and isopropyl, chemicals similar to what someone might have on hand for their pool.
Kauper asked if Vector Control’s requests needed to be taken up now or if it could wait. Ingram said it was needed to make sure future projects could go forward.
Planning Services Manager Andrew Britton explained that at the November hearing Vector Control had indicated that getting the appropriate general plan designation and zoning in place was important in terms of the district’s long-range planning.
The district, he said, indicated it would be an inappropriate use of public funds to develop detailed long-term plans if the general plan designation wasn’t appropriate.
“So that's why they're taking this step at this time and not hiding the fact that they have plans in the future,” Britton said.
Wicks wanted to know if the zoning could be changed before the general plan changes were made. Ingram said they could be done simultaneously. “They should be consistent with each other, one way or the other.”
Wicks had additional concerns about zoning changes well before any construction might take place. Ingram acknowledged that it would be ideal to have it all come together in one package.
Regarding concerns about the public being able to use an easement that Vector Control holds on an adjacent property, Ingram said that after consulting with the city attorney it was concluded the general plan and zone change amendment would not result in that easement’s conversion to public use. Just because a public entity has a stake in such an easement doesn’t mean it can be used in a manner contrary to the private property rights of the other owners.
Kauper didn’t see an overwhelming need to make the zoning or general plan changes until the city could see Vector Control’s proposed project.
Commissioner Harold Taylor said the commission would go over any future project, noting the difficulties in building on the lake. “For them to even build it, it's going to cost a lot of money.”
Wicks said he was much happier when projects come before the commission in full form. He said he had no problem with merging or making the zoning consistent, but added that once the project showed up, “it better be really good,” agreeing with Taylor that a project there would be tough to do because of the 100-year floodplain. Taylor said just putting in a parking lot could be astronomically expensive.
Wicks moved to approve the general plan and zoning changes, with Taylor seconding. The vote was 3-1.
After the meeting, Ingram stayed about 20 minutes to talk to the neighbors. “There are still concerns that remain and no doubt will be re-addressed in front of the City Council,” he said.
Some neighbors at that point also were bringing up the possibility of a formal appeal to city staff.
Asked about Bertsch’s testing results, Scott said it was difficult to comment on the analytical report Bertsch presented to the commission because she had so little information about the sample – “how he collected it, where it was taken, or when it was taken, or if he has the training to collect a sample correctly without accidentally introducing contaminants.”
She reiterated that the district stores its pesticides at Todd Road, not the Esplanade facility, and that the district doesn’t need to apply mosquito control products at Esplanade.
Scott said both methoprene and piperonyl butoxide are widely used not just in insecticides but in agricultural, landscape, structural pest control, and public health protection, as well in many “over-the-counter” pesticides used by homeowners.
She said methoprene is used in products from pest control shampoos for pets to ant and fly control, insect baits, home sprays and mosquito control, while piperonyl butoxide also can be found in household pesticides, flea and tick products, and repellents or insecticides for human clothing, bedding, and mattresses, to name a few.
Methoprene breaks down rapidly in the environment, and typically does not persist, while piperonyl butoxide is known to persist in soil samples and is commonly detected in low levels in soils and sediment, Scott said.
Asked after the meeting if Vector Control plans any outreach to neighbors over their concerns, Scott said, “The district has had a good relationship with most of its neighbors, and we will continue talking with them. I encourage any of our neighbors and other community members to contact me if they have questions or concerns. The district is proud of its services to the community, and we are committed to protecting the health of Lake County’s residents and visitors.”
Additional information on Todd Road property
Vector Control’s Todd Road property is within county jurisdiction, with its eastern border being the city limit line, according to Lake County Community Development Director Rick Coel.
Coel said his office issued a demolition permit for removal of a shop and office at the site, with that permit finalized on Jan. 28, 2014. He said there was no record of a “do not occupy” or red-tag notice on the property.
Ingram, who had worked for Coel before taking the job with Lakeport, added that Vector Control’s recent work at the Todd Road site was through a grading permit for the purpose of modernizing the pond facilities.
Presently, the district is improving its Todd Road facility, and expects to relocate its workshop and some vehicles to that site later this year, Scott said.
Asked if the city, moving forward, will enforce the requirements for the tear down of the older Vector Control building, Ingram said he didn’t know if there was a good answer to the question at this point.
Although the original use permit called for that older building to be removed, “There was an official agreement transferring ‘lead agency’ status from the city to Vector Control,” he said. “This essentially gave Vector Control, not the city, authority over the compliance with their permit conditions.”
Ingram added, “I think that Commissioner Wicks put it best in that there are still some serious questions that need to be resolved in dealing with any future development proposals and the approval of the this General Plan Amendment and Zone Change in no way guarantees approval of a future development and expansion of activities at this site.”
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Lakeport Planning Commission recommends city council approve Vector Control general plan, zoning changes
- Elizabeth Larson
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