LAKEPORT, Calif. – A national small box retailer got the green light Thursday from the Lake County Planning Commission for its plans to build two stores on the Northshore.
The commission gave unanimous votes of approval to the separate proposals for the Dollar General stores in Clearlake Oaks and Nice, according to Community Development Director Rick Coel.
Due to no significant environmental effects, the commission approved mitigated negative declarations for the store projects. Texas-based Cross Development filed the project applications on behalf of Dollar General.
Dollar General Corp., based in Goodlettsville, Tenn., plans to build two stores of between 9,100 and 10,000 square feet at 3539 and 3577 E. State Highway 20 in Nice and 13090 E. State Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks, as Lake County News has reported.
The company has 11,000 stores in 40 states.
Dollar General spokeswoman Jaclyn Dees told Lake County News in an interview last month that the company did not yet have specifics as to the number of staffers the two Northshore stores would employ.
The Clearlake Oaks store will be located on a 4.7-acre property next to Schindler Creek. Coel said that at the meeting some of the concerns raised were related to the Schindler Creek drainage and sedimentation.
However, Coel said those concerns are addressed by mitigation measures requiring engineered drainage plans and calculations, and a sediment basin to help treat the project runoff and meter it back off site.
He said several members of the public spoke, and all were generally in favor of the project based upon the various mitigation measures – included in the use permit conditions – that were required.
The commission also approved of the architectural designs for both stores, he said.
The county offers an appeals process, but if that isn't followed within the next week it's expected that the store projects could move forward quickly.
Coel said that funding tends to slow a lot of other county projects down, but funding isn't an issue for Dollar General.
Dees told Lake County News that both stores remain in the company's due diligence process until this summer. No projected dates for the stores' openings were available.
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