CLEARLAKE, Calif. — The Clearlake City Council is set to discuss a proposal to purchase a property that once housed a water park for retail development.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
The meeting will be broadcast live on the city's YouTube channel or the Lake County PEGTV YouTube Channel. Community members also can participate via Zoom or can attend in person.
The agenda can be found here.
Comments and questions can be submitted in writing for City Council consideration by sending them to City Clerk Melissa Swanson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
To give the council adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit your written comments before 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 19.
Each public comment emailed to the city clerk will be read aloud by the mayor or a member of staff for up to three minutes or will be displayed on a screen. Public comment emails and town hall public comment submissions that are received after the beginning of the meeting will not be included in the record.
The meeting will feature a presentation of August's adoptable dogs and a proclamation declaring Aug. 31 as International Overdose Awareness Day.
Under council business, City Manager Alan Flora will present to the council a proposal to purchase 11.28 acres of property located at 6885 and 7110 Old Highway 53 from the Burbank Housing and Development Corp. for a retail center development. The purchase price is $1 million.
The property, at the former Pearce Field airport, was home to the former Outrageous Waters water park, which closed in 2005.
“The city currently owns approximately 28 acres which comprised the former Pearce Field airport west of Highway 53. The City recently approved the sale of approximately 2.5 acres of the property for development of a Fairfield Inn and Suites and is working with various developers, business owners, retailers and investors with an interest in the overall project,” Flora wrote in his report to the council.
He said the city has been working with the firm Retail Strategies and others to attract retail interest in the retail development that has long been envisioned for the former airport site. “Interest has been quite strong and many of the pieces necessary for a successful development are starting to come together.”
Flora said it became apparent that having control over the bulk of the developable area would be helpful for a consistent and cohesive development plan. He said the 11-acre property, the location of the former water park, was part of the original airport site the city acquired from the county in 1994.
City staff contacted Burbank Housing Development, a Sonoma County-based affordable housing developer, about the property. Burbank, which was given the site and has owned it since 2017, has no plans to do any development in Lake County, Flora said.
“This purchase will give the City control of nearly 40 acres of development area along Highway 53 and will allow more strategic master planning of the entire site. The City is currently working with architecture firm Ankrom Moisan on the site master plan,” Flora said.
Upon closing of the purchase of the property, Flora said the city will begin demolition of the remaining infrastructure from the water park — such as the racetrack and batting cages — in order to prepare the site for development.
Flora said the city expects to begin construction of the road and utility infrastructure at the site in the spring of 2022.
In other business, staff will ask the council to consider a resolution approving an application for funding to the state for Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Response funding not to exceed $1 million for improvements at the Hope Center, a transitional housing facility.
Flora’s report on the item said the city has partnered with Adventist Health, Hope Rising and other local partners to develop the center, but additional improvements are needed, including curb gutter and sidewalks, and an energy microgrid system, which are eligible for funding through the CDBG-CV Home Key program.
“The Hope Center renovation was funded in large part by the first round of Home Key funding in 2020 with the County as a sponsor. The County is not interested in sponsoring the current
application, so the City has stepped up. The City will be the applicant and will pass through the funds to the Hope Center, but will rely on Adventist Health and Hope Rising for reporting and administrative support of the grant process,” Flora said.
The council also will discuss resolutions to be taken up at the 2021 League of California Cities Annual Conference.
On the meeting's consent agenda — items that are not considered controversial and are usually adopted on a single vote — are warrants, minutes of the July 14 Lake County Vector Control District Board meeting, the second ready and adoption of Ordinance No. 256-2021, an amendment to Chapter 17 of the Clearlake Municipal Code repealing and replacing floodplain management regulations, minutes of the July 15 council meeting and authorization of an agreement for a remodel of the City Hall breakroom.
Following the meeting, the council will have a closed session for conference with legal counsel regarding a lawsuit against the county of Lake and Treasurer-Tax Collector Barbara Ringen.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Clearlake City Council to consider purchasing former water park for development
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On