CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council voted unanimously on Thursday night to direct the city manager to sign a letter of intent with a firm interested in purchasing the city’s airport property.
City Manager Alan Flora asked the council to allow him to move forward with the letter with Village Investment Partners, or VIP, led by Barry Johnson and John Glikbarg. The staff report and letter begin on page 195 of the agenda packet below.
Flora said the airport property, formerly known as Pearce Field, is made up of eight parcels totaling a little more than 27 acres.
He said there have been a number of attempts over the years to encourage a large-scale development on the property.
Now, Village Investment Partners wants to purchase the property and proceed with developing it, as well as two neighboring properties – the first, the former Outrageous Waters water park and another parcel on the corner of Old Highway 53 and Highway 53, Flora said.
The letter, which Flora said is the next step, gives Village Investment Partners a six-month window to determine interest from retailers. If that exists, the city and the firm would then negotiate a purchase contract.
Flora said the airport had been transferred from the ownership of the city’s redevelopment agency to the city as part of the redevelopment dissolution process that took place several years ago.
The land was transferred with the idea of long-range public use, so if the city intends to sell it, Flora said the sale must be approved by the former redevelopment agency’s oversight board.
He said the city hopes that Village Investment Partners is successful in attracting potential retail and commercial tenants as they would like to move forward.
Councilman Dirk Slooten noted the airport is a prime piece of property for retail development and he hopes the firm succeeds. However, “I have some concerns.”
Slooten said developing it as a retail center would be a tremendous asset to the community, both offering additional shopping opportunities and generating more sales tax for the city.
With Slooten having questions, Realtor Dave Hughes, a Village Investment Partners representative, came forward to offer answers.
Slooten asked about the level of interest from large home improvement chains like Home Depot and Lowe’s. A decade ago, when a Roseville firm was negotiating with the city to purchase the airport for a regional commercial center, Lowe’s was the anchor tenant.
Hughes said it’s not entirely true that the two companies aren’t interested, adding that Lowe’s is “on hold.”
“We have hopes for others,” said Hughes, adding, “We’re already working on it even though we don’t have the agreement yet.”
Slooten asked about when they would be coming back with confirmation of interest.
Hughes said that if Village Investment Partners went to Home Depot tomorrow and it indicated it was ready to commit, they wouldn’t wait six months, the window of time given in the intent letter to begin negotiating the purchase. He added that they could also bring in a smaller company, such as a regional chain.
Noting that the land’s development previously got sidetracked by a Sierra Club lawsuit over the city choosing not to complete an environmental impact report, or EIR, Slooten said he hopes those kinds of issues will be resolved so there is no last-minute project derailment. He said that an EIR is probably going to be required.
Hughes said Village Investment Partners has an EIR in its plans. He said he believed the city’s negative declaration for the previous development proposal had been more than adequate and attributed pushback to “big box syndrome.”
He pointed out that Kelseyville Lumber, when it put forward the plans for its current location on the outskirts of Kelseyville, changed the general land designation, built a building bigger than what Lowe’s had proposed, did it all with a negative declaration and wasn’t sued.
Councilwoman Joyce Overton, who was on the council when the previous project was considered, said the issues revolved around the process for the negative declaration. She said an argument is going to be made that a development at the airport needs an environmental study.
“It was a disappointment that that all happened,” she said, adding that she wants to make sure the project goes through.
Councilman Phil Harris said he’s “extraordinarily supportive” of the project, which he said would make an enormous impact on the community.
Councilman Russ Cremer said it will bring both jobs and revenue, and he hopes it also will entice developers to build new homes.
“This project, we should be wholeheartedly behind,” Cremer said, adding that it will probably need an EIR but they don’t need to beat it to death. “Get ‘er done.”
During public comment, Chuck Leonard, a former councilman who had voted for the regional shopping center project 10 years ago, said, “The EIR was not the problem.”
Leonard said the negative declaration was bigger than most EIRs and covered everything.
He recalled that the Sierra Club’s issue was that if the center was built, it would destroy Clearlake’s downtown, “whatever that is.”
The Sierra Club lawsuit, filed in March 2010, alleged that the city violated the California Environmental Quality Act by certifying the mitigated negative declaration in lieu of preparing a full EIR, which the group maintained was required because there is “substantial evidence in the administrative record” that the project will have “numerous significant environmental effects,” as Lake County News has reported.
Leonard also criticized Overton during the meeting, saying he was surprised she supported the new project because she had been against the previous one, which she denied. Her voting record from 2010 showed that Overton voted for the project but had voted against allowing it to move forward with only the mitigated negative declaration.
Clearlake resident Pattie Duke said the city needed different kinds of commercial tenants – she suggested a Barnes and Noble – to draw shoppers from around Lake County.
Overton moved to direct Flora to sign the intent letter, which received multiple seconds and an enthusiastic unanimous vote from the council.
In other business on Thursday, Chief Andrew White delivered the Clearlake Police Department’s annual report and administered the oath to Tim Celli – who has been promoted from lieutenant to captain – and new Community Service Officer Daniel Costancio; the council discussed the gravel road maintenance checklist and construction maintenance guide; the council adopted an ordinance amending the Clearlake Municipal Code relating to abandoned vehicles; and proclamations were given declaring April 14 to 20 as Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, declaring April as Child Abuse Awareness Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and declaring support for the 2020 Census.
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.
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