CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council this week will begin discussing the proposal to reopen negotiations with a developer for the city's former airport property, a contract with a new city manager and updates to city marijuana cultivation rules.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 28, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
On the agenda is a proposal for the city to re-enter into an exclusive negotiation agreement with Roseville-based Katz Kirkpatrick Properties for the nearly 26-acre property that formerly served as the city's airport, which is located west of Highway 53 between Highway 53, Old Highway 53 and the 18th Avenue extension.
City Manager Joan Phillipe said that while the item is going to be introduced this week, she plans to ask the council to put over a decision to its June 11 meeting in order for the city and Katz Kirkpatrick Properties to discuss some additional issues.
In 2007, the city and Katz Kirkpatrick Properties entered into an exclusive negotiation contract with the city for the Pearce Field airport property.
Then, in February 2010, the Clearlake City Council approved a plan to sell 15 acres of Pearce Field to KK Raphel Properties – one of the FHK Companies that includes Katz Kirkpatrick Properties – which planned to develop a shopping center with Lowe's as an anchor tenant, as Lake County News has reported.
The council approved the project moving forward without a full environmental impact report. That resulted in a lawsuit filed the following month by the Sierra Club Lake Group, which alleged the city had violated state law by not requiring an EIR.
The city and the Sierra Club subsequently settled the suit, with one of the provisions being that if the development went ahead, a full EIR would be completed, Phillipe told Lake County News.
However, the recession and the end of redevelopment caused the plan not to move forward, Phillipe said.
Phillipe arrived as city manager in October 2011. Since that time, she said she's had conversations on and off with the Katz Kirkpatrick regarding the property and the firm's continued interest in developing it.
As a result of the dissolution of redevelopment, the city had to complete a long range plan for dealing with former redevelopment-held assets. That plan has since been completed and approved by the state, Phillipe said.
She said the plan mandates that the city sell former redevelopment agency-held properties, including the Pearce Field land, the former Austin Resort property across from Clearlake City Hall and a 28-acre piece of property on Highway 53.
Phillipe said the city has moved forward to complete appraisals on those properties. She said the Austin Resort property likely will not be sold right away while the market continues to improve.
There also are smaller properties including residential lots that the city will be required to sell, but which Phillipe said haven't been appraised yet. “They don't carry the value that these larger parcels do.”
After that plan was completed, Phillipe – pointing out that the council and the community have had a great deal of interest in something happening on the property – said she once again touched base with Katz Kirkpatrick. “There was still an interest there.”
Phillipe then introduced the developer firm's principal, Fred Katz, to City Attorney Ryan Jones, who – like Phillipe – has joined the city in the years since the city and the company reached the original agreement.
She and Jones then sat down and looked over the agreement that the city previously had approved with Katz Kirkpatrick, which already has done a lot of work on a proposed project and is willing to do the full environmental study, she said.
If both sides continue to be amenable to a plan, Phillipe said she will go back to the council with a proposal to let Katz Kirkpatrick fulfill the settlement agreement by proceeding with an EIR and resubmitting an application for developing the property.
New city manager contract, marijuana rules to be discussed
In other council news, a major item of business on Thursday will be the consideration of an employment contract with Greg Folsom, who has been selected to succeed Phillipe – who is retiring at the end of June – as Clearlake's new city manager.
Folsom has two decades of experience in government, particularly planning and economic development, the latter being a key in his selection, according to city officials.
He's currently the deputy director of economic development for Riverside County and a planning commission for the city of Menifee.
The proposed contract is for three years, with Folsom's proposed salary to be $110,000 annually plus benefits, with an annual performance review.
Folsom is expected to be in attendance at the meeting to introduce himself to the council.
Also on Thursday's agenda, the council is set to hold a first reading of an ordinance to finalize repealing a city ordinance passed in February that banned all marijuana cultivation in the city.
That February ordinance was challenged by a referendum and, as a result, the council repealed it at its May 14 meeting. However, in her report to the council, Phillipe said that it's appropriate to pass another ordinance to repeal it in order “to provide an appropriate document trail of the Council's actions.”
The council also will consider another ordinance to update the city's existing marijuana cultivation rules to prohibit commercial cultivation on vacant parcels and limit cultivation amounts.
In other business, the council will discuss a proposed city cosponsorship with the Koi Nation for Native American Day on July 18 and consider a request for a waiver of user fees for the senior center; consider appointing an ad hoc committee to review a proposal for universal waste collection services within the city limits; and consider adopting a resolution appropriating funds from the Series A bonds issued by the former redevelopment agency for projects and land acquisition to implement portions of the Lakeshore Drive Downtown Corridor Plan as well as possible infrastructure project on the Highway 53 corridor.
Before the open portion of the meeting convenes, the council also will hold a closed session at 5:30 p.m. Thursday to discuss a lawsuit filed against the city over the ordinance banning marijuana cultivation that it repealed earlier this month.
On the meeting's consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are warrant registers; minutes of the May 14 council meeting; minutes of the April 8 Lake County Vector Control Board meeting; and a request to schedule council budget workshops at 6 p.m. on June 4 and June 18.
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Clearlake City Council to consider negotiating with developer for airport property, discuss new city manager contract
- Elizabeth Larson
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