MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Road concerns and discussion of a proposed Dollar General store were among the topics at this month's gathering of the Middletown Area Town Hall.
The group held its regular meeting on Thursday, Aug. 13, in the community room at the Middletown Senior Center.
MATH Board Chair Fletcher Thornton added what he called an emergency item to the agenda regarding traffic issues on Big Canyon Road.
The road runs along the Middletown Unified School District grounds where Middletown High School is located, along with the old Minnie Cannon Elementary School and a newly constructed elementary school.
Thornton said the roads in the area need improvement, but added that his fear is that improved roads also will lead to increased speeds.
“We can't afford to have them going any faster than they go now,” he said.
Thornton estimated that 90 percent of the traffic is headed to nearby Harbin Hot Springs.
He said he has reached out to Lake County Public Works about the issue, and was told that the county would put up a warning sign if the Middletown Unified School District bought it. Thornton said District Superintendent Korby Olson had said the district could purchase the sign, but that didn't happen before Olson's recent retirement.
Referring to the county, Thornton said, “If they don't do something before our next meeting then we're going to do something.”
MATH Board member Ken Gonzales, who is associated with Harbin – and who had a letter giving him approval to speak to MATH on the retreat's behalf – said Harbin is aware of the issue and wants additional signage.
“We don't want to see anything happen there,” he said, noting Harbin's managing directors are concerned. “An improved road is a safer road.”
County Supervisor Jim Comstock, who was on hand for the meeting, said he had talked to California Highway Patrol Officer Matt Norton, who talked to his boss and would be patrolling the area. For those who don't reduce their speed, “There will be tickets,” Comstock guaranteed.
Another road of concern the group discussed at the meeting was Santa Clara Road, which Thornton said has become a shortcut from Highway 29 to Highway 175.
“They come blasting around those corners at 50 miles per hour,” Thornton said.
Margaret Greenley, who lives on Santa Clara Road, said she wanted a monthly survey of that corridor, voicing her many concerns about safety for the pedestrians – including children – as well as the equestrians who ride through the area.
She said she's lost four pet cats due to the traffic, and there have been close calls with children playing along the road nearly being hit by speeding traffic.
MATH Vice Chair Claude Brown said the street is considered a thoroughfare by county officials, and that the county has suggested posting radar speed signs. However, the county wants the community to buy the first sign, at a cost of $3,500.
Other suggestions Brown mentioned included putting a barrier along the edge of the road near Middletown Central Park Association's arena to cause traffic to slow traffic down, and moving speed signs and making them more visible.
Greenley said there have been issues on the road for years. “There is going to be a horrific accident at one point.”
Brown asked Comstock if he can assist the group with the road issue. Comstock suggested it needed to go to the county's traffic safety committee.
In other business, Jesse Robertson of the Lake County/City Area Planning Council, who is working with MATH and the county of Lake to submit a grant application for a multiuse trail from Rancheria Road to Central Park, updated the group on the application process.
He said the applications were due June 1. “I haven't heard any news about it yet,” he said, noting he's expecting to hear back by the end of September and may attend MATH's October meeting with an update.
Robertson said he's received indications that the project is being viewed by state officials as a good one.
He said 616 applications were submitted statewide for $120 million in funds. “We're pretty optimistic about it,” he said, explaining that the MATH project was seeking $1.4 million.
Group gets update from Dollar General committee
At its June meeting, MATH voted to form a committee to review a proposal from Texas-based Cross Development to build a 9,100-square-foot Dollar General store at 20900 Highway 29. County officials told Lake County News that the company still has not submitted a complete application for the store.
Thornton said at the Aug. 13 meeting that MATH will take a vote on whether to support the proposal for the store at its September meeting.
Monica Rosenthal, who is chairing the committee, gave a report on the group's most recent activities, which included a hurried review of the plans submitted so far. Rosenthal said the county requested input from the group by Aug. 14, so they met for several hours prior to the meeting in order to respond.
Thornton at that point noted that he had contacted the county to tell them that the notice was too short, and he was given a 30-day extension of time to submit comments.
Rosenthal said the Community Development Department had written to Cross Development, asking for the plans to come into better compliance with the Middletown Area Plan. Cross Development replied, and that's what initiated the request for comments sent out by the county to groups like MATH.
With Cross Development's application still not complete, no date has been set for it to go before the Lake County Planning Commission. Once it is scheduled, Rosenthal said, the committee will present a larger report.
Rosenthal said the committee recommended making a general statement that MATH should support the design guidelines for commercial business development as presented in the Middletown Area Plan, and should support the Lake County Community Development Department's request that Cross Development make modifications to its plans including parking, design of the building and trash enclosures.
The committee also recommended that MATH support proper signage for this and other developments that complies with county ordinances and the Middletown Area Plan along Calistoga Road and Highway 29, Rosenthal said.
She said the committee was further concerned about a safe and accessible environment around the store, its proposed location near a school, and said it should not have a strip mall look.
The committee is encouraging economic growth and employment opportunities that offer healthy choices for the community while maintaining the character and charm of Middletown, Rosenthal said.
Rosenthal said the recommendation is that the Community Development Department, the Lake County Planning Commission, the Board of Supervisors and Cross Development uphold the guidelines established in the Middletown Area Plan.
She added that the committee, through its discussions and review of the Middletown Area Plan, also noticed that there is room for improvement, such as a consideration of not allowing chain stores in the area, extending the downtown corridor, and respecting and recognizing the scenic corridor.
Thornton said it was not time to panic about the store proposal, and it's still not known if the developer will want to comply with the many changes that the county, fire officials and Caltrans want made to the project.
“It's not time to really panic,” he said, suggesting that MATH taking a vote in September also might be premature.
He also asked to keep the Dollar General committee intact in order to keep MATH informed of the issue as it continues.
At the suggestion of members, MATH voted to have Thornton send Community Development Department staff an email asking for a written confirmation that he had received an additional 30 days to offer comment on the proposal.
Also on Aug. 13, MATH voted to sign onto a letter from the Middletown Area Merchants Association about seeking a crosswalk on the south end of town, on the north side of the Callayomi-Calistoga Road intersection due to safety concerns; approved sending a letter of thanks to Cal Fire and all agencies associated with the recent wildland fire efforts; and discussed the new – and very successful – monthly showing of movies in the new Middletown Square Park.
In other business, Thornton also got the group's approval to look at the bylaws regarding representation of the various areas within MATH's scope of coverage, which includes Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley – including Hidden Valley Lake – Long Valley and Middletown.
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MATH discusses road safety issues, Dollar General store proposal
- Elizabeth Larson
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