MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The head of the county Community Development Department has reported on new details of a major development project for the south county.
Bob Massarelli gave his monthly update on the Guenoc Valley project to the Middletown Area Town Hall last week.
Details of the project, proposed by Chinese developer Yiming Xu and his firm, Lotusland Investment Holdings Inc. of San Francisco – which purchased Langtry Farms last summer – began to emerge this spring, at around the same time as he donated $1 million to Hope City for the wildland fire rebuilding effort.
So far there have been few specifics about Lotusland’s plans, and the firm has declined to offer additional details when contacted by Lake County News.
However, Massarelli told the group, “This past month, a lot of things are starting to happen.”
One of those things is that the county has now received a description of the project, which will be built on a portion of 16,000 acres.
Currently, Massarelli said the Langtry Farms property includes 1,800 acres of vineyard, an 18 hole golf course, barns, a hunting lodge and a farmhouse, which once belonged to famed English actress, Lillie Langtry.
Lotusland proposes to build a low density resort with several four- and five-star luxury hotels that have a total of 1,200 hotel rooms, a residential development of up to 1,200 homes, with 50 acres of parkland and 10,000 acres of preserved open space, 40 acres of golf course, trails for pedestrians and bicycles, an international standard equestrian center and a forest adventure park, according to Massarelli.
Massarelli said the property currently has two access points, with plans to build two more, as well as possibly a roundabout or underpass plus traffic-calming measures.
He said the project will include a network of roads built to county standards but maintained by the homeowners association.
There also will be a 20-foot-wide multipurpose trail running through the project, along with lighting, seating, interpretive signage and a fence as needed for privacy, he said.
The plans call for a village concept with an interpretive center, museum, community gardens, playground, park, cafe, health/wellness center, helicopter for emergency services and a fire station, he said.
Massarelli said the area’s groundwater will be the source for the water supply, and so will be a major study component for the project’s environmental impact report.
The developer plans to build a sanitary wastewater treatment and disposal plant, with wastewater to be treated by a licensed operator with an advanced tertiary wastewater treatment facility, he said.
Off-site, the project plans to make improvements on Butts Canyon Road, but where those improvements will be made will be determined based on further studies, which Massarelli said will look at congestion points.
He said the goal is to integrate the project into the community, and so the proposed transportation system will include a shuttle van from Middletown to the resort for the employees.
So far, there has not been a firm number given on how many employees will be needed by the project, but Massarelli said he expects it to be “several hundred.”
Lotusland also is looking at constructing a new airstrip or improving an older existing one within the project’s vicinity. Massarelli said he’s not sure yet where that might take place.
There also is a proposal to build workforce housing off-site. “We have a serious housing issue now as you all now.”
The project calls for five phase over 10 years. “On a project of this scale, that's a very aggressive schedule,” said Massarelli.
However, he said it’s good news for Lake County, as it will create a lot of jobs in both the short- and long-term, generating tax revenue, transient occupancy tax – or bed tax – and sales tax.
“Right away we should start seeing some benefits from the project in terms of revenue to the county,” he said.
The phasing will build an equal number of hotel and residential units over that 10-year period, he said.
The developer is asking for a general plan amendment to cover the desired number of hotel rooms. Massarelli said there also are plans to redesignate the project area with its own planning designation, “Guenoc Valley Mixed Use.”
The zoning standard for the site would be contained in a new, separate section of the county zoning ordinance, and would specify allowable uses, permitted densities, building heights and setbacks, parking and other development standards, he said.
The project will require approval of a comprehensive development plan for the site, design guidelines and the definition of the process for design review and future approvals, he explained.
Massarelli said the entire county will have input on the plan through public meetings – including workshops for the community and Lake County Planning Commission meetings – that will be held as part of the process.
He said his department plans to release by the end of July the request for proposals for a consultant to complete the environmental impact report, which will include many studies on topics such as air quality, water and traffic.
Consultant proposals will be due by the end of August, interviews with top applicants will be conducted in mid-September and the notice of recommendation made by the end of September. Massarelli said the Board of Supervisors would then consider approving the contract with the consultant by mid-October.
While the developer is required to pay for the environmental impact report, the process is controlled and overseen by the Community Development Department, said Massarelli, noting he has hired a new staffer just for that purpose. He added that a biological study already has started at the site.
Langtry Ranch manager Randy Sternberg also was on hand for the meeting. He said he will have updates once they start moving dirt.
Massarelli said the dirt-moving part of the process comes after the project is approved, which is expected to take from 18 months to two years to complete.
In the meantime, he said the county needs to start training people as contractors and for the hospitality industry, from front desk staff to maitre’d's, in order to fill the “mind-boggling” number of jobs the project is expected to create.
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Community Development director reveals new details of Guenoc Valley project
- Elizabeth Larson
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