There are many idealistic visions when it comes to public lake access, open shoreline, and city/county parks.

The recent commentary (“Lakeport’s destiny is everyone’s business,” Victoria Brandon) is certainly one of many that most would agree with, at least conceptually. And why not, especially when we look at the extremes: would you rather have a commercial property with a locked gate blocking all view of the lake and available to only the wealthy who can afford to rent a room, or would you prefer another Library Park with complete access to all? Simple decision.

However, it gets more complex when one investigates the reality of when Lakeport (with or without county assistance) would be able to fund the development of another park, let alone have the funds to maintain it. Even open space is costly to provide, maintain, insure, etc.

When it comes time to spend money on this idealistic vision, priorities such as paving roads and filling potholes will trump another waterfront park in Lakeport.

However, it does not have to be black or white as described above. Many waterfront commercial properties (e.g. Lake Tahoe, San Francisco Bay, Southern California) are now developed commercially in such a manner that the water frontage is maintained for public access, viewing, fishing, etc., at no expense to the community.

Visualize commercial development of the Willopoint property, the Natural High Property and the Dutch Harbor property in a manner that resulted in a lake promenade connecting all of them with Library Park, including benches, walkways, bike paths, beaches and wetlands. The public sector part of this property is, for the most part, already developed. The commercial part will be funded by developers adhering to an architected plan approved by all of us. Most of the property will be generating rather than using tax revenues.

Such a plan is a workable solution (not a never-to-be-funded vision) that is a compromise between the extremes described above.

Below is a summary of a “Lakeshore Redevelopment Plan” provided last year to the city of Lakeport by the Clear Lake Advisory Subcommittee (CLAS), towards the goal of providing long-term sustainable public lake access.

This collection of properties on the shoreline of Lakeport could easily be one of the premier waterfronts in the entire state of California. It is up to us because Lakeport’s destiny is everyone’s business.

CLAS LAKESHORE REDEVELOPMENT PLAN

Introduction

The goal of this plan is to manage the development of several key properties and to combine them with other strategic public properties into an architected lakeshore redevelopment zone. The consistency and predictability of this total area plan reduces the financial risk as compared to individual infill development projects thus promoting private investment while ensuring enhanced public access to Clear Lake for county residents and county visitors.

This plan is designed to enhance the commercial success of the private developments while meeting the responsibility of the public sector to provide cost effective access to the lake. All of these key properties will be required to provide and maintain public access as defined in the plan and in return will participate in a planned and controlled shoreline revitalization that will be mutually beneficial to the success of the commercial ventures and to the community.

Location

The area of this redevelopment plan extends along the Lakeport shoreline of Clear Lake. On the southern boundary is the Willopoint property (privately owned), on the northern boundary is the Dutch Harbor property (now owned by the city of Lakeport). Included within the redevelopment zone are many significant Lakeport public properties including Library Park, Lakefront Park, the Third and Fifth Street boat ramps, lakefront public parking areas, and Natural High School and grounds.

Historical Land Use

This stretch of shoreline has provided both formal and informal public access to the lake for many years. The Willopoint property has housed various commercial enterprises (e.g. Will-O-Point Resort) that has allowed various levels of lake access as part of their operations.

Library Park has long been a publicly provided premier lake access point for residents and visitors alike. Three boat ramps in this zone have provided no-cost boat launching to the public.

Natural High’s property has long provided both informal and arranged-event lake access. Commercial ventures (e.g. on Willopoint and Dutch Harbor properties) have been challenging and have had problems with sustained profitable operation. While the Natural High property currently provides a school facility, it is assumed the school will be relocated and improved as part of the redevelopment process.

Why a Redevelopment Plan

The Willopoint property, the Dutch Harbor property and the Natural High property are each being considered for private development. Collectively these properties, should they be developed in a manner that is inconsistent with proper public lake access, will result in a negative change to the lake-access dynamics that have been key to Lakeport (and Lake County) residents and visitors for many years. The proper plan will enhance the local economy, the probability of commercial development success, and ensure and enhance the lake access experience.

 

Why not make these strategic properties part of Lakeport’s park system?

In a perfect world where local governments have funds to provide all desired as well as mandatory programs, government purchase of all of this lakeshore zone as public park lands would be a viable option. However, in reality, public funding is not sufficient to procure, develop and maintain these properties. A much more feasible plan is to ensure that the development of these properties is done in a way that offers satisfactory public lake access while owned, developed and maintained with private sector funds. It is best for all if these properties generate tax revenues as opposed to using tax revenues.

Redevelopment Plan Overview

The essence of the plan is best described by a fictitious but potential description of this area following the proposed redevelopment: The result is a significant stretch of developed shoreline all of which is connected by a water front promenade. Within the area is a major hotel-conference center which provides Lakeport with its first complete destination resort. At the other end of the zone and the lake front walkway is a hotel/motel property with nicely landscaped RV/camp sites nestled within a natural shoreline setting. Restaurant and retail shopping as well as some premium commercial office space are integrated into these properties.

The water frontage walkway is similar to the existing path along Library Park but supports both bicycle and pedestrian traffic while providing access to many lake view benches. It is obvious the area was developed per an architected plan and not the result of random efforts. The architectural themes are consistent, parking is where needed, and visitors and residents intermingle in a vibrant successful environment.

The draw of the convention business and interest in the new visitor lodging options has resulted in additional foot traffic and business for the existing downtown Lakeport restaurants and shops. The seamless integration of the public access to the newly developed properties and the town access to visitors staying at these new properties is working to the benefit of all. The new businesses have provided defined visitor dockage at their marinas resulting in enhanced boat access to Lakeport.

This access and the new destinations to visit have again made Lakeport a premier Clear Lake boating destination, and these boat-in visitors frequent existing as well as new businesses.

In addition to the interest at new and existing businesses, those wishing to just enjoy the lake, do a little fishing, or paddle a kayak have also had their lake experience enhanced. The Willopoint property has maintained sufficient wetlands and riparian areas to provide nature-walk trails with fishing and lake-gazing space. All admire the joint development that was needed to make all of this happen. In reality almost all of the public development was completed prior to the redevelopment effort.

By carefully specifying the private fill-in development and by ensuring careful teamwork between the local agencies and the private developers, almost 100 percent of the redevelopment cost was privately funded and that private investment proved to be a wise investment.

What is the next step?

While it is easy (and necessary) to conceptually describe a redevelopment plan, a specific plan with details of proposed commercial ventures, architectural guidelines, and defined roles of the public and private sector must be carefully and completely defined. This plan must result from the latest marketing insight into the dynamics of the county and the state to insure that the proposed zone can succeed and that the expectations of the community as well as the return-on-investment goals of the developers are all met or exceeded.

Artist renderings of the area as well as detailed maps and drawings are required for the community to understand and appreciate the plan and for developers to participate and fund the effort. An architectural consulting firm must soon be commissioned to define and complete all aspects of this redevelopment plan.

Time is of the essence, as the key properties are now being considered for development and should any of these current proposals be executed in a manner inconsistent with this plan, the value of this proposal and the quality of the final result will be diminished if not eliminated.

Ed Calkins is chairman of the Clear Lake Advisory Subcommittee. He lives in Kelseyville.

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