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CLEARLAKE – A vacation complex to be built on an existing resort has earned the enthusiastic support of the Clearlake Planning Commission as well as city residents, who say the project will help the city's tourism and its look.
At its regular meeting Nov. 6, the Clearlake Planning Commission approved a use permit for Serenity Cove, a 138-unit vacation condominium project, said Commissioner Al Bernal.
The project also will include a restaurant open to the public, a 50-slip marina, a clubhouse, swimming pool and pier/dock, according to city planning documents.
Serenity Cove is currently known as Funtime Resort, but is commonly known as the old Garner’s Resort on Old Highway 53, Bernal explained.
Proposing the development is the firm Serenity Cove LLC, based in San Francisco.
The group includes Leo Cassidy, John McMahon and Damian Johnston, three Irishmen who met after arriving in the United States, Cassidy told Lake County News in an interview.
“We've been friends for a very long time and have been going to the lake there for 20 to 25 years,” said Cassidy.
Since then, he said he's gotten to know every inch of the lake, and watched the community go through transitions. “I've seen seen a lot of changes all through the years there,” Cassidy said.
Recognizing the area's potential, and understanding its resort past, Cassidy said he and his partners began exploring purchasing property for a development.
First, they looked at the Lamplighter Resort, but Cassidy said the “previous regime” in the city's building department raised enough issues with the plan that he walked away from it.
Next, the group began looking at Garner's Resort three years ago, going through a due diligence process because of the potential risk involved in the sizable project. He said they purchased the resort two years ago and began working with city staff on the project.
The five-story condominium development will include 138 units with one, two or three bedrooms in order to serve everyone from single visitors and couples to families, said Cassidy. The entire development will be accessible from the water and open to the public, Cassidy said.
A boardwalk will link to nearby Anderson Marsh State Park, which has plans to expand its walking trails, Cassidy said.
“We put a lot of thought into this,” he said.
The hope, he added, is for the resort to draw back tourism to Clearlake, offering a place with amenities that will appeal to everyone from fishermen to families.
Cassidy also hopes the resort will help draw bass tournaments back to Clearlake. “All the fish are not in Lakeport,” he said.
He suggested Serenity Cove could be a mini Konocti Harbor.
Cassidy said he has been in construction for many years, and has completed developments around the country, most of them much bigger than this one. He said some of his projects include high rises in Miami and Honolulu.
City approves project basics
Clearlake City Administrator Dale Neiman processed the Serenity Cove use permit.
“My conclusion, it's a good project for the city,” Neiman said.
Neiman said the resort currently is permitted for 128 units, so the development Cassidy and his partners are proposing would only increase that by 10 units.
He said there will be a homeowners association, and he foresees retirees, people seeking second homes and young professionals buying the resort's condominiums.
The resort currently has 17 older mobile homes, none of which are in good condition, along with one RV, said Neiman.
Eight of the mobiles are occupied by a total of 16 permanent residents, said Neiman. A survey of the property owners discovered two very low income households, five low income households and one in the moderate income bracket.
Neiman said the residents will need to be relocated before construction can begin. He said it hasn't been decided if relocation assistance will be provided.
None of the residents came forward to ask for assistance at the Nov. 6 Planning Commission meeting, said Neiman. Two of the residents spoke at the meeting and said they saw no problem with the development.
Project gets enthusiastic response
Bernal said a large crowd came to the Nov. 6 Planning Commission meeting. Besides the developer, speakers included resort residents, neighboring property owners, Clearlake business owners and Clearlake Vision Task Force members. He said no attendees at the meeting spoke against the project.
Cassidy said he believes the project is receiving support because “this is a development the City of Clearlake is crying out for.”
The commission had to resolve three issues prior to giving approval for the use permit, according to Bernal. Those issues were the five-story height of the three buildings on the site, preservation of the oak trees on the site and traffic safety concerns for entry and exit to and from the project. The issues were resolved.
The height of the building, said Bernal, will not be an issue for fire protection and will not result in restrictions of views from adjoining properties.
By letting the developers build upward, said Neiman, the city was able to get an exchange on open space, which will help preserve almost all of the eight-acre property's numerous oak trees.
Bernal said only five of 38 mature oaks, some already diseased, will be removed.
On the issue of traffic, the area of the property that faces Old Highway 53 will include road widening to allow for turn lanes, lessening the traffic concerns, Bernal reported.
“What impressed me the most is we've got outside investors and developers that see the potential of Clearalake – the water, the climate – and they're willing to invest in us,” said Bernal.
The quality of the proposed development, its efforts to promote the city and tourism, and the developers' efforts to work with the city, resort residents and neighbors, all strengthened the project's appeal, Bernal explained.
In addition, he said the project dovetails with the goals of the Clearlake Vision Task Force report, which seeks to improve the city's tourism as a way of strengthening the economy.
An added benefit is that the project is a major upgrade of a property currently already used as a resort facility, Bernal said.
Resort won't be built right away
Everyone agrees that construction on the Serenity Cove resort project is still at least two years out.
Bernal said the Planning Commission's use permit approval is the first step towards actual construction of the project.
Next, the developers must gain approval by the State Department of Real Estate and process a subdivision map through the City of Clearlake, Bernal explained.
Then, said Neiman, the developers need to solidify financing, finish construction drawings and submit them to the city, and satisfy the different utility companies' requirements.
When building starts will depend largely upon the market, which has now slowed down, said Cassidy.
The pricing of the condominiums also will depend on how the market looks in a few years, said Cassidy.
By that time, the developing partners will have decided on the materials for the project, which Cassidy said he considered to be “green.” No decision has been made about using solar power, he added.
Cassidy is confident that the market will turn a corner, and he said he believes the coming decade has a lot in store for Clearlake.
“I believe there's going to be major changes up there,” he said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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It's been a dry year across the state, and the impacts have been hard on some areas of the county. But Rachelle Henry, general manager for the Upper Lake County Water District, told her board at its Nov. 15 meeting that the district's customers have stepped up.
The district didn't issue a call for conservation, said Henry. But their pumping hours for this October totaled 150, down from 231 at the same time last year.
Henry told Lake County News in an interview after the meeting that she hasn't seen a year this dry during the five years she's been with the district.
“Our wells are down, definitely,” she said.
But the district's customers – accounting for 402 hookups – took on the matter of saving water, she said.
“I'd like to get the word out there about how grateful we are to our constituents,” she said.
Understanding annexation issues
The district's board is now in the process of reviewing a basic annexation agreement that the district could possibly use when future projects are presented, said Henry.
Two possible annexations looming in the future are the Meadow Point mobile home park near Judy's Junction restaurant and the Habematolel Pomo's proposed casino project, said Henry. The district originally was told that the tribe wanted to break ground for the casino in 2008.
Neither project has made a formal application to the district for annexation, Henry said.
However, Habematolel members attended the district board's Oct. 10 meeting to give the district a check for $7,727.33 to cover an engineering study. Henry said the study explored hooking the casino up to the district as well as other alternatives to provide water to the project.
If the tribe does make formal application to join the district, Henry said that the district doesn't have to approve it.
A Bureau of Indian Affairs environmental study on the casino had a lot of holes in it, according to district board members. Henry sent a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs dated June 18, in which she outlined some of the issues, including pointing out that water quality and supply and hydrologic studies needed to be completed prior to the project's approval, not after.
She also explained that the bureau used a 2001 opinion survey on Upper Lake residents' response to a community arch as a basis for community acceptance of the casino. The casino, she pointed out, wasn't on the drawing board at that time.
Henry and the district's board members said they want the district's current customers to weigh in on any possibly annexations.
District upgrades under way
Henry reported that the district's master plan calls for updating its outdated pipe.
Today, 6-inch pipes are considered minimum size for systems such as Upper Lake's, yet in some places they found pipes as small as 2 inches, she explained. They've already replaced several areas of the small pipe to bring it up to accepted standards.
Board Chair Allen Merriman pointed out that the district has had fewer broken pipes and leak problems recently.
Henry said the district doesn't have a hookup moratorium.
The small district does, however, needs money to make system improvements, said Henry.
Last May, capacity expansion and connection fees rose from $3,000 to $10,200, Henry said. A district study found the overall fee should cost $20,400, but the district decided to reduce the fee.
In other district news, at a special meeting Nov. 28, the Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) will hold public hearings on the spheres of influence updates for the Upper Lake, Clearlake Oaks and Konocti County Water Districts, according to LAFCO documents.
The Upper Lake district's next board meeting will take place Dec. 12.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKE COUNTY – The county's October unemployment rate edged slightly upward from September and was noticeably higher over October 2006, according to the latest state figures.
Lake County’s October 2007 unemployment rate was 7.4 percent, up 0.4 percent from September and 1.4 percent above the year-ago, October 2006 rate, according to a report from Dennis Mullins of Employment Development Department's Labor Market Information Division.
October's jobless 7.4 percent jobless rate in Lake County compares to a seasonally unadjusted rate of 5.4 percent for California and 4.4 percent for the U.S., Mullins reported.
Some surrounding county rates included 9.2 percent for Colusa, 5.0 percent for Mendocino and 4.4 percent for Sonoma, Mullins added. Marin again had the lowest rate in the state with 3.8 percent and Imperial County had the highest at 20.3 percent.
Lake County's October unemployment rate ranks it 44 among the state's 58 counties.
Total industry employment increased 470 jobs (3.1 percent) between October 2006 and October 2007, ending the year-over period with 15,810 jobs, according to Mullins' report.
Year-over job growth, Mullins reported, occurred in farm; trade, transportation and utilities; information; private educational and health services; leisure and hospitality; other services; and government.
Year-over job losses occurred in natural resources, mining, and construction; and professional and business services, Mullins noted.
Industry sectors with no change over the year were manufacturing and financial activities, Mullins added.
The farm sector again led industry gainers adding 190 jobs for the year, according to Mullins. Private educational and health services gained 120 jobs and government added 100.
In addition, Mullins reported that trade, transportation and utilities gained 50; leisure and hospitality, and other services were up 30 jobs each; information picked up 10 jobs.
Losing jobs, according to Mullins, were natural resources, mining and construction, which shed 50 jobs, and professional and business services dropped 10 for the year-over period.
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Judge Stephen Hedstrom sentenced Craig Alvin Lemke, 45, to 68 years to life in prison for the February 2006 home invasion robbery of an elderly Lower Lake couple, as Lake County News previously reported Friday.
Lemke was convicted by a jury of the crime on Oct. 2.
The stiff sentence resulted, in part, because the jury found Lemke was guilty of two prior “strikes,” one of them a similar home robbery, Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff said Thursday.
On Friday, Lemke's attorney, Jason Webster, reported that Lemke filed an appeal on Thursday, the day of the sentencing. However, Webster said he wasn't able to further discuss the appeal.
Along with Lemke, Joe Moncivaiz Jr. was accused of taking part in the robbery. According to a previous report from Hinchcliff, the two men had bound the elderly couple with tape before stealing thousands of dollars in cash, guns and ammunition.
Moncivaiz admitted his participation and pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary, Hinchcliff stated in an October interview.
Webster said Moncivaiz received a “substantial deal” in the case and was reportedly sentenced to only four years in prison.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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But that was just the case on Thursday, when local law enforcement officers could be found – complete with smiles and speedy table service – at Main Street Bar and Grill for “Tip-A-Cop,” a fundraiser for Lake County Special Olympics.
Officer Adam Garcia of the California Highway Patrol said the event, which took place between 6:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., raised $1,758 in tips. Main Street Bar and Grill owner Sam Polo matched that amount, bringing the total to approximately $3,516.
“Sam is very generous to us today,” said Garcia.
Garcia said the the agencies participating included the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Probation Department, CHP, Lakeport Police and Clearlake Police.
“I think it's a worthy cause for our community,” said Garcia.
Approximately 65 athletes, ranging in age from 5 to 65, take part in Special Olympics locally, said Special Olympics volunteer Kristina Navarro.
In Lake County, there are events for the athletes year-round, said Navarro. A bowling tournament is scheduled for Nov. 24 at Lakeside Lanes.
Athletes also can compete to qualify for regional events, Navarro said.
There are two Tip-A-Cop events each year, said Navarro – besides the Clearlake event, there is one in Lakeport, which is held earlier in the year – along with a Torch Run and the Scorchin' Torch Poker Run.
Ruth Fortino, who has worked as a waitress at the restaurant for seven years, said the officers and deputies were doing well on their table-waiting assignments, and all were “eager to help.”
“It's been fun,” she said.
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LAKEPORT – A man found guilty last month of robbing an elderly couple received a stiff sentence Thursday.
Craig Alvin Lemke, 45, of Lakeport was convicted Oct. 2 of a February 2006 home invasion robbery in Lower Lake, as Lake County News previously reported.
Lemke was found guilty of two counts of first degree robbery, first degree burglary, elder theft, two counts of false imprisonment of an elderly person and grand theft of firearms, according to a previous report from Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.
Lemke also was found guilty of several special allegations, including two previous “strikes,” three prior prison terms between 1986 and 1996, committing a felony while released on own recognizance and crimes against elders were found to be true, Hinchcliff reported in an October interview.
Lemke's attorney, Jason Webster, attempted to get one of the strikes dismissed, but Judge Stephen Hedstrom didn't agree, said Hinchcliff.
On Thursday, Hedstrom sentenced Lemke to 68 years to life in prison, Hinchcliff said.
The prior strikes, which Hedstrom wouldn't discount, doubled the sentence, said Hinchcliff.
Lemke's prior strikes, said Hinchcliff, “arose out of a case just like this.”
In that particular case, Hinchcliff said Lemke went into a home, bound a man and his 15-year-old nephew with tape, and robbed them.
“He went to prison for that for seven years,” Hinchcliff said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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