On March 2, the Board of Supervisors will be meeting to decide whether or not to change Lake County’s General Plan to allow the Cristallago subdivision to move forward. I thought I would take some time to voice a few of my concerns about this project. I do want you to know that I’m not against development in Lake County, but as this subdivision is now designed it makes no sense to me at all.

Matt Boeger, when this whole subdivision came on board, made many references to the lake as being a “core amenity” which at the time it most certainly was. Since that time they have dropped the marina and fishing village from it completely. Are their heads screwed on right?

The NUMBER ONE ASSET WE HAVE is the Lake and now it’s out of the picture. This could have attracted many fishermen and fishing tournaments. They then could have used this as a selling point. This development must include the marina. Without it, it is destined for failure. They missed the boat here and should have tried to make these homes available to the common man, not golfers.

They continue to hold fast on the golf course and I truly believe this is because they have already given over $1 million dollars to Jack Nicklaus and another $1 million is committed to Jack Nicklaus Design Group. That’s $2 million dollars for a golf course. Wouldn’t that money have been better used to get the marina out of bankruptcy?

I believe this decision comes from not knowing what folks would want in a lake type resort development. None of the consultants they have used are from here or know what assets the county truly has. They must like golf better than fishing and think most people have the $125 to $ 200 to pay for a round of golf. The majority of Lake County residents will not even be allowed to play golf on this course. But wait, they will offer the residents of our county 20 Golf Club memberships. What nice guys!

They said this development would be geared to the retiring baby boomers. This was before they realized the extent of the asbestos in the soil. In talking with many of my friends in the Bay Area, they all were against purchasing any home that would be on asbestos-laden soil. Whether you cover it with 12 inches or 24 inches of soil, I truly believe that these men will not fully disclose to the new home buyers in detail what will happen to a child or adult if they disturb the soil.

Any way you look at it, this site for the most part is toxic. If there is one chance in 100,000 that a child could get cancer, it is not worth the risk. Lake County does not even have the staff to keep someone onsite at all times to try and monitor the situation. This looks to be clear cut case of the fox in the chicken coop.

This part of the development should be dropped completely. We are playing with fire here. No baby boomer will buy a house on this land. It just won’t happen. Can you imagine the negative publicity this subdivision will get throughout the years as they try and sell these homes? It makes no sense at all. Just look at the ongoing mess in El Dorado County where they built on asbestos-laden soil. Lawyers are making tons of money on all the law suits flying around. We are headed down the same path here.

They have continued to disregard the comments made by Doug Gearhart, the county's pollution control officer, even to the point of calling him “misguided.” If we let this go though, along with Provinsalia and the Valley Oaks developments, we will all have to get smog checks for our cars and trucks. This will also adversely affect every farmer that is left in the county. They don’t care about that, only the money for their pockets.

They have fought him tooth and nail on the solar panel issue and have tried to convince us that these homes will be “green.” Give me break! With the state and whole country going down the road of conserving energy, these homes will be obsolete before they are ever built. We have an opportunity as a county to prove to the rest of the state that we are one of the greenest counties in the country. Going “green“ is where our country is headed but I’m afraid these men just don’t get the point.

This is exactly what happens when you get developers from out of the county who only care about money. They are so far behind the times and this subdivision will take about 15 to 20 years to build out. Green homes will be the norm by then. But these men continue to stick their heads in the sand in an attempt to build outdated homes. They still think that by installing low flush toilets and florescent light bulbs makes the house top of the line. Requiring each of these homes to have solar panels and hook-ups for electric cars would be an excellent selling point.

Many long hours were put in by so many citizens and staff to develop a general plan that we all could live with. These men now want to change that for all of us. They have taken care not to let us see what this subdivision would look like during the day from Highway 29. This will be tract housing at its worst. This is not what we need in our county and they continue to try and tell us that this will be good for all of us. This is not country style living and I seriously doubt that this type of subdivision is what we want in our county. If you have ever been to Tuscany, you will clearly see that the homes they are proposing are not even close to Tuscany. Five homes per acre is just ridiculous. Country style living is not tract housing.

This whole project needs to go back to the drawing board. Limit the homes to around 100 and keep them off the serpentine soil, timeshares homes to 50. Make the golf course nine holes and most importantly get the marina and fishing village built. The marina and fishing village will create jobs and attract far more fisherman than golfers.

I hope all of you will join me at the meeting and hope that the Board of Supervisors will have the courage and integrity to SEND IT BACK to the drawing board

Norm Ihle lives in north Lakeport.