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- Written by: Lake County News reports
“We celebrate the unique diversity of living things found in our state, and encourage actions to protect them, on California Biodiversity Day, held Sept. 7 of each year,” the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
Although physical distancing restrictions and other COVID-19 precaution have prevented California Department of Fish and Wildlife, or CDFW, ecological reserves and wildlife areas from planning the “open house” style celebrations that were hosted in previous years, CDFW staff across the state have created a roster of ways – both virtual and outdoors – for Californians to explore and learn about the biodiversity found on state lands.
A master list of California Biodiversity Day events can be found at www.resources.ca.gov/biodiversityday2021.
This year’s virtual events, self-guided tours and outdoor opportunities lend themselves to physical distancing. The events will be held over the course of a week, from Sept. 4 to 12.
A sampling of California Biodiversity Day 2021 events, many of which feature the use of the free iNaturalist app, include the following:
Take one of the many self-guided tours available at CDFW properties throughout the state. Use the iNaturalist app to learn and document any plants, animals or other organisms you encounter while exploring CDFW ecological reserves and wildlife areas.
Visitors to the Los Angeles Zoo are invited to imagine and share their vision of what people and animals thriving, together, looks like at their home. Visitors will be able to draw a scene showing their ideas, and then attach it to a wall-sized map of Los Angeles. This community-created mural will showcase our collective vision of a city where California biodiversity is valued. Happening Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 11, and 12, 2021, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Using the free iNaturalist app, join a virtual scavenger hunt around the Nimbus Fish Hatchery and along the American River! Bring drinking water. Programming provided in English and Spanish.
Join one of the virtual presentations to learn more about California’s unique biodiversity and ways you can help protect it. Take part in an interview with pollinator scientists on Sept. 9 or learn about how you can restore habitat where you live and work on Sept. 10.
Visit the Biodiversity Day website for a full list of events and details.
All proposed in-person activities will take place outdoors and involve minimal contact between participants and any staff present, with a minimum physical distance of 6 feet from individuals from different households observed by all.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The commission will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
The council chambers will be open to the public for the meeting. In accordance with updated guidelines from the state of California and revised Cal OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards, persons who are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19 are required to wear a face covering at this meeting.
The agenda is available here.
To speak on an agenda item, access the meeting remotely here; the meeting ID is 986 6166 5155. To join by phone, dial 1-669-900-9128.
Comments can be submitted by email to
Please indicate in the email subject line "for public comment" and list the item number of the agenda item that is the topic of the comment. Comments that are read to the council will be subject to the three minute time limitation (approximately 350 words). Written comments that are only to be provided to the council and not read at the meeting will be distributed to the council before the meeting.
On Wednesday, the commission will consider Lake County Tribal Health’s application for architectural and design review and a categorical exemption for a 1,200-square-foot metal building to be located at 1950 Parallel Drive.
The new building will be located south of Tribal Health’s existing offices and facilities on its Legacy Court property, staff reported.
The staff report said the new building will be used to house the Job Skills Center training client in carpentry, cabinetry, and simple electrical and plumbing trades, and also for housing equipment.
The program had been conducted in an adjacent carport on the property before the pandemic began. “With the pandemic, the program was put on hold which prompted the decision to provide a better, more permanent location for this program,” the staff report said.
In other business, Community Development Director Jennifer Byers will hold a study session and discussion with the commission regarding outdoor dining parklets as a replacement to the current COVID-19 temporary outdoor dining permits.
Byers’ report to the commission explained that in May 2020 the city manager authorized an executive order which approved a process for temporary zoning permits to allow outdoor dining, or parklets, with a no-fee, expedited permit.
The city has issued 10 of those permits, which Byers said authorize the use of a segment of public sidewalk, street parking lane or private parking areas for outdoor dining. Some of those areas are using city-owned K-rail barriers.
In a June 3 order, Gov. Gavin Newsom extended relief measures allowing restaurants and bars to continue expanded outdoor operations through Dec. 31, Byers said.
Byers said parklets are “an innovative way to add temporary gathering spaces to public streets.” They’re typically located in the parking lane adjacent to the curb and designed as a sidewalk extension.
The Lakeport Main Street Association conducted a survey of downtown business owners from Martin to Fifth streets in July, asking if the city should allow permanent parklets. Of those responding, Byers said 50% said yes, 33% said maybe and 16% said no.
Her report said staff is seeking direction from the commission on implementing a permanent program, including design criteria and the mechanisms needed for businesses other than restaurants to use outdoor retail opportunities.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
MATH will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9, via Zoom. The meeting is open to the public.
To join the Zoom meeting click on this link; the meeting ID is 935 1671 5770. Call in at 669-900-6833, or one-tap mobile at +16699006833,93516715770# or +12532158782,93516715770#.
At 7:10 p.m., Sheriff Brian Martin has been invited to speak and hold a discussion with the group regarding the Nixle alert system his agency uses during emergencies.
7:40 p.m., the group is scheduled to turn to a discussion of proposed cannabis projects.
Mike Mitzel, a representative of projects planned at the Bar-X and Diamond J ranches, with offer and update and answer questions.
Time also has been scheduled for the applicants of the WeGrow project near Hidden Valley to speak to the group at 7:55 p.m. Earlier this year, the project was approved by the Lake County Planning Commission but an appeal without prejudice was upheld by the Board of Supervisors in June, meaning owner Zarina Otchkova can reapply.
MATH will discuss whether to act as a body in submitting comments to the county on the project. The county currently is taking public comment through Oct. 6 on the addendum to the project’s mitigated negative declaration.
Other agenda items include an update from Supervisor Moke Simon at 8:10 p.m., a vote at 8:20 p.m. on a Pacific Gas and Electric Grant for municipal groups, public comment at 8:30 p.m. and a discussion at 8:45 p.m. on moving back to in-person meetings.
MATH will next meet on Thursday, Oct. 14.
The MATH Board includes Co-Chairs Rosemary Córdova and Monica Rosenthal, Secretary Lisa Kaplan, and Ken Gonzales and Paul Baker.
MATH — established by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12, 2006 — is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
At the council’s Aug. 17 meeting, Community Development Director Jenni Byers reported that the city has been approached by two hoteliers about a potential lakeside hotel project at the Dutch Harbor property, located on North Main Street next to the Lakefront Park that’s under construction.
In order to move forward on a possible sale, Byers said the city needed to declare the property surplus.
The 2.9-acre Dutch Harbor — which has long been envisioned as being used for a hotel development — was one of several properties staff identified as surplus.
The others include a 0.51-acre property next to Dutch Harbor that includes a building that was the old Natural High School; the former police station on N. Forbes Street, 0.23 acres; and an 0.80-acre portion of land not included in the Lakefront Park project.
Councilman Michael Green asked about how developable the Dutch Harbor property is.
Byers said the Lakeport Lakefront Revitalization Plan presented information on that prospect, which is why the small strip from the park is to be included.
The plan includes alternatives such as a private hotel development on the site, or commercial or waterfront development.
It also suggested the city consider adding a specific general plan policy to the land use element allowing for a possible lot line adjustment between the Dutch Harbor property and Natural High property to make the Dutch Harbor site a more developable parcel for a hotel or similar resort commercial use.
Byers said the early proposals are for a three-story hotel building.
City Manager Kevin Ingram said a 2017 hotel feasibility study identified a hotel as the highest use for Dutch Harbor, although it was undersized, at less than three acres. He said adding the other nearby property gets it closer to the needed size.
Green asked why the city didn’t analyze adding that property to Lakefront Park. Ingram said the city didn’t include the old school building or the additional shoreline frontage due to the tight time frame the city had as well as the California Environmental Quality Act requirements for the building’s demolition.
While Ingram said that property won’t necessarily be used for a hotel, it’s a matter of making it available for other potential uses. Any potential commercial use requires the city to go through the surplus process.
He said the city has done some marketing to try to attract hoteliers and they received some leads.
Councilman Michael Froio moved to adopt the resolution declaring the surplus property and directing staff to file a notice of availability with the California Department of Housing and Community Development in accordance with the Surplus Lands Act.
That law requires local governments to follow certain steps before disposition of property, including declaring it either “surplus land” or “exempt surplus land.”
Unless the land is exempt, Byers’ report said the law requires the city to give written notice of the property’s availability to any local public entity, including schools and park districts, within whose jurisdiction the property is located, as well as to housing sponsors that have notified the Department of Housing and Community Development of their interest in surplus property.
“An entity receiving notice from the agency has 60 days to notify the agency of its interest in purchasing the property, and the agency is required to negotiate in good faith for not less than 90 days with any entity that has responded. Notwithstanding the obligation to negotiate in good faith, the local agency is not required to sell or lease the property to the agency, or to do so for less than fair market value,” Byers wrote in her report.
As of early Tuesday, the Department of Housing and Community Development’s website had not been updated to show the Lakeport properties in its database.
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