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THREATENED DEVELOPMENT ON LACC NORTH BORDER IS NOW A REALITY ... The proposed "Lake Front at Walker Ranch" development of 1400 acres on LACC's northern border has been approved by the Plumas County Supervisors, and an Environmental Impact Report ("EIR") is now out for public comment until August 22. The FIRST act of the developer will be to clearcut all 1400 acres, from Clifford Drive to Rte 36, and from the west border of Bailey Creek to the shore of Lake Almanor, creating a gigantic dustbowl. Now, when you approach the Clifford Gate from outside LACC, the last 1/4 mile is forested on either side. SOON, all of these trees will go and you will drive through a wasteland to enter the Club. Later, when lots are sold, high-density housing (of 8 units per acre or more) will appear along Clifford, with a density of up to 20 dwellings per acre in different parts of the development. THEY WANT TO START THE CLEARCUT IN SEPTEMBER ...

A total of 1674 units are planned, doubling the amount of sewage going into septic systems and the strain on our common water supply. The Lake is already being polluted, and runoff from this development will be unimpeded by trees or other vegetation, flowing down the steep hillside into the Lake. The LACC Water Company correctly pointed out that "Lake Front" has utterly failed to meet its legal burden to prove that there will be sufficient water to accommodate so many new users, particularly when Bailey Creek and Foxwood are finally built out (now at less than 10% occupancy). But "Lake Front" fabricated its "water test" data and bought the County Supervisors, overwhelming the Water Company with high-priced "experts" and attorneys. And, of course, this will also eliminate the last remaining wildlife habitat on our side of Lake Almanor.

SEE FOR YOURSELF: you can review a copy of the EIR in the Chester Library, either in hard copy or viewing the disc on your PC (the disc also has the Technical Appendices), or request that a copy be mailed to you by calling Plumas County Planning (530-283-7011).

NEW 7/28/2008: you can download a ZIP file containing the EIR (in PDF format) by clicking the link below.
Note: you will need high-speed broadband to download this long file, and even so figure on 10-15 minutes.

YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!! Write NOW with your comments to the Plumas County Supervisors, to the California Department of Water Resources, to Plumas County Planning and your state and federal representatives, from our California US Senators on down (check back on this site as we develop a suggested mailing list). And try to get the LACC Board and other associations to (finally) use their resources to encourage as much participation as possible from local residents and members of the public in opposing the Walker Ranch project. Your use and enjoyment and property values are at extreme risk ... SEND COMMENTS TO:

Why hasn't LACC told members anything about this? Several years ago the original plan for the development was posted on the LACC website, but was later taken off and never reappeared. The attitude taken by LACC directors is that the project is "decades away." This is true ONLY insofar it will take decades, if ever, to see homes built on these 1674 new lots. BUT, the development will start immediately with the clearcut of the 1400 remaining acres of timber on the east (our) shore of Lake Almanor, forever altering the unique environment of this area. You and your guests will approach the Clifford Gate through a dustbowl, on both sides of Clifford Drive. Next, the depletion of our groundwater and pollution of the lake will accelerate with the beginning of construction of the 18-hole golf course. At some point during this phase the project will go bankrupt - there is no chance in the present economic climate that it can succeed, and look at the empty lots in Bailey Creek and Foxwood after 10+ years. The developers will walk away with the timber money and we will be left with 1400 acres of dust and slash.

Chester Public Meeting 9/9/2008: At the request of our attorney, who contacted Supervisor Sherri Thrall, the Zoning Administrator held a public meeting in Chester on September 9, 2008. Over 100 attended - a very large turnout for a meeting of this sort, particularly in the afternoon of a weekday after the summer residents had departed for the season. The LACC Board finally got its act together and read a statement that repeats the points we have been making here since early July. Hopefully they also submitted their points in writing so that it has to be addressed by Planning (unlike the pathetic letter they wrote 8/20/2008 complaining about the inconvenience during construction). Board President Dana Seandel repeated the foolishness about holding the County responsible "in perpetuity" if it turns out that there isn't enough water for both LACC and the new project, a concept that apparently arose from LACC's foolish General Manager, Rick Archbold (AKA Patrick Jackson). In reality, one cannot sue a public agency or elected board for making a mistake, especially when the other side has put in technical reports that give the appearance of supporting its position, and you have not. For its part, the Lake Almanor Mutual Water Company reversed its prior decision not to contest the DEIR (missing the original 8/22 deadline), submitted a written comment and had an attorney speak at the public meeting. Unfortunately, the Water Co has restricted its contribution to trying to get some "mitigation" (such as phasing in 1/2 of the project at a time) instead of opposing it headon. To this date the Water Co has never put in a counter technical report pointing out the obvious inconsistencies and critical omissions in the reports paid for by the project applicants. This is something we have remedied, in addition to working with the Dept of Water Resources, and Water Quality, to make sure that these agencies were informed of the DEIR (they had not heard when we contacted them) and would submit their own comments (they did). We have also enlisted the help of the relevant Native American representatives, who were improperly excluded from the process - a big problem for the project.

Recognize these pictures at the right? If you have been down to Big Cove you will have seen one of the biggest eyesores on Lake Almanor - the cluster of pseudo-log mobile-homes across the cove from Big Cove marina. According to their website, this is one of the proud achievements of the developer of the new "Lake Front" project described below: see http://thenicholsonco.com/Project.asp (note that the mobile-home project is described on the site as "Almanor Lakefront," whereas the new project is called "Walker Ranch" (scroll down list of projects).