By Katy Penland

“What makes them think anything’s different now than it was two years ago? What’s changed?” Lebec resident JoAnne Klein asked of the Lebec County Water District Board at their special meeting Monday, June 22.

The board voted not to annex Frazier Park Estates.

Two motions were immediately made and approved with very little discussion: They agreed to “go ahead and pay the attorneys to move forward” to fight the Fallingstar project and to get consultants Kennedy & Jenks involved again “to go over the new draft EIR that basically had only two small changes made from the original,” which was rejected in 2006, said Cindy Blomgren, the district’s secretary/treasurer.

Paso Robles developer Frank Arciero, Jr. proposes to build 662 homes, 41 apartments and 104,500 sq. feet of commercial and industrial structures in an area off of Peace Valley Road, surrounding Frazier Mountain High School. The plan is to draw water from the same aquifer as the water district uses to serve its current customers.

In discussion, the board said the new DEIR does not prove that there is enough water available. They said the new plan also fails to address concerns raised in the district’s opposition to the prior DEIR.

Arciero previously proposed that the district annex his development and manage its wastewater treatment plant. The district board declined.

In other business, the board approved a motion for Shelter on the Hill to bore under Lebec Road for installation of a 2” water main to their property.

The board then went into closed session to discuss personnel matters.

Additional notes by P. Hedlund

This is part of the June 19, 2009 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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