Zoning meeting today
Rec district to consider land sale to charter school next week
The zoning administrator is conducting a special use permit hearing today, Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 10 a.m., for a tract of land in East Quincy owned by the Central Plumas Recreation and Park District.
Plumas Charter School wants to build a school on the property located at 1425 East Main St., which is adjacent to the recreation district.
Assistant Planner Becky Herrin, with the Plumas County Planning Department, said that it was expected that the special use permit would be granted, as long as the charter school agreed to the conditions outlined in the permit. She said that the special use permit issues were separate from any decision to be made by the recreation district about selling the land to the charter school.
The recreation district is scheduled to discuss the land sale during its Dec. 17 meeting at 7:30 a.m., in its office at 34 Fairground Road.
The five members of the district’s board of directors — Jerry Sipe, Laurie Sturley, Scott Davis, Jeremy Pilkington and Rick Leonhardt — have expressed mixed sentiments about the sale and are interested in hearing from the public.
During the board’s November meeting, directors heard that a chief advantage of the sale would be financial — the district would receive payment for the land and then, if an agreement could be reached, ongoing revenue from the district paying a fee for its students to use the district grounds for morning recess, lunch and afternoon physical education classes roughly nine months out of the year. James Shipp, the district’s general manager, and Taletha Washburn, the school’s executive director, share a vision for what could be accomplished by working together.
But it’s that very partnership that has at least one director concerned. Scott Davis would prefer to see the charter school build its own playground rather than use the district’s, which could impact the general public’s ability to access the play structures and grounds.
The other concern is that once the land is sold to the charter school, the district’s ability to build soccer fields or other recreation opportunities adjacent to its facility would be lost.
Washburn has proposed including its Kelsey Lane property (the site adjacent to Quincy High School where she had hoped to build a new school) to the recreation district. That site has proved problematic for building structures, but could perhaps be used for a soccer field or bicycle pump track.
