The former Pollock Pines School will be converted to commercial use, and the owners say a homeless shelter once proposed for the site is not part of their plans.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously last week to rezone the property from multifamily residential to commercial use following a heated exchange between one of the property owners and Supervisor Helen Baumann.
Thomas Van Noord, an owner of the 5.62-acre site and 16,000-square-foot former school building on Pony Express Trail, took exception to what he argued was a last-minute effort by Baumann to give the board more control over future uses of the property.
The planned use, a health clinic offering medical and dental services, is allowed by right under the commercial zone. So is a homeless shelter.
Pollock Pines residents have said they would welcome the clinic, but they have strongly opposed the homeless shelter because of the proximity to residential neighborhoods.
Van Noord said the owners agreed to allow the county Human Services Department to list the property as a potential homeless shelter site to aid in its bid for a state Department of Housing and Community Development grant to fund startup and operating costs for a year-round shelter.
The homeless issue needs attention, Van Noord said, "and we were happy to help with the grant application."
But he said the shelter, which was to be housed in modular buildings that would be moved onto the school grounds, would not be compatible with the health clinic.
Baumann asked staff members whether any zoning designation precludes a homeless shelter.
Only agriculture and research and development zones make no provision for such uses, but planner Pierre Rivas said adding a planned development overlay to the commercial zone would allow the county greater discretion by requiring review of any use proposed for the site.
"I resent that this has come up now," Van Noord told the board.
The planned development option initially was raised in discussions with staff members whom, he said, Baumann called upon in a political move to stop the shelter.
Van Noord said he and his partners declined to pursue a planned development because their potential tenant, the El Dorado County Community Health Center, was unwilling to deal with the added bureaucracy.
Van Noord said he would withdraw the application, reapply for general commercial zoning and seek a special-use permit for the health center rather than agree to a planned development.
"We don't want to become a political football. We don't want to jeopardize the health clinic," he said.
"I find your comments extremely unfortunate," Baumann replied.
"This county and this district supervisor put in a lot of time and a lot of commitment to see that an appropriate project goes on that site," Baumann said.
Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 608-7451.
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