Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Childcare Center topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning commission approves permit to convert manufactured home into The Learning House childcare center
Summary
The City of Clear Lake Planning Commission voted unanimously Oct. 28 to approve a conditional use permit allowing conversion of a 1,945-square-foot manufactured home at 14840 Burns Valley Road into The Learning House early-education center, subject to site improvements including ADA access, parking upgrades and traffic-control measures.
The City of Clear Lake Planning Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to approve Conditional Use Permit CUP 2025-01, authorizing the conversion of a 1,945-square-foot manufactured home at 14840 Burns Valley Road into a commercial early-education facility known as The Learning House.
Senior Planner Jessica told the commission the parcel is about 2.2 acres in a rural residential zone and that the project builds on an earlier 2009 use permit (UPO1-09). Staff said the proposal is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under Section 15303 because it involves conversion of an existing small structure. Conditions attached to Planning Commission Resolution PC 2025-06 require completion of ADA route-of-travel improvements, upgraded parking, and other site work before the converted building may operate.
During the staff presentation and applicant remarks, Elaine Robinson, the applicant, described the surfacing and circulation plan: "Our plans are that the area between the — that connects the three buildings is going to be paved with asphalt, and that will be handicap access ... the two legs of the driveway would be compacted gravel," and said a paved sidewalk will run to Burns Valley Road. Robinson said the applicant has purchased a regulatory stop sign and intends additional signage to control traffic flow.
Commissioner Ray Silva, who reported a site visit, relayed neighbors' concerns about dust and drivers exiting at speed and suggested speed bumps as an option. Silva noted a "wrong way" warning sign already on Sharp Lane and asked staff and the applicant about surfacing plans and traffic calming. Robinson said the applicant is trying to limit paving partly to slow vehicle speeds: "...when something's paved, people drive a lot faster. And so ... safety" was her primary concern.
Vice Chair Jack Smalley asked about accessible parking; the applicant said there will be three accessible stalls, each "long enough for a van" and extra wide. Smalley also asked whether the manufactured home interior had been altered; Robinson said the unit was ordered with one bedroom closet and other rooms arranged as dens or offices rather than bedrooms.
No members of the public spoke on the item. A motion to adopt PC Resolution 2025-06 was made and seconded; in a roll-call vote Commissioners Derek House, Ray Silva, Chris Inglis, Vice Chair Jack Smalley and Chair Fawn Williams all voted "aye," and the motion passed unanimously.
The resolution approval allows the applicant to move forward subject to the conditions listed in Attachment A to the resolution; staff said those items must be completed before the converted building may open.
