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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

November 12, 2002

Vacaville issue: Build homes, save open space

A conservation group says land within city limits could be developed to satisfy both concerns.

Those were two visions for the city of Vacaville released Monday in a report by a Bay Area-based conservation group. The Greenbelt Alliance wants Vacaville city leaders to meet future housing needs without having to annex huge tracts of open space.

The group issued a report titled "Vacaville at a Crossroads" which identified several tracts of land within city limits that could be developed or redeveloped to meet projected housing needs over the next 20 years.

Vacaville Vice Mayor Len Augustine declined to comment on the Greenbelt Alliance report. City offices were closed Monday for Veterans Day, and officials have not read the report. But, he said, city leaders are trying to incorporate in-fill projects in their vision for the future.

Members of the Greenbelt Alliance studied the Solano County city because its leaders have proposed annexing 4,000 acres of open space over the next two decades to meet state-mandated housing goals of 12,400 additional units. The land proposed for annexation includes farmland that has long served as a buffer between urban areas.

"Solano is a county we're extremely concerned about because its projections are to convert a great deal of farmland and open space into urban sprawl," said Natalie DuMont of the Greenbelt Alliance. "And within Solano County, Vacaville is of the most concern in terms of its plans to expand and develop."

Earlier this year, Vacaville city planners issued a report that outlined possible growth scenarios for the city through 2025. The report, titled "Vision Statement: Vacaville 2025," might be used as a template to redraw the city's general plan in 2003.

In the city's vision statement, which was approved by its Planning Commission, 1,440 acres west of Vacaville along Interstate 80 in an area called Pleasants Valley would be annexed to build a golf course, corporate offices and 1,300 luxury homes. Another 1,400 acres east of the city at Leisuretown Road along I-80 would be annexed for a similar project. Other tracts of land also are proposed for development outside Vacaville's city limits.

The city's 2025 vision statement also proposes building a loop road system around the city to serve the projects that could be built on the annexed land.

The Vacaville City Council is expected to consider the vision statement early next year. If it is approved, the council would move forward to adopt its proposals into the city's general plan, or blueprint for growth.

Vacaville has grown considerably in the past 20 years. The city's population has doubled since 1980, from 41,000 residents to 82,000 residents in 2000, not including the 9,000 inmates at the state prison within its borders. If the current rate of growth continues, the population would reach 147,000 by 2025.

The city's land area grew by 24 percent in the 1990s, with the annexation of North Village and Lower Lagoon Valley.

In an effort to preserve open space and farmland, Solano County has in place a voter-approved initiative that bars development on county land without a vote of the people. The ordinance does not restrict cities from annexing land and developing on it.

According to Solano County reports, agriculture remains an important sector of Solano's economy despite population growth. Farming takes place on 64 percent of county land and generates nearly $1.5 billion in revenues each year. Solano produces more than 20 percent of the state's sheep and lamb and 10 percent of the state's corn and grain.

Vacaville Vice Mayor Augustine said he believes the city has done a good job meeting the demands of growth without sprawling outside its limits into farmland. He said San Francisco and other Bay Area cities have done a poor job of providing housing for area employees, so Vacaville is housing workers who commute to those cities.

"We are mostly a bedroom community out here," he said.

In its newly released report, the Greenbelt Alliance also recommends that city leaders create a mixed-use development within the hundreds of acres at I-80 and I-505 that currently house a corporate business park with tenants such as Genentech, Alza Pharmaceuticals and Albertson's Distribution Center. Acreage among those companies could be used for restaurants, shops and even housing, the report states.

"The city should enact policies that promote smart growth in Vacaville's central areas, on vacant or redevelopable sites," said Ernest Kimme, chairman of the Solano Orderly Growth Committee, speaking in support of the Greenbelt proposals.

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