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Greenbelt Alliance In the News
February 12, 2003
City Council OKs
planning for big Vacaville development
Subheading
Byline
Vacaville's five-member City Council is backing initial plans for the
Lagoon Valley development that includes nearly 1,300 residences, a golf
course and 80-acre business park.
The project was opposed by environmental groups who said it would develop
the last remaining open space between Vacaville and Fairfield south of
Interstate 80.
More than 100 people attended the Vacaville City Council meeting Tuesday
and spoke during the three-hour hearing on the resolution to go ahead
with the initial planning process and environmental studies.
Opponents said the area is an important community buffer and they fear
the development will further hasten the urbanization of lands along Highway
80 and increase traffic.
"The Vacaville City Council should preserve this local treasure,
not pave over it,'' said Natalie DuMont of the Solano-Napa branch of the
Greenbelt Alliance in a news release issued before Tuesday's hearing.
Ron Rowland, the city's Community Development Director, said Tuesday that
the unanimous council vote is the first step toward actually developing
the area. The vote is not an approval or guarantee, but a finding that
a proposal has sufficient merit to proceed with the public hearing process,
according to the council agenda.
Rowland said the next step would be to prepare an environmental impact
report, develop a new master plan development agreement and hold public
hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council. That could take
up to 18 months, Rowland said, and the council could approve, deny or
approve a modified development proposal.
The Seattle-based Triad Corporation is the proposed developer and the
land is privately owned, Rowland said.
The current proposal is actually less ambitious than a zoning plan approved
in 1990 allowing for 5 million square feet of office and retail space,
homes and a golf course on 730 acres, Rowland said.
The current plan calls for about 1 million square feet of office and retail
space and 1,277 dwelling units that include townhouses, apartments and
executive homes on 1-acre lots in three "villages."
Groups opposing the development include the Solano Orderly Growth Committee,
Friends of Lagoon Valley, the Napa-Solano Audubon Society, and the Solano
Sierra Club.
