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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

December 5, 2004

Valley Compact

New Lagoon development plan appears smart, sound

Triad Communities and the Greenbelt Alliance, an uncharacteristic union, take before the City Council on Tuesday a plan that will guide development of a modest portion of lower Lagoon Valley in Vacaville, will expand the open space set aside for public use and will transform a murky bog into a recreational lake.

Even more importantly, it will control how the city grows during the next two decades.

The latest blueprint is the third, and most limited development, proposed for the valley. It reduces the number of households to be constructed in a corner south of Interstate 80. It increases the size of the public park. It creates senior housing. It eliminates any opportunity for "big-box" stores. It cuts from 5 million to 700,000 square feet the size of the business park.

Concessions by Triad Communities, the developer, after arduous negotiations with the Greenbelt Alliance, has netted a remarkable design for a smaller, but higher-quality Lagoon Valley project.

The city will still receive nearly $5 million to revive Lagoon Valley Park and its lake, which has become an ugly, silt-laden, algae-choked mire. It will have a full-service firehouse built at no cost. It will have long-term funding to pay for the firefighters who staff it. In addition, the project will generate more in annual tax revenue than that required to provide public services.

Just as importantly, there will be a mix of housing, from million-dollar executive homes to senior units.

Because the revised project fits into the city's existing general plan, the council can rescind its approval of a more comprehensive project that was subject to a March election. That makes the referendum brought by Friends of Lagoon Valley moot. And it will save taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars that a special election would cost.

Most interesting is the delineation of growth boundaries to be set in stone for the next 20 years, subject only to change by the voters. This could be the most controversial portion of the new plan that the council will consider on Tuesday. While we hesitate to endorse locked-in growth lines, taking away the ability to adjust for unforeseen exigencies, the lines appear to make sense and give the city plenty of developable land through 2024.

This may be the best compromise for all parties and for taxpayers.

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