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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

February 12, 2003

Vacaville holds off on Lagoon Valley decision

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VACAVILLE -- Vacaville City Councilmembers held a contentious hearing late into Tuesday night on the future of lower Lagoon Valley.

They had yet to vote at 10:45 p.m. whether to amend the General Plan to accommodate a development proposed by Triad. The Seattle-based firm wants to build more than 1,200 homes and a golf course.

The Triad proposal ignited the latest Lagoon Valley growth war. Council members got plenty of advice on both sides of the issue from community members, with more than 30 people speaking at the meeting.

Friends of Lagoon Valley, the Solano Orderly Growth Committee, the Napa-Solano Audubon Society, the county branch of the Sierra Club and the Greenbelt Alliance oppose the proposed development, a Greenbelt Alliance press release said.

"The Vacaville City Council should preserve this local treasure, not pave it over," said Natalie Dumont, a Vacaville native and Greenbelt Alliance representative.

Donna Harr praised what she called an award-winning development proposal for the southern gateway to Vacaville. "The question tonight isn't if something should happen there," Harr said. "That was decided in 1990. The question tonight is how."

The City Council in 1999 identified Lagoon Valley as a potential site for executive housing. Triad stepped forward in April 2002 with development proposals. Triad's latest proposal is different from what Vacaville envisioned for lower Lagoon Valley in 1991. It emphasizes houses more and job-producing office space less. Still, the city estimates the proposed businesses could generate 3,000 jobs.

The firm wants to build three distinct villages, with more than 500 of the proposed homes on lots of a quarter acre or larger. The development would also include townhouses.

A golf course would run through the development. No longer would there be private development along the south shore of Lagoon Lake, as proposed in an earlier version of the project.

Barry Eberling can be contacted at beberling@dailyrepublic.net.

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