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Home Resource Center In the News Home Greenbelt Alliance in the News |
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Greenbelt Alliance In the News
December 14, 2004 Best deal possible
on Lagoon Valley
Letter to the Editor BylineI agree with Reporter columnist Karen Nolan ("Behind closed doors," The Reporter, Dec. 10) and the Friends of Lagoon Valley that it would be ideal to prevent development of Lagoon Valley, keeping the land as protected open space. However, that battle was lost in 1991, when the City Council approved a development agreement for the valley. Concerned citizens gathered almost enough signatures to put the development agreement to a vote of the people. I wish that effort had succeeded, so Vacaville's citizens could have voted the development down, but it didn't. Thirteen years later, in 2004, opponents of the Lagoon Valley development could stall it, but couldn't stop it. Greenbelt Alliance decided to focus on the lands that could be protected: 30,000 acres of natural areas and prime agricultural lands surrounding the city, including upper Lagoon Valley, Vaca Valley and Pleasants Valley. These valleys would be especially at risk if development went forward in lower Lagoon Valley. Protecting them is a major victory. But that victory will not be complete until the Vacaville City Council adopts an urban planning area that can only be changed by a vote of the people. The Friends of Lagoon Valley signature drive made it clear that Vacaville residents are tired of poorly planned growth and the traffic bottlenecks that result. Poor planning wastes valuable land and wastes taxpayers' money on costly new infrastructure. Once the urban planning area is adopted, it will bring sound land-use planning and more sensible growth to Vacaville. I thank the Friends of Lagoon Valley and other committed Vacaville residents whose efforts will ultimately lead to the long-term protection of thousands of acres around Vacaville. Without the signatures of thousands of local residents making it clear they were tired of sprawl development, we couldn't have won long-term protection of threatened lands. It's not the ideal solution, perhaps, but it will lay the foundation for better planning and open space protection in Vacaville. Brent Schoradt, Fairfield ### |
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