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February 13, 2005

Golf course foes fight on

The Vacaville City Council unanimously and enthusiastically endorsed the idea that Seattle-based Triad Community build 1,025 homes, a golf course and businesses in lower Lagoon Valley.

Meanwhile, the Greenbelt Alliance is no longer opposing the development. The Bay Area group, seemingly bowing to what it saw as legal and political realities, struck a deal with Triad which could lead to more open space protections around Vacaville.

But the grassroots Friends of Lagoon Valley fights on. Spokeswoman Marian Conning said the group remains "adamantly" opposed to subdivision development in Lagoon Valley.

"We have not settled with anyone," Conning said. "We have not compromised with anyone."

What it has done instead is gotten an attorney to explore ways to stop the Triad development.

The Vacaville Planning Commission on Tuesday will discuss and perhaps vote on Triad's latest plans. It meets at 7 p.m. in the council chamber 650 Merchant St.

Friends of Lagoon Valley will be there to speak out against the project.

Triad's latest proposal is inconsistent with Vacaville's 1991 Lower Lagoon Valley policy plan and the city's General Plan, Oakland attorney Stuart Flashman wrote. For example, Triad puts homes in areas set aside for commercial uses and misuses density laws to get more homes, he wrote.

Also, the Triad plan no longer includes a school. That means higher morning traffic counts as valley residents bring children to Vacaville schools, something not addressed by the project's environmental study, he wrote.

A lawsuit or another attempt to put Lagoon Valley development on the ballot are both possibilities, Conning said.

But she realizes that, even if the Triad development could be stopped, that is only a holding action. Lagoon Valley is still within Vacaville city limits and has been zoned for development for more than a decade.

"The immediate challenge is to stop the subdivision there," Conning said. "But if we do that and nothing else, there will be another developer coming in a few years with another plan."

She expressed hope that the region's cities and those interested in expanding Solano County's parks ultimately come together to preserve most of lower Lagoon Valley.

Mayor Len Augustine at a December 2004 City Council meeting said that, given all the city's prior actions on Lagoon Valley over 13 years, something will be built there.

"There's still that hope that nothing will happen," he said. "It's going to happen because they have a right to do it."

Vice Mayor Pauline Clancy at the same meeting said that she respects the property rights of the landowners who want to develop. She and other council members see Triad's project as a plus for the city.

But Friends of Lagoon Valley fights on.

"We continue to believe the citizens of Vacaville do not want subdivision development out there," Conning said.

Reach Barry Eberling at 425-4646 Ext. 232 or at beberling@dailyrepublic.net.

At a glance

Who: Vacaville Planning Commission

What: Proposed Lagoon Valley golf course community

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Where: Vacaville City Council chamber, 650 Merchant St.

Info: 449-5140

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