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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

March 20, 2005

Vacaville finds itself speeding toward a stop sign

Expected, but disappointing. It was the universal rejoinder to news that a small band of zealots would muster a legal challenge to long-planned development in the western quadrant of Lagoon Valley.

Two sentences comprise the notice of intent. Perhaps they didn't want to show their hand too soon. But perhaps it reflects the dimension of their argument to stop what was set in motion a dozen years ago.

Yes, times change. So do people's opinions about where and how and how fast a city should grow. In the past 29 years, I've seen the cyclical nature of the growth debate, to be sure.

Still, one wonders if there's not a Sancho Panza among the Friends of Lagoon Valley who will some day - hopefully soon - persuade the group to rethink its Don Quixote propensities. They practically stand alone in this escapade.

The most vociferous of the growth-control factions, the Greenbelt Alliance, in a hard-nosed maneuver, altered greatly the original Lagoon Valley plan to build 1,300 homes. Its well-financed legal challenge convinced developer Triad Communities to trim the number of living units, increase open space, move houses away from the lake and make other modifications that surely reduced the overall profitability of the project.

Solano County's Orderly Growth Committee has stayed close to the fray, but remains a counselor, not a participant.

Why are some opponents of growth embracing the Lagoon Valley settlement and abstaining from further obstructionist tactics?

It's the urban limit line.

One well-known enviro explained the attraction: Securing a limit line and seeing Vacaville adopt a boundary line, preventing further sprawl is more important.

With Triad Communities footing the bill, the Greenbelt Alliance will propose an ultimate limit line past which the city theoretically could not expand. When it's ready for public perusal, it will be presented to the City Council, which could adopt it on the spot or send it to voters for their approval. The latter is likely.

So Vacaville, some time soon, will vote on growth. Not growth in Lagoon Valley, but growth as it will occur in the next 20 to 30 years.

That was inevitable. If Lagoon Valley's fate was not the impetus, then it would have been something else sooner or later. But at some point, someone would call for the question: How far do we grow; where do we draw the line?

Other cities are likely to be confronted, like it or not, with the same urban limit line question.

In Vacaville, however, that means the community must answer how far east of Leisure Town Road we go? How far north into Allendale or English Hills? How much farther can we inch into Pleasants Valley or Vaca Valley, if at all?

The Lagoon Valley conflict will pale in comparison to that engagement.

The author is publisher of The Reporter.

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