* Save Rural Angwin * Special Bulletin *SUPERVISORS COMPLETE DECADE-LONG PROCESS FOR -- LAND-USE
DESIGNATION IN ANGWIN
In a 4 - 1 vote at their December 20, 2016 meeting, the Supervisors agreed to keep the "Green Fields" GREEN in Angwin! This open space area adjacent to Conn Creek and north of the ball fields is considered the heart of the Angwin basin, a key to the rural character of the community.
At the December 20, public meeting, the Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution completing an amendment to the Napa County General Plan to change the approximately 16 acres of the area located southwest of the intersection of Howell Mountain Road and Angwin Avenue from Urban Residential to Agriculture, Watershed, and Open Space (AWOS). This is a decision Save Rural Angwin (SRA) has been working for since 2006!
The decision by the Board of Supervisors completes the General Plan Update process that began in 2006 and ended in 2009 with completion in all parts of the County except the Angwin area, which was being targeted by Pacific Union College (PUC) and an associated developer, Triad, for an urban residential and commercial development called the Ecovillage. There had been widespread resistance to this development in the community, led by SRA. The County opted to hold out the lands that PUC wished to develop until their Ecovillage plan could be presented to the county in final form for evaluation. The Ecovillage plan was subsequently dropped, but PUC still wanted time to come up with their college master plan, and the County was taken up with other concerns such as repercussions of the earthquake and other matters. Thus, it was not until late 2016 that the Angwin issue was again able to find its way onto the Supervisors' agenda.
Ultimately, on December 20, 2016, four of the five supervisors agreed that they had given the college enough time and flexibility to update their 40+-year-old master plan. Since the college still did not have a plan to put forward, the Supervisors denied yet another request for more time from PUC, and they decided that a designation of AWOS for the green fields would be the best "starting point" for any future college plans. The College should be able to determine its future, but any plans should include input from the community, with a focus on the value of open space to Napa County.
Prior to the December 20 meeting, SRA met with PUC representatives several times. We were able to compromise on a mix of AWOS, Public Institutional and a small Urban Residential area for the lands near the airport and co-generation plant. PUC backed off their desire to have all the held-out 100 acres, including the Green Fields, remain Urban Residential. After these meetings, only the Green Fields remained contested, with the College requesting Public Institutional, SRA supporting AWOS. On December 20, Save Rural Angwin and the Angwin community prevailed.
The Save Rural Angwin Steering Committee hopes sincerely that this decision spurs the PUC Board of Trustees and leadership to see the open space in the Green Fields with new eyes and value it for its rural character and riparian importance to everyone on and off campus.
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