To: Napa County Supervisors and Planning Commission
Re: Angwin Bubble
From: The Napa Valley Taxpayers Alliance
The Napa Valley Taxpayers Alliance Board supports retention of the Angwin bubble.
The bubble issue should be separated from the decision of whether to allow PUC permits for their eco-village project. Unfortunately, SRA (Save Rural Angwin) has attempted to use the General Plan process to do an end-run around normal permitting and environmental review processes. We view this as an abuse of the General Plan process as it has gone beyond the general issue of whether removing the bubble has merit, turning it into a referendum on the very specific PUC eco-village project. It is patently unfair to PUC, (and ultimately, all landholders in the county) to change zoning designations in the middle of the game, and a misuse of the General Plan process to attempt to do so.
Because of that, and the attendant overwrought emotions which has limited meaningful dialogue to date, we believe that the bubble should remain in place. Any decision should, at a minimum, be postponed until after PUC project environmental reviews and other permitting processes take place. In no instance should PUC's zoning be changed without their express permission. The bubble issue should not be allowed to be leveraged against what should be a regular planning process. And as there is likely insufficient time left in the General Plan process, the bubble should remain so as not to interfere with PUC's lawful right to apply for project permits.
We cannot subvert a process hammered out over a long period of time because a vocal minority decides they merely don't like it. What message does this send to the rest of the county - to other property owners?
If we allow SRA to subvert PUC's right to develop their property, without even a hearing before the planning commission, then we are sending a message to all our neighbors that if and when the time comes for them to legally do work on their land, vocal neighbors can shut them down. That undermines all the agreements made to set up the ag preserve, it is unfair and uneven in its application, and finally, it is an abuse of both due process and rights of private property ownership afforded to all by our system of law. It would be an ill-advised decision likely exposing the county to unnecessary legal complications.
The whole purpose of having the bubble was to provide for some limited development in the Ag Preserve. This was not an accident, and it has been reaffirmed since then. The county should resist any urge for expediency or to broker an "agreement", and abide by its laws and regulations reached over time through debate and compromise.
Do not "pop" the bubble.
Michael Haley
President, Napa Valley Taxpayers Alliance
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