Plan committee gets down to business

By JAY GOETTING
Register Staff Writer

The training period for the 21 members of Napa County's General Plan Steering Committee has come to an end, and it's time for them to roll up their sleeves and go to work.

That's what consultant Kendall Flint told the committee last week as the group of citizen-appointees shifts from getting an overview of Napa County issues to drilling into the revision of the county's general plan.

Flint works for Pacific Mutual Consultants, a firm recently hired by the county to help with the revision. She joined County Planning Director Hillary Gitelman at last week's steering committee meeting. Gitelman told the group that one of the first things they'll tackle is which parts of the current outdated general plan they want to change. Planners have said that, for the most part, the document prepared in 1983 is still valid.

One area of controversy could be the use of the Association of Bay Area Governments' numbers for jobs and housing. ABAG helps set goals for how many units of housing counties and cities must build to keep pace with population growth.

While the county finally reached its housing goals last year, it had previously been out of compliance for many years. The housing requirements clash with the county's efforts to preserve agricultural land, and land use planners are seeking ways to decrease housing pressure while remaining in compliance with state housing mandates. One subject is the formula ABAG uses to determine how many units of affordable housing the county must plan to provide.

"You can decide what you don't like about the ABAG numbers," said Gitelman.

Matters such as land use, hydrology, recreation, open space and traffic circulation are some of the areas the committee will look at and finally incorporate as elements of the general plan.

Vice-chair Tom Andrews, a Napa developer, stressed the importance of hydrology. "We'd better be putting an accent on that," he said. "Groundwater is a hot-button issue."

Gitelman urged members to bring a list of proposed changes to the general plan. "It won't be a telephone book," she said citing the current plan's usefulness.

Consultant Flint gave members another assignment: Bring at least 10 names of individuals in the community who should receive regular information on the process.

She also admitted at times over at least the next two years, the deliberations could become heated. She cautioned individual members against speaking for the committee with the news media, noting the "inevitability of conflict."

An effort will be made to reach out to the community, especially to Hispanics through faith-based groups, the Hispanic Network and a regular newsletter with most material available bilingually.

Flint will help head a day-long steering committee workshop, or charrette, as it's known in current planning jargon, this Saturday. The meeting will run from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and will be held at the Napa Valley Unified School District board room, at 2425 Jefferson St.

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