PUC adds elements to 'eco-village' after public gathering

By DAVID RYAN, Register Staff Writer

Early public reaction to a Pacific Union College proposal to build nearly 600 new dwellings in the small mountain community led university officials to add even more to a plan they say may not be in its final form until 2008.

A light industry complex for local tradespeople, a skateboard park and a teen/community center -- amenities associated with larger communities -- have been placed on the drawing board in the wake of comments from Angwin residents.

"Our vision for the project is grounded in our values to promote a healthy lifestyle, a strong sense of community and to being good stewards of the land," said John Collins, PUC vice president of finance. "The new amenities will help foster that spirit by creating gathering places, providing a village with community-serving retail and recreational opportunities."

PUC plans to add 421 dwellings to the Angwin village, including many townhouses and apartments, while constructing 170 units of on-campus housing.

New dwellings would be water- and energy-efficient, using solar power and irrigating with recycled wastewater. The college also plans to build a Napa County Sheriff substation for improved law enforcement, water storage for better fire protection and a commercial center for local-serving businesses. The college is moving to develop Angwin to improve its endowment and fuel growth in enrollment.

The school has turned to developer Triad Communities to work on the project.

Collins declared the standing-room-only community meeting with hundreds of residents on Monday a success.

"We were thrilled with the turnout," he said. "It was a solid first step in informing the community about the project and getting their feedback. We learned there is a lot of support for the project and we're excited about further enhancing the quality of life in Angwin."

Some residents felt frustrated by the format of the meeting, which generated such a crush that people sometimes strained to hear the comments of representatives in different parts of the room.

Donna Morgan, an 18-year resident of Angwin, echoed the feelings of a swath of attendees when she said she wished there had been one grand presentation.

"We were continually moved from one place to the next without a comprehensive statement of the plan," she said, adding what maps there were lacked detail. "Those maps were rather large, but when you tried to zero in on the exact position of the market it was hard. I thought they would have a scale model."

Residents like Morgan question whether the new homes would be out of the price range of currently commuting employees of the college and nearby St. Helena Hospital. Collins said PUC had done its homework on the housing market.

PUC estimates 35 percent of the dwellings it would build would be classed as affordable.

Other residents said their support for the plan is growing.

Craig Philpott, a 22-year resident of Angwin and associate director of enrollment services, said he looks forward to the day when a village meeting place like the one PUC is proposing could be built.

"It's a sense of place, it's people exchanging hellos and kids playing," he said. "The proposal suggests that kind of thing could be developed in Angwin."

The building plans are within Angwin's so-called planning "bubble" and do not require a Measure J vote. But Hillary Gitelman, Napa County planning director, said that doesn't rule out the possibility that some rezoning changes will have to come before the Napa County Board of Supervisors for approval.

Collins said PUC is fully prepared to go through whatever process the county requires.

"Any project will have to be reviewed by the (county) planning commission," Collins said.

As the plan moves toward completion, longtime resident Duane Cronk, a critic of the development, said some residents are questioning their loyalty to the college.

"The college Adventist community is really torn by this proposal, by their loyalty to the college and their feeling that the college is making a mistake (in wanting) to surround itself with an urban environment rather than a rural environment," he said.

As PUC is absorbing the community comments, an opposition group called Save Rural Angwin is busy drumming up support to change the proposal so it includes only 191 affordable dwellings.

"There are no jobs for 400 more families in Angwin," a flier distributed through the village reads. "Nor in St. Helena. New residents would have to commute to Napa and Santa Rosa."

"We had an individual do an analysis of the college employees within the last year and a half and there is a need for more housing," Collins said, adding no analysis had been done for St. Helena Hospital employees.

PUC officials plan another community meeting in coming months, but stress the proposal residents saw Monday is a work in progress.

"2007 is essentially a year for PUC to refine and improve our plans," Collins said.

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