City puts brakes on Soscol plan

Report on redevelopment area to be revised after county raises fiscal concerns

By KEVIN COURTNEY
Register Staff Writer

Hit with last-minute questions about the proposed Soscol Avenue redevelopment project, the city of Napa will redo portions of a draft environmental impact report.

The questions come from Napa County planning officials, who expressed concern that the project will cause a significant loss of county revenue. The city of Napa Planning Commission had been scheduled to discuss the EIR Thursday night, but the matter was continued so staff can deal with the county’s concerns, said Jennifer La Liberté, the city’s project manager.

Based on legal advice, it would be “most prudent” to deal with the county’s questions, then recirculate the draft EIR for public comment, La Liberté said.

Revising the environmental study could cost as much as $50,000 and delay adoption of a final EIR until summer, she said.

The city’s redevelopment project could cost the county “millions of dollars” over the next 45 years, Hillary Gitelman, the county’s planning director, said.

Gitelman’s five-page critique was sent Jan. 29, the last day that public comment could be incorporated into the draft EIR.

The city plans to create a redevelopment project along the Soscol corridor to solve drainage and road problems that are considered a hindrance to private investment.

American Canyon’s legal problems over a Wal-Mart Supercenter EIR illustrate the importance of cities adopting a environmental studies covering all topics.

A citizens group challenged completeness of the Wal-Mart EIR in court. In November, a state appeals court issued an injunction, freezing construction until more environmental studies are done.

The proposed Soscol Gateway Project Area covers 376 acres along Soscol and Silverado Trail from Imola Avenue to just north of First Street.

Using projected increases in property tax revenue, the city would tackle $58 million in infrastructure improvements, primarily drainage and roads.

Taxing entities, including Napa County, would receive reduced property tax revenues from the Soscol area over the next 45 years. According to the city’s analysis, Napa County would lose $32.5 million, or $6.4 million in today’s dollars.

The county is generally supportive of the city’s efforts to revitalize the Soscol area, Gitelman said. “We’re not objecting to redevelopment per se, but we’d like the city to consider the impacts on the county, fiscal and environmental,” she said.

In 2003, the city and county signed a cooperative housing agreement calling for the creation of a joint city-county financing district to remove development impediments in the Soscol area. Some of the county’s future housing obligations could be met here.

In her letter to the city, Gitelman questioned whether the project’s proposed boundaries were too big, including properties that would be privately developed anyway.

Gitelman cited Verasa, the $60 million Westin hotel under construction on McKinstry Street, and the new Jimmy Vasser Toyota dealership to be built this year on Soscol.

The county questioned the city’s use of a 1990s general plan EIR as a measuring stick for assessing the impacts from likely Soscol area development. Greater analysis is needed of existing conditions, the county said.

County concerns will be addressed by city consultants over the next two months, La Liberté said. At the county’s request, the city will do additional traffic analysis, she said.

La Liberté predicted the environmental impacts will be essentially those anticipated by the city’s 1998 general plan and recent studies of the proposed Gasser Foundation residential-commercial development.

Although properties such as Westin and Toyota are developing now, they will benefit from planned infrastructure improvements, she said.

The city had budgeted $206,000 for environmental studies, but had not spent all of it, La Liberté said. The extra work could cost $50,000, coming from property tax revenues from the original downtown redevelopment project, she said.

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