Dillon: Thumbs down on PUC plan

By JESSE DUARTE
For the Register

If Pacific Union College decides to go forward with its proposal to create a 591-unit housing development in Angwin, it will do so without the support of Supervisor Diane Dillon.

The Upvalley representative on the board told St. Helena Chamber of Commerce members the project is too big and lacks the support of the Angwin community.

“My position on this currently is that 600 housing units is way too many, and I do not support this,” she said.

Dillon said she supports the 200 affordable units planned for Angwin in the current General Plan. “The college already has that ability, but what’s on the table now is too big,” she said.

The college and its development partner, Triad Communities, have not formally submitted a proposal, saying the project will continue to evolve as planners receive input from the community. In its current form, the development requires several rezonings that would have to be approved by the board of supervisors.

Dillon was also concerned that Angwin residents have not wholeheartedly embraced the project.

“I think it’s very important that we all, and especially the supervisor for the district, support that community,” she said. “We don’t want to go down the path where we end up with another community like American Canyon.”

American Canyon has been one of the fastest-growing cities in the state, and is making on-going efforts to address traffic and infrastructure problems related to the growth.

Dillon said there are two current issues affecting Angwin: the adjustments to the “urban bubble” in the new draft General Plan for Napa County and the college’s development proposal.

The draft General Plan contains several options relating to Angwin’s urban bubble, which allows ag land within it to be rezoned without triggering a countywide Measure J vote often needed when land is proposed to be redesignated from agriculture to some other purpose.

In its current form, the project does not require a Measure J vote. But one of the options in the draft General Plan would redraw the bubble in a way that would essentially require the college to redesign the project if it wishes to avoid a Measure J vote.

Though the college and Triad eventually will have to prepare an environmental impact report for the project, Dillon told the audience to watch for the new General Plan’s own EIR, which will examine the potential impacts of Angwin growth on traffic throughout the area.

“There are aspects of the General Plan EIR that will have an impact on what PUC and Triad are able to do with their project,” she said.

The Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a presentation of the draft General Plan by Napa County Planning Director Hillary Gitelman at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 22, at Vintage Hall.

Dillon added that the county is pursuing funding from the Federal Aviation Administration to help purchase the PUC-owned Angwin Airport. It is within the college’s power to sell the airport to a third party, and Dillon said many in the county would like to see it preserved. PUC officials have said they will consider selling the airport only to those buyers who will continue to put it to its current use, as opposed to redeveloping the site for some other purpose.

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