County makes key transit center buy

NCTPA to pay $3.4 million for site at Sixth and Burnell

By KEVIN COURTNEY
Register Staff Writer

Plans for a new bus station on Burnell Street next to Napa Valley Exposition are moving forward, with a deal for the local transportation agency to buy half the site for $3.4 million.

The Napa County Planning and Transportation Agency has an agreement to buy 1.26 acres containing five light-industrial businesses from the Bell Trust, while negotiations continue over purchase of the remaining 1.6 acres from Bell Products, said Jim Leddy, NCTPA’s executive director.

The agency is planning to build a modern multi-modal transit center, with room for some 80 units of housing and small amounts of offices and stores.

Because the property sits next to Napa Valley Wine Train tracks, it could also serve as a hub for passenger rail for commuters and tourists if such a service became financially feasible.

Acquiring the land and building the bus station is estimated to cost $13 million to $15 million, with a private developer later building the housing and commercial space.

The agency has been working for a year and a half to buy the property. Some $6.5 million in transit funds are currently available. The city of Napa is willing to consider contributing downtown redevelopment money for housing.

Bell Products, a heating-air conditioning fabricator with more than 100 employees, is willing to sell its property if NCTPA can help arrange the company’s relocation to another Napa area location, Leddy said.

The agency probably has the money to buy the properties, but will be seeking grants for the additional millions needed to build the transit center, Leddy said.

The process could take years, but “we’ll get there, I’m confident of that,” he said.

Before completing the deal for the Bell Trust property, the agency will do a detailed analysis of whether there are toxics on the site, Leddy said.

In the meantime, the agency has paid $175,000 for an option on the property. This sum will be applied to the $3.4 million purchase price, Leddy said.

The agency wants to relocate the current bus station on Pearl Street behind Mervyn’s before the flood control project removes the Coombs Street bridge over Napa Creek, making bus access more difficult.

Housing cannot be developed at the Burnell site until the property is protected from flooding from the river and runoff from the eastern hills, according to officials.

Buses would enter the proposed transit center from Sixth Street, with a traffic light planned for Soscol Avenue and Sixth.

Napa Valley Exposition is planning a mixed-use development along its western edge, oriented toward the transit center.

As part of its Soscol Gateway redevelopment plan, the city is proposing to rezone three blocks along Third Street, between the train tracks and Burnell, for multi-family housing.

Clustering housing around transit centers is considered an example of “smart growth.” The easy availability of transit is intended to get more people out of their cars.

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