Fearing wrenching changes to their neighborhood, some 200 residents along Foster Road turned out Monday night to learn how they could kill a proposed annexation that could mean up to 1,000 new dwellings.

Most residents said they were stunned to recently find out that 142 acres, most of it former Ghisletta dairy, are on the drawing board to become urbanized.

Development would obliterate their open vistas and semi-rural quality of life, while injecting massive amounts of traffic into their south Napa neighborhood, homeowners said.

While neighbors wanted to snuff development possibilities, top city officials came to Snow Elementary School to explain how they could shape the plans to meet future housing needs and create a new southern gateway.

This wasn’t what residents wanted to hear. There were cries of “fait accompli” and “double-talk” from audience members angry that so much development planning had occurred without their being aware.

For Assistant City Manager Dana Smith and Jean Hasser, the city’s senior planner, it was almost a given that Local Agency Formation Commission will approve the annexation application early next year.

The acreage was put inside the city’s Rural Urban Limit line in 1982. LAFCO brought the property inside the city’s sphere of influence in 2005. The county’s general plan calls for the land to be developed in the city.

“That land is slated in the city’s general plan to be developed for homes like yours,” Smith said.

Officials said that after annexation, when the city begins to process a development application, is the time that neighbors will be best able to shape what happens.

There will be plenty of public workshops and hearings, Hasser said. Residents will be able to weigh in on every aspect of the project during the two to three years that it will take to prepare a site master plan and do environmental studies, Hasser said.

To residents in the Snow multi-purpose room, the city was putting the cart before the horse. Linda Cavalli, the meeting organizer, urged neighbors to flood LAFCO with reasons for denying the annexation.

Keene Simonds, the LAFCO executive officer, said he was still analyzing the merits of the annexation request, with a possible hearing in January or February.

The LAFCO board, composed of supervisors Bill Dodd and Brad Wagenknecht, Napa Councilwoman Juliana Inman, Calistoga Mayor Jack Gingles and public member Brian Kelly, will be able to use discretion in deciding if this application makes sense, Simonds said.

His analysis will look at such factors as whether or not annexation matches local land use policies, the impact on adjacent lands, the adequacy of public services and whether the timing is appropriate.

Simonds said LAFCO’s sphere of influence approval two years ago was “akin to an engagement.” With the property owners’ annexation request, “you’re walking down the aisle,” he said.

The Ghisletta family, which owns 110 acres, is leading the annexation effort, although no development plans have been announced. The Napa Valley Horsemen’s Association, which owns 32 acres, accepts coming into the city as long as it can continue its equestrian activities.

Neighbors, who are calling themselves Save Foster Road, plan to further organize themselves so they can have maximum impact on the LAFCO commissioners.

“It’s all about loss for us,” said neighbor Erin Booth-Sahs, who prefers that rural properties be left as they are.

This south Napa acreage represents one of Napa’s best remaining opportunities for infill development, Hasser said. Napa is committed to growing within its RUL so that county lands can be preserved for open space and agriculture.

The city and the county are negotiating a revenue-sharing agreement to divide property taxes after these parcels come into the city, Hasser said.

The City Council put the 142 acres inside the RUL in 1982 to give the city options for future growth, said Floyd Stone, a council member at the time. The council wanted the city to expand to the south rather than expand to the north where vineyards abut the city limits, he said.

Wagenknecht attended the Snow school meeting, as did Councilmembers Mark van Gorder and Jim Krider and city Planning Commission Chair Gordon Huether.