In Napa County, land use is always the issue. From the shores of Lake Berryessa to the banks of the Napa River, the question of who moves in and who moves out may be decided in 2008. And big tests await educators, both at the polls and in classrooms. Here's a look at five stories to watch in 2008.

Napa Pipe in play

The backbone of Napa's industrial past is now the centerpiece of a controversy that promises to come before Napa County voters in 2008.

Industrial activity has ceased at the Napa Pipe site, home to the Kaiser Steel plant that launched many a warship and buoyed many a Napa family during World War II.

The new owners, Napa Redevelopment Partners, propose a substantial development at the site along the Napa River, including 3,200 townhomes and a condo/hotel. Developer Rogal said the new neighborhood would allow Napans to own homes in the town where they grew up, but can no longer afford, and would provide a compact lifestyle for seniors.

While project supporters have visions of smart urban design, critics see a new neighborhood that would be home to as many people as Calistoga, planned for unincorporated county lands that -- by and large -- are set aside for non-urban uses.

The city of Napa and Napa County also view the proposal through different lenses.

Some county officials see the project as their main chance to relieve pressure from state and regional agencies to add affordable housing -- without risking land set aside for agriculture. At first, city officials were ruffled because they had no formal voice in plans for a neighborhood for which the city ultimately may provide sewer, police or other services.

Eventually, the developer, city and county agreed to work together on studies, but that did not calm the waters.

Late in the year, a group called Napans for Responsible Growth collected signatures to place on the ballot a measure that would torpedo the Napa Pipe plan. The measure appears to be headed toward the June 2008 ballot, but several wild cards are still in the deck.

For one, county supervisors may order a study on the economic impact of the initiative. For another, slow-growth sentiment has grown stronger as residents realized another proposal, a Napa city plan for nearly 1,000 homes on Ghisletta property off Foster Road, is in the works.

Finally, while local attorney James Marshall has been the spokesperson for the initiative, no one has yet sussed out the full impacts of the measure or the political forces at work behind it. The next cards will be played in the coming months./Bill Kisliuk

Back to the ballot

for NVC bond

In February, voters will have the chance to answer the Napa Valley College's request for a $178.4 million bond measure for campus facilities and upgrades.

The school bond measure comes five years after voters approved a $133.8 million bond for NVC. Due to inflation and rising construction costs, NVC President Chris McCarthy said the college was unable to cover the costs of projects approved in 2002 with the $133.8 million alone. Over the past five years, emerging community requests have also made clear need for additional upgrades, he said.

If approved, the school bond would budget $115 million for projects already approved by voters in 2002. The remaining $63 million would fund new projects.

Critics of the bond challenge the school's sense of fiscal responsibility, as well as the importance of some proposed projects in comparison to other community needs.

Priority bond projects include expanding facilities for the college's nursing program, expanding the solar electric generating system, repairing and modernizing aging campus buildings, expanding facilities to accommodate growing enrollment, improving classrooms at the Upper Valley Campus and extending educational resources to American Canyon.

According to a press release issued by the college, the bond would cost homeowners no more than $19.85 per $100,000 of assessed valuation./Jillian Jones

Catching up

to No Child

After meeting minimum federal requirements on standardized tests last year, the Napa Valley Unified School District is one year closer to escaping Program Improvement, which penalizes schools where test scores are not considered proficient under the No Child Left Behind Act.

The stakes, say educators, are high, as No Child Left Behind ties funding to academic achievement.

Federal academic requirements for the district will increase by another 10 percent next year, which may prove a difficult hurdle for the district, said Assistant Superintendent Elena Toscano, particularly in the case of English learners on the English language portion of exams. In order to exit PI, the district must meet federal requirements for two years in a row.

In 2007, Napa schools demonstrated an increase in proficiency in almost all subgroups of students in both English and math, which Toscano said is consistent with statewide numbers.

The district is currently in its second year of PI. The most serious sanctions come in year five.

Despite repeated promises by legislators to rewrite the No Child Left Behind Act in November 2007, the year has come and gone without a bill that would formally begin reauthorization. Some members of Congress are now saying reauthorization may stall until as late as 2009.

Meanwhile, the school district has announced plans to shift into high gear in efforts to move high school students toward a computer-oriented curriculum, following a model set several years ago at Napa's New Technology High School./Jillian Jones

Searching the real estate horizon

A "challenging" market. That's how one local Realtor described 2007.

The number of homes for sale in Napa County rose, the number sold decreased, and the median price dipped slightly.

"Prices are down to 2004 levels," said Mike Silvas with Morgan Lane. But 2004 saw the crest in a decade-long gain in values and, Silvas said, "things have stabilized quite a bit" in recent months. Houses in the $400,000 range "are being snapped up."

Foreclosures hit other regions harder, but Napa County was not unscathed. According to DQ News, the number of Napa County properties lost to foreclosure rose from five in third quarter 2006 to 41 in third quarter 2007.

Upvalley homes were insulated from subprime and credit crunches, but Pacific Union's Chuck Sawday said fewer homes were listed at $1 million and up, and fewer buyers were looking.

So what's next?

"I think 2008 is going to be more like 2006," said Silvas. "Not much in appreciation, but the market will be a little stronger. Foreclosures seem to be beginning a trend downward. That kind of news settles people's minds."

Randy Gularte, with Heritage Sotheby's International Realty, said increased federal loan limits will reinvigorate first-time buyers. Gularte also believes 2008 will see fewer Realtors working the market, with offices merging or even closing. "It's a matter of survival," he said.

Like Gularte and Silvas, Sawday generally saw better weather in the forecast for homeowners.

"In mid-to-late 2008, more buyers will create more activity," he said./Jennifer Huffman

Battle for the shores of Lake Berryessa

At Lake Berryessa, mobile homes and trailers continue their march toward leaving the lakeshore forever.

"We're about 40 percent empty," said Bob White, who owns the biggest resort, Rancho Monticello.

The exodus was ordered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which has decided to remake the shoreline when the long-term contracts of mobile home resorts conclude in 2008 and 2009.

The decision prompted lawsuits from mobile home owners and resorts, who claim the bureau's decision is flawed.

The group Berryessa For All continues to battle the Bureau of Reclamation over the evictions and the bureau's plans for the lake. Berryessa for All's case against the bureau will be heard in April in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Also in 2008, the owners of four Lake Berryessa resorts plan to appeal a separate case to the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. The resort owners say the selection process for the new concessionaires at Lake Berryessa violates federal law.

Pete Lucero, chief of recreation resources division for the Bureau of Reclamation at Berryessa, said the bureau wants to award contracts to new concessionaires before the existing agreements expire.

"However, we do not know at this time to whom the contracts will be awarded," Lucero said. "Reclamation will be striving to avoid any disruption of the visitor services available to the public this summer."/Kerana Todorov