Napa backs out on Ghisletta annexation

City Council asks county to suspend Napa Pipe project

By KEVIN COURTNEY and DAVID RYAN
Napa Valley Register

The Napa City Council has decided to withdraw its annexation application for the 142-acre Ghisletta property in southwest Napa.

At the same time, council is asking County Supervisors to suspend its work on the large proposed residential and retail Napa Pipe project.

Council met in closed session last night, then announced this morning the decision to withdraw the annexation application to the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).

“Our plan was to complete the annexation as the General Plan calls for, and then conduct a formal multi-year Master Plan process with public input,” stated Mike Parness, Napa city manager. “While that approach is appropriate, the combination of discussions about Ghisletta and the County’s interest in a major housing project at the former Napa Pipe site has created apprehension in the community. The City Council feels we all need to step back and take a look at our needs with a larger view."

Napa's annexation proposal involved up to 1,000 units on Ghisletta land along Foster Road, within the city’s Rural Urban Limit, while the county is reviewing a proposal for 3,200 housing units at Napa Pipe, in the unincorporated area.

“I’m ecstatic. That is exactly what I think needs to happen,” Eve Kahn, chair of Get a Grip on Growth, said of the city’s turnabout on the Ghisletta annexation.

“We need joint city-county (cooperation). We need Upvalley involvement. People are feeling things are out of control,” Kahn said.

County reaction

County officials said Wednesday that putting the brakes on the 3,200-home Napa Pipe proposal may be costly if the Napa County Board of Supervisors decides to act in accordance with the wishes of the Napa City Council.

The city called on the county Wednesday to suspend the process to permit the Napa Pipe development and engage in a wider planning process for the county and city.

Currently the Napa Pipe proposal is in the process of going through a general plan amendment  track — needed to change the zoning for Napa Pipe from industrial to something that would fit houses and a corporate park — with developer Keith Rogal footing the bill for expensive studies of the potential impacts of the proposal.

“Just based on these studies of water, traffic and fiscal he's spent a lot of money on consultant dollars,” Napa County Planning Director Hillary Gitelman said, adding Rogal could have the right to get the county to reimburse him for the cost if the county pulls the plug on his project.

Rogal was not immediately available for comment.

County Counsel Robert Westmeyer said since a least 1980, he’s never heard of the county stopping a general plan amendment process it had started.

County CEO Nancy Watt said the Board of Supervisors could take up the issue as soon as Tuesday or as late as Feb. 5, whenever the board’s schedule will allow it.

Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht praised the city’s idea to suspend the Napa Pipe permit process, but Supervisor Mark Luce accused the city of falsely characterizing the current joint-planning process that it was undergoing with the county regarding Napa Pipe.

In that process, the county is ultimately in the driver’s seat, Luce said, because Napa Pipe is county land.

“The project is in the county of Napa and we're the decision makers in this process,” he said. “ ... Ultimately it’s going to be the county's decision about what's going there. Maybe that frustrates (the city) but that's what it is.”

Check back later in the day for more updates.

Napa Valley Register Copyright © 2009