The looming Land-use fight

They call themselves the Napa Coalition for Responsible Growth.

A Napa County report says their initiative on the June ballot will violate state laws regarding residential growth, mire the county in litigation and perhaps jeopardize one of the bona fide growth protections in the county, Measure J.

Doesn’t sound like county officials think it is very responsible.

On the other side of the ledger, a group has been formed called Keep Napa Napa.

The proposal this group defends is a plan to construct the first seven-story residential structures in the county, which if built as proposed would exceed the county’s existing annual residential growth cap and put a community of more than 4,000 people where none live today.

City officials, concerned about the development on the edge of – but outside of - town, wonder how this would in fact help to keep Napa Napa.

But those are the names of the game in Napa County land use politics these days, and the two groups stand in opposition to each other.

The coalition’s initiative, Measure N on the June ballot, would undercut the Napa Pipe proposal by making firm the county’s 35-foot height limit on residential buildings, similarly reinforcing the county’s 1 percent residential growth cap and forcing any big county development proposal to the voters for approval or rejection.

Keep Napa Napa was funded by Napa Redevelopment Partners, owner of the Napa Pipe site, to defeat Measure N and tout the benefits of the proposal for Napa Pipe.

In recent weeks, the Register editorial board met with representatives from both groups.

Representatives for the Napa Coalition for Responsible Growth included founder Jim Marshall and campaign manager Victor Ajlouny.

For Keep Napa Napa, the representatives included Nick Caston, campaign manager, and community activist Joe Fischer, a self-described volunteer for the cause. Also present was Keith Rogal, the leader of Napa Redevelopment Partners.

Both the responsible growth and Napa Pipe groups have raised suspicion among residents regarding their financial backers and their true intentions.

The proposals associated with the two sides have also stirred consternation.

The Napa Pipe proposal is the largest single development plan in the history of the county. It would be built on unincorporated county lands, whereas the reigning principal in local planning circles long has been to limit residential development in the county while encouraging it within the cities.

The Responsible Growth Initiative came out of the blue, with no involvement from any of the traditional environmental or agricultural groups that have shaped growth policy in the county for decades. Instead, the group hired a prominent Sacramento political law firm, one far more commonly associated with Republican Party causes than typically-liberal slow growth efforts, to draft their ballot proposal.

Over the next several days, this page will share with readers what we heard from the two sides on their financing, their goals and their political foes.

It is our hope that Register readers and Napa County residents will gain insight from these notes from our meetings that will help them size up two emerging forces that hope to influence in significant ways the way land is used in Napa County.

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