" Just part of the process, Allen. The developer will come in with an initial high number of proposed units, activists counter with a low number, and approval will be for a number somewhere in between.
The ritual has been practiced for so long that it is expected and has become a time-honored custom.
I'm looking into my crystal ball and I think you may end with with 300 units or so.
Another custom to honor today's trendy "greenness?" Promising pie in the sky transportation options. I no more believe new Angwinites will go about their business via electric carts or whatever they were promised than I believe Napans will be merrily sailing the Napa River on water taxis, thereby going green and saving the planet even as their sheer numbers climb exponentially.
Anyway, I believe you can safely rework those percentages, Allen. It won't be 43% growth. "

" If SRA is now advocating compromise, is there some reason why the ecovillage cannot be built with only 191 units? I'd rather see 191 well planned, environmentally friendly units utilizing state-of-the-art energy and and water-conserving technology than 191 units of conventional development. "

" Cadence: This is not about the process. The developer already came in with their high number, 191, a 20 % increase on an already warped infrastructure, cried poor mouth, faculty housing, cash for students, etc., and got approval with community support. The developer has never built a stick but simply used that as a new ground to propose a new project, again crying poor mouth, faculty housing, cash for students, etc. So the point is not that a process needs to take place, but that it already has and this new proposal is simply over reaching. If you came up and looked around you might agree. But I agree that the transportation hocus-pocus is simply developer hype that will have no relation to reality and, frankly, is considered an insult by many affected. Have you SEEN a Global Electric Motors vehicle, which Osborn was touting in the Register a couple of days ago? It has a top speed of 25mph on the level. Can’t wait to see a line of them going uphill.

My crystal ball says that in 10 years nothing will have been built and the College will have been moved to consolidate with La Sierra. "

" Econut, even "conventional" today is going somewhat green. Zoning is heading in that direction. The "eco" in the eco-village was pretty much a marketing tool anyway. But it would be nice to see the developers go green beyond the basic green requirements of the County. I doubt it will happen though. The only "green" developers usually care about is the kind that can be exchanged. "

" Vocal - the term "eco-village" is more than 20 years old. The modern movement is attributed to a Danish couple that founded the "Gaia Trust" in 1990.

Here again google is your friend. "

" well, PACT, even tho I reside in Napa, I own and drive a (gasp!) car, and I have indeed been to Angwin.
I also fully understand why you don't want to be blessed by the California-inevitable-population-growth fairy.
I stand by my own crystal ball analysis. Guess we'll all know more in 10 years! "

" Sicko: You missed Vocal's point. When she said "The "eco" in the eco-village was pretty much a marketing tool anyway " she was refering specifically to TRIAD's so called eco-village proposal for Angwin. I agree with vocal, the eco in that proposal is more a marketing tool than it would be a reality; and not to be confused with or compared to the Danish couple's attribution. "

" Wealthy Angwinites, especially SRA supporters, are unlikely to ever patronize public transportation in Angwin, but remember that there are many--perhaps hundreds--of students in Angwin who lack a car and would potentially benefit from public transportation. And if gas prices continue to rise (nobody would have predicted today's prices 5 years ago, so who knows what they'll be in another 5 years?), some residents might find public transportation a more affordable option.

Incidentally, for several years electric cars that drove quite fast (much faster than 25 mph) on the freeway were sold here in California. Their demise was documented in the film "Who Killed the Electric Car?," which was shown at PUC during Green Week. Two such cars owned by residents in Angwin were on display during PUC's Green Week. From what I've read, several models will be marketed again beginning in 2010. "

" Prof: I can see it now; the fire storm is cresting over Howell Mountain, licking flames down into our over-populated little hollow, Angwin, where hundreds of PUC students are lined up on the green waiting for their turn to be shuttled down the mountain, in grid-lock traffic, and out of harms way. I'm not joking, this is serious.

Otherwise, a great idea! Shuttle the students up and down the mountain. I'm surprised it isn't already being done.

You stated, "Wealthy Angwinites, especially SRA supporters, are unlikely to ever patronize public transportation in Angwin." True. The shuttle concept for NON-student residents is ludicrous because working people, in all economic groups, live busy, demanding lives, which do not allow for the LUXURY of planning one's life around a shuttle schedule. Remember, Angwin is remote and rural, people go to school, to work, and to shop in Napa, Santa rosa, and Solano. Shuttles work in urban areas and for retirement homes. The free shuttle in Napa doesn't even get used.

TRIAD is a for-profit venture capital business and therefore would be stupid to sell homes below market value. Only the middle-income and wealthy will be able to afford a new home in Angwin, "affordable" or not. ANY Napa Valley home requires at least a middle income salary! Folks will be driving down the mountain and off to work elsewhere, or creating increased weekend vacation-home traffic on the mountain. Grid-lock does not equal "eco."

So, we agree, you and I. SRA members (working/middle/upper class and wealthy folks) and the new, outsider, wealthy eco-home-owners, will never ride the shuttle. This fact requires only rudimentary knowledge of sociology & simple capitalist economics. "

" With effective, successful alternative transportation systems in place in college towns (both urban and rural) and beyond throughout the U.S., claims that they won't work in Angwin are baseless and unsubstantiated by fact. Pure speculation by naysayers. Are Angwin residents less concerned about the impacts of their vehicle use on the environment than other residents across the country who are changing their driving habits and using alternative transportation? I think not. "

" There are some full-time residents in Angwin who own neither a home nor a car. I happen to know a few who rent an appartment and seek a ride to their job each morning, so they would potentially benefit. Furthermore, if you study The Angwin Ecovillage website you will find that cash incentives are planned to encourage use of public transportation. Personally I would rather take public transportation than drive my own car. "

" KKJP: I suggest that Angwin residents, like those anywhere else, particularly those who, like many who reside here and most of the proposed Eco-villagers, are employed off the hill, are concerned about being where they have to be when they have to be there. This is why Angwinites use cars and will continue to do so. The subdivision proposal would not add students to shuttle to class, it would add commuters who will drive down the Hill to work, church and school and will need cars to get there. Orwellian dreams of social engineering by manipulating and browbeating people into lines for Global Electric Cars have little utility outside of college students. This is also the reason why rural transit systems have a minimal usage rate (in the order of 5%) in population groups other than the elderly or unemployed. This happens to be a fact. So what facts do you have to support your declamation pronouncing those who do not want to trade rural Angwin for a subdivision as baseless naysayers? "

" My college student uses bike-share & shuttle now almost exclusively to avoid high gas prices & car maintenance that are tough on a student's budget. She reports many students doing the same, which is consistent w/the general population using public transit much more. "

" Vocal-de-local, I agree that "conventional" development is becoming greener, but not soon enough. The Angwin Ecovillage website touts far more "green" planning than what I've seen thus far for Napa Pipe, Pope Valley, etc., within the county. I think the county should substantially stiffen its environmental requirements for any new development, and I applaud Triad/PUC for leading the way. "

" Prof: Isn’t it a little hypocritical for you to attempt to dismiss SRA supporters as “wealthy Angwinites” when your school has agreed to allow itself to be used as the stalking horse for Triad? They are not exactly the voice of the people, Adventist or otherwise. "

" Will the Angwin shuttle take me to Santa Rosa each morning and return me home at night; and accomodate my varied shift schcedule? And take me to the market, the bank, Target, the shoe repair shop, and pick up my kids on my way home? I think not. Get real.

The Shuttle is a great idea for students without a car. Period. If PUC is so "green-student-minded" why isn't the shuttle already running for students?

All I am saying is be realistic, beyond your own personal box. The vast majority of Angwin residents are non-students, working families, who work, school, and shop in three different counties. Get out of la la land, utopia, and think critically in the real world. Shuttles won't work for the majority of Angwinites regardless of how "green" we are (and we are the greenest folks in Napa Co. already).

Any new home in Angwin, eco or not will sell for a price well beyond the reach of the average working person. Those of you who want this development are inviting in well-to-do out-siders. Again, get real. "