Should the city take control of Napa Pipe?

Possible city-county swap would change the deal at industrial site

By JILLIAN JONES
Register Staff Writer

Plans for residential development at the former Napa Pipe site could be derailed if the county accepts a proposal to let the city of Napa have jurisdiction over the project.

Napa Mayor Jill Techel said the city will present an offer to the county next week to take on 70 percent of the county’s state-mandated housing requirements for the next 21 years. In return, the county would agree to let the city annex Napa Pipe, bringing the development under the city’s jurisdiction, Techel said.

Annexation of county land would require ratification by city voters, and changing which jurisdiction controls the 152-acre Napa Pipe site represents another twist in developer Keith Rogal’s efforts to put townhomes and riverfront retail and parks on the long-time industrial site.

The property is in the unincorporated part of the county, just outside city limits. The Napa County General Plan calls for residential development to take place mostly within cities, while the county remain largely agricultural.

The county has been eyeing Napa Pipe as its solution to burdensome state requirements to provide for affordable housing on unincorporated county land. But if the city agreed to take on 70 percent of the county’s affordable housing obligation, the county would have less of a need to see residential development at Napa Pipe.

Tension also is building as city officials challenge the idea of a large residential development — the largest of its kind in county history — just outside Napa’s boundaries.

Moving a potential residential project into the city “seems to make sense,” Techel said.

Napa City Manager Mike Parness said, “We understand the county’s need to provide for the housing. We think it makes more sense that the housing be built and served within the city (so we can) properly plan for and accommodate” it.

Supervisor Mark Luce said the county is open to the idea of trading housing requirements for jurisdiction over Napa Pipe. Luce and Supervisor Bill Dodd have been meeting with Techel and City Councilwoman Juliana Inman to discuss the future of the development.

“If they come up with a deal that we can’t refuse to get us out of the housing business for the next 21 years, then yes, we’ll have to listen,” Luce said.

City officials have made clear that, under city jurisdiction, the development at Napa Pipe would not resemble the current 3,200 townhomes that are currently proposed.

“At this point, if it was within the city planning, we’d be looking at other options,” Techel said, adding she would like to see “more multiple uses” on the site. “There may be some housing there,” Techel said. “We certainly have some concerns about 3,200 homes.”

The owner’s view

Napa Pipe developer Keith Rogal, however, said he will not change the planning process to work under city jurisdiction after spending years and millions of dollars working with the county.

Rogal wrote to the Napa City Council and Napa County Board of Supervisors this week, stating that he is open to the possibility of annexation, but that he would not “start over with a new and different process.”

Rogal said in an interview that it would be a waste of his and citizens’ time and money to start again from scratch, especially when several environmental studies on Napa Pipe are scheduled to be released next week.

“To get right at the point where there’s about to be public discussion, and for the meetings to be behind closed doors and say, ‘Let’s just change the rules altogether in as yet an unknown way,’ … that’s an exercise for someone else. It’s not an exercise for us,” he said.

Rogal said that for “a residential development of any kind” to move forward at Napa Pipe, “it’s going to move forward in the jurisdiction where we presently exist.”

“If that jurisdiction wishes not to have a residential development … that’s their prerogative, and then the result is a large industrial development,” he said.

Rogal noted that if housing is not built at Napa Pipe, the city and county must find other sites to meet housing requirements.

In his letter, Rogal said he would not consider city staff’s recommendations for alternative uses at Napa Pipe, “such as a luxury resort-style subdivision, a low-end parking/storage facility for city trucks and buses (the ‘corporate yard’), or a major industrial development.”

Techel and Parness deny that those options were ever proposed by the city.

Rogal said in his letter that he is willing to collaborate with the city to address its concerns about Napa Pipe, and recommends a “binding, tri-party contract, such as an Inter-Agency Cooperation Agreement,” which could include issues such as the possible annexation of Napa Pipe.

Rogal also calls for a Notice of Preparation for an Environmental Impact Report.

Techel and Parness interpret Rogal’s letter as an attempt to speed up the process so as to keep the development within the county.

“He feels like he’s on a path ... and he wants to move forward with these 3,200 homes,” Techel said. “We could get a chance to kind of change the direction.”

Luce said Rogal’s letter should serve as a reminder that the city and county must consider the developer’s wishes in their discussions about Napa Pipe.

“I think what (the letter) does is it reminds us that there is a third party here,” Luce said. “I think anything that moves forward needs to be done cooperatively. I don’t know that we can just bulldoze our way through.”

“It has to work for him,” Luce said. “Otherwise, we create another mess.”

Meanwhile, Rogal has sent a separate letter to the Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District about using surplus water at Napa Pipe to address other county needs.

The letter previews an environmental study that Rogal says will show that Napa Pipe has more groundwater than would be needed to support 3,200 homes at the site. He suggests in the letter that the extra groundwater be used to address water shortages in other parts of the county, including the Coombsville area, which is facing a long-term water shortage.

In the letter, he calls for the county to convene a group to study the issue.

The water study is one of three environmental studies related to Napa Pipe. Napa County Planning Director Hillary Gitelman said the studies are complete and should be released next week, assuming the city signs off on them. At that point, the studies will become available as drafts and subject to public input.

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