March 26, 2022
Napa City Council and Napa City Planning Commission
Re: Draft General Plan and Draft EIR Via Email
Dear Mayor Sedgely, Council Members, and Planning Commissioners, We, the undersigned, had the honor of serving on the General Plan Advisory Committee and we offer the following as our personal comments regarding the Draft General Plan and Draft EIR. They are not intended to reflect the opinions or recommendations from anyone other than ourselves and are not the official position of the GPAC.
KEY OVERARCHING POINTS:
• The new General Plan needs to be both a living document as well as having planned flexibilit y built into it. These needs have been made clear to us with Covid and with the new reality of potential annual fires.
• Focus on climate change, sustainability, and resilience. All actions and policies in the General Plan and its implementation should emanate from this focus. The future of our local economy and community , as we know them, rely upon bold action in the next 5 years, and through the 20-year planning horizon of this Plan.
• Focus urban development within the existing RUL to continue to ensure the long-term viability of our agricultural lands and heritage.
• Focus first on locals and then on visitors. Although seemingly insignificant, juxtaposition and choice of words throughout the GP in the Vision & Guiding Principl es (including but not limited to Guiding Principle #3), as well as numerous Goals, and Policies should always reflect that priority. We appreciate that the Draft GP includes these distinctions.
• Focus first on alternative transportation (bicycle, pedestrians and transit) connectivity throughout the City when transportation improvements, changes, and budgets are being planned and implemented. Our residents must be able to safely navigate around our community without having to drive in a car. • Focus on the creation of a diverse array of new housing to meet the needs of all segments of our population, both current and future residents. We need new housing in every neighborhood in our City.
Densities and heights will probably need to increase given the State’s and ABAG’s housing requirements. Good, thoughtful design needs to be expected and demanded , while streamlining permitting to expedite project approval and construction. • For long-term balance and health of our community, ensure, through land use choices and policies, that many young families can continue to afford to live in Napa and, thusly, preserve a strong and viable public school system.
LAND USE COMMENTS (based on February 22, 2022 Draft and Land Use Map):
We are generally supportive of the Land Use designations shown on the Map and expand on various areas in the following.
• We applaud the continuation of the current GP’s usage of “gross” acreage rather than “net” acreage. • Neighborhood delineations. We applaud the continuation of these valuable designations , while also encouraging stronger language to expedite annexation of unincorporated “islands” to ensure that all of those in a given neighborhood benefit from the policies, programs, and improvements outlined in this Plan.
• Allowance, by right, of duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes in existing single family neighborhoods.
Clearly, new standards will need to be created that delineate minimum lot sizes, setbacks, allowed building sizes, etc. A number of other cities are already in the forefront of this effort. Clearly, this is a significant issue that needs more work and study. We urge the Commission and Council to adopt a Policy Statement that the City intends to explore such an effort as part of the GP Implementation Plan and/or the new Housing Element.
• Ghisletta and Horsemen’s Properties. These properties have been within the City’s RUL for almost forty years with an underlying housing designation for that entire period. We support the creation of a thoughtful Master Plan / Specific Plan that considers all of these lands, primarily for hous ing. Such a planning process should include consideration of best practices from other areas around the country. It needs to include consideration for the known earthquake fault, slopes, flooding and wetlands, water supply, visual and greenbelt issues, and neighbors’ concerns. We also support inclusion of a separated Class I pedestrian and bike facility along Foster Road and possibly along Golden Gate Drive. It should be a “complete” neighborhood with trails, open space / park, and small neighborhood-serving retail.
The Horsemen’s Association property has, in our view, uniquely approved land usage in the County’s unincorporated area. At such time as the larger area including Ghisletta and others is considered for formal annexation into the City, those existing legal uses outlined in Napa County approvals should continue to be appropriately maintained within the City’s jurisdiction while the Horsemen continue to use the property. Such usage might create some “right -to-farm” challenges that should be addressed through the Master/Specific Plan process.
• Big Ranch Road . We agree with the Medium Density residential designation as proposed. Such a designation allows for detached and attached single family homes, which we need. We suggest, as well, that other vacant/underutilized parcels on the west side of Big Ranch Road from Trancas Street to the RUL on the north should have this same designation.
As our land within the RUL is precious and needs to be used wisely, we strongly disagree with proposed LUCD 24-3, which would lower densities near this area’s border. It is important to address “right to farm” concerns but we don’t believe that feathering does much to resolve an issue that can better be addressed through other, more effective tools.
• Focus Areas / Major Corridors . We like the idea of repurposing older shopping centers for higher density mixed uses and are supportive of the proposed land use designations on these corridors. We especially support making these corridors safe and accessible for pedestrian and bicycle users, and with far greater tree canopy and shade to reduce the “urban heat island” effect. We also support the NVTA plan for Imola Avenue and, especially, the Mixed Use -High designation for the River Park Shopping Center. Similar plans should be prioritized, as outlined in the City’s existing adopted Bicycle Plan.
As your Monday study session is appropriately focused on the big picture, some or all of us will have further comments on these areas as they are studied in greater detail at the Planning Commission. One area needing more study is that of Floor Area Ratios (FAR’s) in these Corridors. We t hink that the proposed FAR’s may be too low especially as we are trying to achieve densities that are economically viable.
• Downtown and its Periphery: We applaud the inclusion of LUCD 22-2 as it has become clear that the Downtown Specific Plan (DTSP) needs to be updated. These are some of our specific concerns related to Downtown and to the update of the DTSP:
o As the 2012 DTSP doesn’t appear to adequately address or create conditions for ho using development, we are curious how a reliable estimate can be made for the number of housing units that might develop Downtown as outlined on Table 2-2.
o We agree that more discussion needs to be had about the number of Downtown hotels; please see more discussion about hotels in a following section.
• Oxbow District: We applaud the inclusion of LUCD 22-1 regarding the need for a separate land use update for the Oxbow District that would follow the Urban Land Institute recommendations. And, critically, the Napa River needs to remain as its heart. • Hotel Estimates: We are deeply concerned about the amount of land ascribed for potential new hotels and the estimate of possible new rooms. We recognize that not all will be approved or built. Yet, over the life of the Gen eral Plan, including those rooms currently in the pipeline, the number of rooms in 2040 could be two and a half (2 ½) times the number in existence in January 2021 (as shown in Dyett & Bhatia’s report to GPAC). As there is a large difference between the January 2021 D&B tabulations and those in the Draft General Plan, we suggest that there needs to be greater clarity in these numbers:
o Existing (February 2022).
o Approved, not built.
o Approved under construction.
o Applied for but not approved.
Added to these concerns are the large number of below market housing units that would be needed to accommodate hotel employees. Hotels take up sites that are also prime multifamily sites. Building the hotels without housing further exacerbates the jobs/housing imbalance especially for affordable needs.
We strongly suggest that we have reached the point at which it is time for a community conversation about the number of new hotels that should be developed. Have we reached the proverbial Zero -Sum game where newly-approved hotels simply take business and employees away from existing hotels? How does that help the City or anyone other than those who own the newly-built hotels? • “Ritz” Site at First Street and Silverado Trail: This is currently shown in the Draft Plan as “Hospitality Commercial”. The site was initially approved for hotel use in 2002 and subsequently in 2008. Although we have endured the Covid slowdown, there have been two strong economic cycles since these approvals were granted. It is pretty clear that the owners have no plans to move forward with a hotel.
As such, we suggest that it have an alternate designation added, either “High Density Residential” or “Residential Mixed Use”.
We also believe that the “Ritz” site underscores the need to establish more stringent guidelines for issuance of extensions to project approvals. What may have been appropriate in 2002 or 2008 may not be appropriate today, or five years in the future. As our community develops and changes, the standards and requirements for previously approved, undeveloped projects may need to change as well. • “Public Serving” Lands: Pg 2-12/13 in the Draft General Plan suggests that public serving properties, if converted, might be used for residential or residential mixed -use with densities in keeping with the surrounding areas as those are reflected in the Draft General Plan. We like this but we also see a missed opportunity. We suggest that these sites be given eith er an underlying “Medium Density” or “High Density” residential designation or a “Residential Mixed-Use” designation. With the Housing Element
update literally just around the corner, there is going to be a strong effort to find sites for housing that is affordable, especially sites with higher densities.
We are thinking especially of Harvest Middle School, the City Corporation Yard on Lincoln, the Caltrans Yard on Jefferson, and Justin Siena High School, among others. We are also surprised to see no discussion of the planned 700+ bed student housing project at Napa Valley College . Although outside the direct jurisdiction of the City, such a project would undoubtedly have ripple effects into several of our local neighborhoods.
• Light Industrial Lands : We need to ensure that there are sufficient lands with Light Industrial designations in various parts of the City to serve our current and future needs. One area of particular concern is the potential shift from Light Industrial to Hospitality Commercial in the Jordan Lane area.
Let’s not force existing important uses into being legally non-conforming. • Soscol Avenue, Auto Row, and City Entry : What is the future of car dealerships ? Are there only showrooms in our future? How do we make Auto Row more attra ctive as one of our entry points to Napa? How does the Draft Land Use Plan conform to the adopted “Soscol Corridor/Downtown Riverfront Development & Design Guidelines”? We see that these Guidelines finally show up in LUCD 18-1 but they need to be more prom inently used and referenced. Is our new southern “entry” to Napa near Napa Pipe?
As we think that the world of auto sales may change dramatically over the life of the General Plan, if not much sooner, we suggest that the Auto Row “General Commercial” designation have an underlying “Mixed Use” designation such that we allow for future higher density housing along one of our primary entries to Napa.
• Long Term Infrastructure Planning. Although difficult to contemplate as we debate land use for the coming twenty years, we think that it is important to at least think about how we plan for infrastructure beyond that time horizon. When roads, water and sewer lines, power systems, etc, are planned, there needs to be some Commission and Council guidance to staff over the coming years . This issue is not something that necessarily needs to be addressed now but it is something that needs to be kept in our thinking.
GOALS AND POLICIES:
As we all review the “Goals and Policies” sections of the Draft GP, we need to fully acknowledge that language and choice of words is vitally important. There are huge differences between “promote” and “create” or between “should” and “ensure or will”. We especially need to set stretch goals and policies, particularly related to Climate Change and Sustainability and to how we get around in our fair city.
Prioritizing connectivity and safety for pedestrians and cyclists should be at the forefront of issues related to our infrastructure. These feed right into the Climate Change and Sustainability sections.
We broadly agree with the comments made by the individuals and organizations at the March 17th Planning Commission meeting, who called for greater specificity and language changes within the Goals and Policies sections of the Climate Change & Sustainability and Transportation elements. We believe that a General Plan can and must provide sufficiently specific language to ensure that City staff have appropriate direction to implement the Plan, and that residents, business owners, and other stakeholders can make informed decisions.
BIG PICTURE:
As you discuss and debate the fine points in the Land Use Plan, we urge you to also keep the big picture in mind and to discuss the basic tenets of the Plan. Who are we planning for? How do we make it possible for our own children and grandchildren to live here? How do we ensure a broad spectrum of housing types such that we maintain the richness of a broad and inclusive citizenry?
Finally, we fully expect that both the Commission and Council will want to study many of the finer details of the General Plan and Draft EIR in your coming sessions. We intend to continue to comment, whether collectively or individually, on many of these vital details.
Thank you for your consideration. We wish you well as you discuss and make the difficult decisions about the future of our community.
Respectfully submitted,
Danielle Barreca Patrick Band Michelle Dahme Chuck Shinnamon Howard Siegel
Danielle Barreca Patrick Band Michelle Dahme Chuck Shinnamon Howard Siegel F
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