REDWOOD NEEDLES

Presented by the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter Newsletter, The REDWOOD NEEDLES

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Stanly Ranch development defeated

By Tom Davis, Chair, Napa County Group

We had a major environmental victory in Napa recently. The Stanly Ranch development south of the City of Napa has been unsuccessful. Napa City Council member Harry Martin stated in his newspaper, The Napa Sentinel, that "it was the most significant environmental victory since Soscol Ridge." (Soscol Ridge was a similar sprawling development that lost an election by 85% to 15%.) It may have been even more significant than the Soscol victory considering that community environmentalists defeated a pro-development City Council, the local daily newspaper, and a city staff, all intoxicated with the prospect of additional tax revenues.

As reported in the last Needles, the Stanly Ranch project consisted of a large resort, a winery and wine center, a golf course and about 900 permanent homes and vacation rentals on a large tract of land south of Napa. The property is within the city limits, but is surrounded by agricultural property and the Napa River. It is three miles beyond current urban development. The City Council was becoming aware of the burgeoning anti-Stanly Ranch movement and, for political reasons, decided to have the electorate approve or disprove the project.

Things happened very quickly afterward. The developers stated publicly that they would welcome and probably win an election. At the same time, the developers conducted a poll to gauge their prospects. The results of the poll are unknown, but probably indicated a strong "no" vote for the project. Previous polls confirmed that about 70% of the voters were against it. The devloper also requested that the City Coucil change three elements of its agreement with the developer in order to improve the developer's chance of obtaining financing. The City Council would not budge on any changes to the development agreement. The developers sensed they were losing and quietly withdrew the project.

Major thanks should be given to Get a Grip on Growth, an ad-hoc committee of concerned citizens that worked tirelessly for two years on strategies to defeat the development. Their efforst were ultimately successful. The Napa Group was also involved, insisting that the Stanly Ranch remain agricultural. John Stephens, the Napa Group Conservation Chairman, was instrumental in first suggesting and then promoting a citywide election. Many thank should also go to the many citizens who wrote letters to the editor and to city council members, put bumper stickers on their cars and talked to their neighbors about stopping the Stanly Ranch development.

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