Letter to Napa County Board of Supervisors

Re: Los Carneros Lodge & Inn

August 12, 2002

Dear Sirs,

One mistake is about to be compounded by another. The County Board of Supervisors mistakenly approved an access road on adjacent agricultural land to service two commercial parcels at the proposed Los Carneros Inn & Lodge. The plan being bandied about is to make some "lot line adjustments" to include the road in the commercial lots and bypass a Measure J vote of the people. The County planner says, "While there are precedents within the County for allowing use of an already approved road on agriculturally zoned land for adjacent commercial purposes, such a use is clearly not specifically a right under the General Plan and remains at the discretion of the Board on and case-by-case basis."

The Napa Sierra Club differs in that assessment. It is not at the discretion of the Board. We feel this gerrymandering of Ag. land threatens the very foundation of our Ag. protections, Measure J. It has kept ugly suburban sprawl at bay and kept our county green and growing. We must jealously guard Measure J that requires a vote of the people and not water it down, circumvent, or obfuscate it.

A second mistake is also in the offing. To our knowledge no other factory, office building, or building in Napa County has ever been allowed to be supplied by less than its full designed capacity. However the Lodge will try to convince the Board that its water demand should be based on only 80% of it's potential occupancy. The idea is that other hotels have an over all estimated 80% occupancy rate (before 9-11) and so the Lodge's water demand should only be 80%. Therefore it doesn't have to follow the normal requirements.

In a panic caused by a fire or other emergency the width of doors must be wide enough to accommodate the press of people rushing to get out of a building. The width of exit doors for buildings is determined by the number of people in the building. This "occupancy load" is based either on square footage taken from Table 1003.2.2.2 in the International Building Code or "The actual number of occupants for each occupied space, floor or building is designed."

Likewise the electricity, air conditioning, water supply, sewage, and even parking spaces are also required in the other codes to accommodate full demand based on the total number of plugs, appliances, plumbing fixtures, or space. Invariably there comes a time when all or nearly all of the demand will be called for. The theory that only a part will be in use all some of the time and a smaller pipe size or energy supply can be used to cut costs of building materials is not permitted. Statistically inevitable, there will be a time when all of the faucets will be turned on or the electrical demand will match maximum design capacity. When that happens, the breakers trip, people get scalded in the shower when the toilet is flushed, or the sewer backs up.

Allowing substandard conditions in any project are bound to create problems down the road. Either they should find a dependable water supply for their needs, reduce the size of their project, or locate it within the City of Napa.

                                                     Sincerely,

                                                     John Stephens, Chair