I have a pie shaped lot in Napa. When I called the City for an inspector he said I'd have to cut off a corner of my new porch because I was too close to the property line. He said I have a 25' front street setback, two five foot side yard set backs, and two 20' backyard setbacks running all around my property. I asked him why. Apparently it is primarily for fire safety. If my house caught fire my neighbor's house wouldn't likely catch on fire.
I calculated that 39% of my property was setbacks. I could only build on the remaining 59%. After thinking awhile, I concluded it was a good policy because I just didn't want to endanger others with my possible fire hazard.
Supervisor Mark Luce proposes paying developers with taxpayer money for their stream setbacks yet not one city dweller ever received any money for their set backs, or for the sidewalks the public walks on, or even remotely expects to be paid for them.
My grandfather was a gold prospector in the Sierra foothills. He was full of strange old sayings like "Jeez," and when he wanted us to hurry up he'd tell us "Its time to get off the pot." He showed us children his small vials of gold dust, how to pan for gold in the backyard, and how to separate the black magnetite sand from the gold specks. He would heat a frying pan filled with black sand over his ancient wood stove, add mercury and roll it around until the gold flakes stuck to it. Then he cut a fresh potato in half and placed it over the hot mercury and it would draw it into the potato leaving only pure gold dust.
We never gave any thought to the mercury fumes in that small room and what it did to our health or our IQ ratings. I just dread thinking about it. Mining companies did the same thing on a larger scale, except with better recovery processes. Still much of the mercury escaped into the waterways eventually ending up in the mud of the San Francisco Bay until government stepped in and outlawed polluting the public's waterways.
Many of the same people who say today we should now wait until the next study is done before making a decision on setbacks also asked us to wait until the Watershed Taskforce studied the problem. After two years it recommended setbacks. Then they said let's wait for the big new sediment study. After two years it recommended that no new sediments be added to the river. Now the same folks want another delay for a "Phase Two" study, and new aerial map.
Our neighbors depend on clean streams to help recharge their ground water for their wells. Being a good neighbor means to keep the water clean when it leaves our property. We need setbacks to filter water that flows into the streams.
It is past time to act. It is time to
enact meaningful setbacks for the public good and to be good neighbors.
As Grandfather used to say, "Its time to get off the pot."