Conservation News 3 May 2003 "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger…anger leads to hate…hate leads to suffering... I sense much fear in you." Yoda • Atwater Response to Comments: The Atwater vineyard project plans to cut down 245 mature Oaks and yet the County says there is no significant impact. In the County's responses to Chris and Irving's Sierra Club comments on an Erosion Control Plan for the 10.5 acre Atwater hillside vineyard conversion the owner's engineer, Jeff Peters, said there has been 474 new vineyard ECPs since 1991. In response #16 to our comments he says "The TMDL study (the sediment study, ed) represents recommendations to an advisory group as contained in a consultant's report and has not been adopted by the County,…" (Therefore it is opinion of one consultant only and can be ignored. ed) In response #19, "There is not substantial or credible evidence in the record showing that new vineyards have or will cause significant adverse impacts on the environment." (Meaning fine sediment doesn't affect Steelhead. ed) • New Mondavi Vineyard: A scoping hearing for an EIR was held at the library for a new 101 acre vineyard on Soscol Springs watershed up slope from the Napa Corporate Park just south of town on Hyw 29. On April 10 I went to the County Planning office to pick up the Erosion Control Plan and Geo Technical Review of Potential Landslide Feature reports. The staff refused to give me copies because "they were stamped and therefore were private property and not releasable to the public." They would only allow me to read them there at the office. Limiting public access to public documents restricts our ability to study the documents in sufficient detail and depth. (Sonoma Co. has started doing this lately also.) I went home and wrote a formal letter asking for the EPC and all engineering reports under the Freedom of Information act. The day before the scoping hearing the office called to let me know a copy was available for $5.20. • South Market Shopping Center: Last month the Gasser Foundation Master Plan was unveiled in a public hearing. The SC ask for some enlarged riparian corridors (there is no clear 50' setbacks), inclusion of solar power, semi-pervious paving, and climate suited, native, landscaping. Muriel pointed out that Silverado Trail sheets a river of water during high rain events and it flows over Soscol into the wetland area. There is a dike and buildings around the two wetlands artificially controlling the water (and no natural tidal action) with a pump house instead of letting nature do the job. A major stumbling block is the Flood Control Project has calculated this area with surface groundwater percolation calculations. All the roofs and roadways will upset the equation. The "shared parking" lots are supposed to be used by both daytime offices/light industry and night time users, the restaurant and theater. Unfortunately there is overlap in the hours of operation. This may be a scheme to crowd more business in a smaller space. I commented that the increased water use will come from the State Water Project and according to LAFCO, "As a planning device, SWP entitlements should be viewed cautiously since it seems unlikely that the SWP would ever be capable of meeting all of its assigned allocations." There is no contingency plan for drought years without placing an undue burden on the rest of the residents of the City to make up for the extra demand created by this project. Get ready for more military showers, folks. • Granny Units: The State is considering allowing granny units if they meet basic guidelines without submitting projects to planning commissions. Many a neighborhood group have stopped them because of fear of poor folk moving in their neighborhoods. On street parking and architectural compatibility are some legitimate concerns but by encouraging infilling it limits sprawl and reduces long distance traffic. (Side note: The low income Mayacamus Village was opposed by all the neighbors except one (us) citing higher crime rates, loud music, and old cars parked around the area. None of that has happened and people across the fence are good neighbors.) • Napa City Zoning Changes: Napa is updating its zoning ordinance that establishes a Water Setback Overlay District for new projects. It seems the old language require a 50'+ "buffer" for creeks and waterways is eliminated and now would use only the Public Works streambank stabilization setbacks (20' typical) with "referral" for comment to DFG and exempts residences. An incentive to cut down everything before applying for a building permit is built in the new regs because a lot with no vegetation is exempt. (pg.12+16) • Bike to Work Week: May 12 - 16. On Thursday, May 15th there will be three Energizer Stations, downtown Dwight Murray Plaza (old clocktower), 7:00 to 8:30 AM and 4:30 to 6:00 PM, at the Bicycle Works, Solano & Redwood, 7:00 to 8:30 AM, and at the NV College Quad, 8:00 to 9:30 AM. See www.solanolinks.com/ commuter info or call Sandy at 226-9108. • Sudden Oak Death: Sunday, May 17th. This field day is an opportunity to learn from the experts about Phytophthora ramorum in the exceptionally attractive California Academy of Sciences' Pepperwood Preserve in Sonoma Co, 3450 Franz Valley Rd. Bring lunch. 942-9139 or suddenoakdeath.org The above is for reference only. John Stephens 251-0106