UPDATE ON THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE LAGOON VALLEY

The struggle to Save Lagoon Valley continues on three fronts:

1. Petition to the Calif. Supreme Court to review our lawsuit on the issue of the Density Bonus;

2. Comment responses to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about Standard Pacific’s application to build a subdivision in Lagoon Valley;

3. Objection to the Solano County Water Agency (SCWA) “Flood Management Options Report”.

PETITION TO CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT

On August 28 the appeal of our lawsuit was denied by the California First District Court of Appeals in San Francisco.  The lawsuit encompassed two claims:

1. that plans for the Lagoon Valley subdivision are incompatible with Vacaville’s General Plan, and

2. that the City miscalculated the number of allowable housing units under the State’s Density Bonus statute.

After thoughtful conversation and a consultation with our attorney, Stuart Flashman of Oakland, the FLV Steering Committee decided to ask Mr. Flashman to petition the California Supreme Court for review of the density bonus section of our case, a point which breaks new legal ground and on which no legal precedent exists.

The petition was filed on Oct. 9 and the Court has 60 days in which to decide whether or not to accept the case for review, so we should hear by early December.

Here is a link to a Reporter story about our decision, “Friends of Lagoon Valley fight on”:

www.lagoonvalleypark.com/fight_on.htm

And here is a link to the lawsuit update page on our Friends of Lagoon Valley website:

www.lagoonvalleypark.com/lawsuit.htm

SPECIAL PRESENTATION BY VALLEJO INTERTRIBAL COUNCIL

Roberto Valdez has arranged for Vallejo Intertribal Council leader Wounded Knee to make a presentation to the Friends of Lagoon Valley about Native American sacred burial sites such as those near Cherry Glen and the Peña Adobe.

The presentation will be on Tues. Nov. 27 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Pietro’s #2 in Vacaville , 679 Merchant Street across from City Hall, pizza and cold drinks available.

U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS

In July the Friends of Lagoon Valley submitted a detailed response to builder Standard Pacific’s application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “to construct the approximately 1,546-acre Lower Lagoon Valley Residential Housing project, which would result in permanent impacts to approximately 11.9 acres and temporary impacts to 1.0 acres of waters of the United States, including wetlands, in or adjacent to unnamed tributaries to Laguna Creek.”  You can read our detailed response on our website at:

www.lagoonvalleypark.com/ACEltr.htm

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is charged with maintaining and protecting our nation’s navigable waters and their tributaries through coastal protection, flood protection, hydro­power,  ports, recreational oppor­tunities and water supply.  They also have an environmental mandate “to sustain the environment, to enable our worldwide missions and secure the future.”  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers environmental mission has two major focus areas: restoration and stewardship. Efforts in both areas are guided by the Corps Environmental Operating Principles:

• Strive to achieve environmental sustainability. An environment maintained in a healthy, diverse and sustainable condition is necessary to support life.

• Recognize the interdependence of life and the physical environment. Proactively consider environmental consequences of Corps programs and act accordingly in all appropriate circumstances.

• Seek balance and synergy among human development activities and natural systems by designing economic and environmental solutions that support and reinforce one another.

• Continue to accept corporate responsibility and accountability under the law for activities and decisions under our control that impact human health and welfare and the continued viability of natural systems.

• Seek ways and means to assess and mitigate cumulative impacts to the environment; bring systems approaches to the full life cycle of our processes and work.

• Build and share an integrated scientific, economic, and social knowledge base that supports a greater understanding of the environment and impacts of our work.

• Respect the views of individuals and groups interested in Corps activities, listen to them actively, and learn from their perspective in the search to find innovative win-win solutions to the nation's problems that also protect and enhance the environment.

www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/envprinciples.htm

SOLANO COUNTY WATER AGENCY

The Solano County Water Agency (SCWA) has recently released the long-awaited Ulatis System Drainage Study or Flood Management Options Report prepared by its consultant, West Yost Associates of Davis.  The report and an executive summary are both available online at:

www.scwa2.com/floodawareness.html

To no one’s great surprise, the report completely ignores drainage, runoff and flooding impacts of a subdivision in Lagoon Valley located upstream from oft-flooded Alamo Creek in South Vacaville. The Friends of Lagoon Valley responded with comments at an Oct. 24 public hearing and with a letter to SCWA available online at:

www.lagoonvalleypark.com/scwa_letter.htm

SCWA General Manager David Okita responded to us in a letter dated Oct. 31 in which he claimed that “The basic assumption in the study was that any new development would mitigate their stormwater runoff impacts… This assumption allowed us to model the Ulatis Flood Control System without having to address the impact of future development."

We find that assumption to be unacceptable and have forwarded the Drainage Study and copies of the correspondence to our Project Manager at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Sacramento .

LAND TRUST TO OPEN WADDELL RANCH IN MARTIS VALLEY

The fight to prevent large-scale development in the Martis Valley near Truckee has, in many ways, mirrored our own fight to Save Lagoon Valley – only there, the stakes have been higher: 6,000 – 8,000 “vacation homes” proposed on not one but several golf courses.

While Placer County conservationists have had to settle for more housing development than they wanted or thought wise for the Valley, they have recently had one important victory:  the purchase of the 1,462-acre Waddle Ranch by the Truckee Donner Land Trust.  You can read about what has been called a “conservation grand slam” at:

www.sacbee.com/101/story/470771.html

FLV WORKING COMMITTEES

The FLV Steering Committee has recently subdivided itself into 3 working subcommittees, each of which would welcome new participants:

1. An environmental study group which is educating itself about Section #404 of the Clean Water Act, Section #401 Water Quality Certification, Solano County’s Draft Habitat Conservation Plan, etc. This group serves as our liaison with the Sacramento Corps of Engineers office.

2. A public relations group to encourage and coordinate letters to the editor, forum articles, community TV presentations, speaking at community groups, etc.

3. A possibility-thinking group which is attempting to frame and initiate conversations around other possibilities for Lagoon Valley – and maybe even start thinking about an Initiative measure!

The mandate of the possibility-thinking group is this: if the subdivision plans magically went away tomorrow morning, What would you like to see in Lagoon Valley?  How would you fund it?  Who would you talk to about it?

NEWSLETTER AVAILABLE VIA EMAIL

This Friends of Lagoon Valley newsletter is available by email and also on the FLV website:

www.lagoonvalleypark.com/nov_newsltr.htm

Sending the newsletter electronically saves us the cost of a 1^st class stamp, so if you’re willing to receive it that way, please send your email address to lagoonvalleyfriend@pacbell.net.

Conversely, if you’re reading this electronically and would like a hard copy, email to the same! Donations to help defray newsletter costs (as well as legal and consulting expenses) can be sent to:  

Friends of Lagoon Valley
c/o 735 Brookside Drive
Vacaville CA 95688

We like to say that “developers may have deep pockets but we have broad support.”  Thanks!