From The Reporter, December 8, 2004:

Compromise for Lagoon Valley
Patricia Valenzuela/Staff Writer

    The Vacaville City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved an agreement reached late last week with a developer and an environmental group for building in lower Lagoon Valley. In thus allowing a project proposed by Seattle-based developer Triad Communities to move forward, the council rescinded its unanimous approval of an earlier proposal from Triad. Tuesday's agreement approved calls for 1,025 homes rather than the earlier 1,300, adds affordable housing and senior units, and decreases office space in the complex to 700,000 square feet.
    Mayor Len Augustine said, "It's not about building this or nothing. Nothing was never an option."
    By approving the agreement, the council eliminated the need for a March vote on referendums challenging its unanimous approval in June of a general plan amendment and a Lagoon Valley Specific Plan.
    Triad's new proposal includes a golf course and other amenities on the 730 acres of privately owned land. The project now will go through the necessary city reviews.
    Councilmembers had three options. One was their approval of the agreement. Secondly, they could have rejected the agreement and proceeded forward with the March election. Lastly, they could have continued considering the agreement and scheduled a June election.
    Greenbelt Alliance had sued the city in July, claiming the city had violated environmental and zoning laws in approving the Triad project.  The group now will drop its suit against the city in exchange for petitioning, along with Triad, for an urban planning area that would essentially draw a boundary around the city within which growth would occur for the next 20 years.
    A critical component of the new agreement is the dedication of 71 acres of permanent open space. That land, between Interstate 80 and the lake in the valley, will provide aesthetic views.
    Friends of Lagoon Valley, a grass-roots organization opposed to development in the valley, may well have won its battle.  Members of the organization collected thousands of signatures this past summer challenging the council's amendment to the general plan and its approval of the Lagoon Valley Specific Plan, both of which paved the way for Triad's project.  Signatures gathered by the organization were enough to put the matter on a March ballot.
    Marian Conning, of Friends of Lagoon Valley, said she was experiencing a mixture of emotions Tuesday night. "It doesn't really feel like a victory for us," she said. "It feels a little bit like a backroom deal."
Councilmembers later responded to her comments saying the agreement was not that kind of a deal.
"I resent people accusing this council of indiscretion," Vice Mayor Pauline Clancy said.  "That's not true. These are four of the most honest people I know."

Patricia Valenzuela can be reached at vacaville@thereporter.com.
(c) 2004 The Reporter. All rights reserved. 

And from The Reporter, December 10, 2004:

Behind closed doors
By Karen Nolan

There's no reason for Vacaville City Council members to get all huffy when the phrase "backroom deal" is bandied about as talk turns to the latest agreement concerning Lagoon Valley.

"Backroom," according to Webster's, is "a place outside the purview of the public where political or business deals are brokered." That's exactly where Triad Communities and Greenbelt Alliance made their deal.

And while the City Council approved the plan in a public meeting Tuesday night, there was no doubt in anyone's mind which way that vote was going to go.

The new deal calls for Triad to scale back its development so as to comply with zoning rules set in 1991. That let the City Council take back this year's unanimous vote that changed those rules. With no council vote in question, there's no longer a need for a special election in March.

That's too bad. I, for one, was looking forward to finding out what Vacans as a whole think about developing the valley.

I already know how Friends of Lagoon Valley must feel: betrayed ... frustrated ... maybe even a little angry. They collected the thousands of signatures to put the issue on the ballot, yet they were excluded from negotiations.

Ironic, isn't it, that while the local folks who make up Friends of Lagoon Valley were gathering signatures this summer, those who favored development kept referring to them as "outside interests." Yet, in the end, the only people at the table were outside interests - the developer from Seattle and Greenbelt Alliance from the greater Bay Area.

This is the second time in two decades that local residents have tried to put Lagoon Valley in front of voters, and the second time those efforts failed. Residents with long memories may feel especially cheated. The agreement that allowed development out there in the first place was pitched as a way to bring jobs to the area: 3,000 from Bank of America alone, even before Kaiser Permanente eyed the site for a clinic it ended up building off Leisure Town Road. Now we get houses - albeit fewer than Triad initially proposed.

Triad will still pay to improve Lagoon Valley Park, to build a fire station and to cover public safety costs. And its business development may bring as many as 2,000 jobs. But as far as I can tell, no one has yet figured out how to avoid the traffic nightmare that will surely come from building in an area where Interstate 80 is the only convenient way in or out.

At least Triad has agreed to preserve 71 acres of open space between Interstate 80 and the lagoon. That will provide a nice scenic view for all of us to enjoy while we're stuck in traffic.

The author, a Vacaville resident, can be reached at features@thereporter.com.
(c) 2004 The Reporter. All rights reserved.