County fought the law, law won

Wednesday, October 8, 2003

By BILL DODD

In response to an Oct. 6 letter written by Richard Hairston, taking the Board of Supervisors to task for not fighting the housing requirements imposed upon us by the State of California:

We have been fighting. We have tried to get housing law changed, worked with our legislators to get exemptions and will continue to challenge the State's housing allocations. The truth is the board has tried nearly everything since 1991; the last time the county had a certified housing element. The facts are, times have changed, there are state statutes protecting agricultural lands, there is also state law that allows groups or private citizens to sue cities or counties that do not have a certified element. The county has recently been served with such a lawsuit.

The board has weighed the few options at its disposal and, while I wish it were as easy as Mr. Hairston implies, the facts suggest that Napa County does not have a free pass for regional housing allocations, nor is it likely we will get one without first coming into compliance with state law. Another misconception is that the county is converting prime agricultural lands into housing. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The agreements currently being made by Napa County with the cities of American Canyon and Napa have been worked on for over a year and a half and are not only historic in the context of the cooperation of our local governments in Napa County, but will be a model for other places throughout the country. The agreements truly preserve the agricultural heritage of the Napa Valley and the integrity of the land use regulations (Measures A & J) voted in by all of the people of Napa County. By going to court we risk allowing a Judge to decide our fate in these matters and a Judge could force the County to rezone prime Ag lands for housing. As it stands now with this agreement, we have paid the price, as have the citizens of the Cities of Napa and American Canyon, to protect Agriculture in the unincorporated areas of Napa County. Instead of giving up prime agricultural lands we are sharing revenue, adding parks and open space opportunities, work force housing and working in other areas of mutual need with the cities.

Once these agreements are finalized with the cities and we have a certified housing element and land-use predictability through the year 2013, we can go to Sacramento and work towards protections for future cycles for Napa County and its cities. It is my hope that Mr. Hairston and others in Napa County will applaud the public officials from the cities and county for working together to find a solution for its citizens that doesn't include lawsuits that only benefit attorneys.

This has been a relatively complex issue and I am appreciative that Mr. Hairston weighed in and allowed me to clarify some issues to the public.

(Bill Dodd represents District Four on the Napa County Board of Supervisors.