Draft General Plan and Draft EIR Comments

Napa County General Plan Update: Over a period of several months a committee made up of Roger Hartwell, David Graves, Barry Christian, Moira Johnson Block, Tim Yarish, and headed up by Francie Winnen studied and responded to the Draft General Plan and the Draft EIR. The following letter was submitted to the County, along with a matrix of comments, which can be viewed as a pdf by clicking the link below:



Draft General Plan and Draft EIR Comments

Friends of the Napa River is submitting the attached matrix of comments [obj-FONR-GPREVIEW07.pdf] on the Napa County Draft General Plan (DGP) and Draft EIR (DEIR) with our mission in mind that FONR is the “Community’s voice for protection, restoration, responsible development and celebration of the Napa River and its watershed.” Our examination of both documents has led us to the conclusion that more work and study is needed to make them “adequate” for the job of guiding the County’s evolution to 2030.

Our major concerns are:

1. The population and agricultural growth rates projected by the DGP and the alternatives included in DEIR will have significant negative impacts to the Napa River and its watershed.

2. The DGP policies do not adequately address measures to improve the health of the Napa River and its watershed.

3. The DGP and the DEIR do not contain goals and policies to monitor, analyze and mitigate the projected climate change impacts to the Napa River and its watershed.

4. The DGP does not adequately address the Napa River’s role as a significant biologic, recreational, and esthetic factor in the quality of life in Napa County.

5. The land use planning tools of “transitional designation” and “Urban Bubbles” are problematic with regards to protecting the Napa River watershed and open space.

6. The DEIR incompletely addresses the DGP as it has been presented to the community for review.

We look forward to helping our community in this General Plan update process. We appreciate the tremendous amount of time and energy that the Planning Department and the Steering Committee have committed to this Draft General Plan.

As it becomes time to move the process forward to the Planning Commission and, ultimately, to the Board of Supervisors, they will need to spend a tremendous amount of time reading, learning, and understanding the DGP. This document will be determining the future for Napa County: a very large responsibility. We hope they have the patience and tenacity to demand the best.



Thank you,



Bernhard Krevet, Friends of the Napa River, President

Francie Winnen, Friends of the Napa River, Secretary

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