WATER

Fiction:  The Eco-Village will use massive amounts of water drawn from the Howell Mountain Mutual Water Company.

Fact:  The Eco-Village will depend solely on PUC’s ample water supplies and will not draw water from any local water district.  Eco-Village homes will use 50% less water than conventional homes through stringent conservation measures including water-efficient fixtures in every home, 100% recycled wastewater for outdoor watering, water efficient irrigation systems and rainwater collection and reuse.  As a result, these homes will require no additional draw on groundwater than PUC has extracted for the past 18 years.

SEWER

Fiction:  The new development will build septic systems that we don’t want.

Fact: There will be no septic systems built.  The Eco-Village will use the PUC wastewater system, redesigned to a higher tertiary level of wastewater treatment from the current secondary level.  The tertiary system allows 100% of recycled wastewater to be used on agriculture and landscaping, eliminating the use of drinking water for irrigation.  A dual pipe system is under consideration to bring drinking water for in-home use and recycled water for outdoor use to new homes. 

ENERGY

Fiction:  Solar panels are just window-dressing.

Fact: The use of renewable energy in the form of solar panels on every housing unit and business, along with ground source heat pumps, energy efficient design of buildings and a solar array for the Village Square retail, will reduce grid electricity consumption to approximately 50% of conventional developments and reduce the use of fossil fuels.  Solar energy is one example of the commitment to use sustainable resources on this project.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Fiction:  Current Angwin residents will be stuck paying for the Eco-Village water and sewer systems through higher taxes or a new assessment district.

Fact:  Current Angwin residents will pay nothing for the new infrastructure or its maintenance.  The cost of providing the infrastructure for the Eco-Village will be recovered through the sale of Eco-Village homes.  The cost of maintaining the systems will be borne by new homeowners and PUC through a homeowners’ association utility maintenance assessment. 

AGRICULTURAL LAND

Fiction:  The ag land inside the bubble will be forever lost to hundreds of home being built on it.

Fact:  The neighborhood (“The Farm”) previously planned for inside the bubble in the area with underlying ag zoning has been eliminated from the project.

Fiction:  The agriculture they’re proposing is a little token organic garden.

Fact:  The ag land will be put into farming production through the Angwin Agriculture Conservancy.  This 70-acre sustainable farming operation will produce a diverse crop of healthy, organic produce for the Eco-Village, PUC, the community at large, local farmers markets and area restaurants.  The Angwin Agriculture Conservancy, modeled after other successful community supported agriculture programs, will be a non-profit conservancy established by the project and supported by annual Eco-Village homeowner assessments and farmer lease fees.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

Fiction:  This project is just “phase 1,” and more housing is planned for the Eco-Village.

Fact:  There will be no “additional phases” of the Eco-Village.

Fiction: A tiny store the size of a 7-Eleven will replace the College Market.

Fact:  Preliminary plans call for a market of 15,000-18,000 square feet.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Fiction:  The addition of this project to the Angwin community will increase the fire danger.

Fact:  The addition of this project to the Angwin community will actually lessen the fire danger and make the community more fire-safe than it is today.  The ability to recycle 100% of the wastewater for irrigation will allow the Eco-Village to create a lush, defensible green space around it that will protect it from wild fires, and rainwater storage collection will provide easily accessible water for firefighting.  New homes will be required to meet strict fire code building standards.  The project will contribute funds to upgrade equipment and facilities for the Angwin Volunteer Fire Department, improving its capability to more effectively fight fires in the region.  New homeowners are expected to join the ranks of the volunteer department, increasing present staffing and improving response capability.  Hybrid-electric shuttle busses can also be used to assist in evacuation of residents in the event of any disaster.  None of these fire safety measures exists currently in the Angwin community.

Fiction:  The new Sheriff’s office substation will consist of a desk and chair with no staffing and will not make our community any safer.  New residents will add crime to Angwin.

Fact:  The Sheriff’s office states that Angwin will be a much safer community with the addition of the upvalley substation than it is today.  The substation will be located in the Village Square, and the project has agreed to provide 1,000 square feet of office space for this purpose.  The Sheriff’s office plans a program of “community policing” for Angwin, whereby the same officers are assigned to the community, which the Sheriff states encourages familiarity between the department and local residents, and deters crime.

The Sheriff’s office plans to coordinate with PUC security and other local public safety services to staff the office on a daily basis, giving residents immediate access to law enforcement personnel.  The high-visibility location and presence of the substation, officers and patrol cars will discourage speeding along Howell Mountain Rd. through Angwin, and will act as a crime- prevention asset for the community.  Response time to emergency calls will be cut significantly.

BUILD-OUT TIMELINE

Fiction:  The project will have an immediate effect on those of us who live here and will overwhelm our infrastructure.

Fact:  Build-out of the project will take years, as Napa County allocates only a certain number of homes to be built per year in the entire county in accordance with Measure A 1% growth rates.  Home construction is not expected to begin until 2010.  The Eco-Village is not expected to be completed until approximately 2017.  The Eco-Village will have its own infrastructure, providing water, sewer and energy to the project.  It will not use any existing Angwin community infrastructure.

SUSTAINABILITY

Fiction:  All they’re doing is throwing up some solar panels on rooftops and calling it an Eco-Village.

Fact:  The Eco-Village incorporates the most sustainable design elements, technologies and principles recognized in today’s world.  The compact design preserves 90% of PUC lands including open space, ag land, forests and the natural beauty of the area.  It creates a safe, walkable community where homes, schools, retail and transportation are located within a 15-minute walk.  A variety of housing opportunities, including affordable, workforce and market rate, allows for a more diverse population where there’s a place for everyone.  Extensive traffic improvements reduce speed through the community, smooth the commute flow, and provide additional vehicle and pedestrian safety.  A variety of transportation options will take vehicles off the road.

The Village Square, with its village commons, creates a sense of place and provides a space for community gatherings, celebrations, and other opportunities for neighbors to come together.  The retail and professional shops and offices provide goods and services, reducing automobile trips out of town for everyday needs.  No “big-box” retail will be permitted.  The placement of housing units above shops and offices increases economic activity and makes the area more vibrant.

The Eco-Village will use energy efficient, low-voltage outdoor lighting to provide adequate night lighting without the glare and volume of standard lighting.

The use of advanced conservation technologies for water, sewer and energy systems and non-toxic, recycled and renewable building products and materials are features that elevate the project to a level of sustainability far above conventional developments.  The addition of the agriculture conservancy preserves farmland and produces a diversity of organic crops for the community to make the Angwin Eco-Village a greener, more environmentally sensitive development than Napa Valley has ever seen.

TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION

Fiction:  Nobody will use shuttles or share-cars.

Fact:  Providing a variety of transportation choices is a recognized, effective means of lessening traffic congestion.  The project will provide high quality transit service, now non-existent in Angwin, through the use of a fleet of clean hybrid-electric shuttles for in-town travel as well as regular trips to St. Helena Hospital and the city of St. Helena. Shuttle riders can connect to countywide transportation systems.  The Angwin community is unique from other communities in that it includes a large population of college students. Forty percent of its students do not have access to vehicles, and shuttles will provide them with the ability to travel easily outside the community for jobs, recreation and travel to their homes.  High student use of public transit has been well documented in other college towns.  Additionally, shuttle busses will make it possible for the aging population of Angwin, including those residents who no longer drive, to easily access health care, shopping and professional services both inside and outside of the community.

Shuttle busses, along with electric share-cars, share-bikes, pedestrian friendly paths, and street crossings that encourage walking will all help to reduce the additional traffic caused by the new development.

Fiction:  The existing commute traffic is already clogging Angwin roadways.  More commuters will make it worse.

Fact:  The 2000 census reveals that the average daily one-way work commute for Angwin residents is only 15.7 minutes, suggesting that many residents are commuting only as far as St. Helena Hospital, St. Helena, Calistoga or the surrounding area.  This also suggests that people who choose to live in Angwin work close to where they live.  The addition of safety and traffic improvements, which could include additional passing lanes, fully automated traffic signals or roundabouts at major upvalley intersections, turnouts and other improvements, will be identified through extensive traffic studies now underway by the project and implemented as required.  These improvements will move commute and other traffic more safely and smoothly.  The availability of additional housing in the Angwin community will allow people commuting into or through the community from out of county to area workplaces to live closer to where they work, thus reducing commuter trips.

Preliminary traffic analysis on Howell Mountain Rd. indicates all of the intersections and roadway segments in the Angwin Eco-Village area currently meet or exceed acceptable levels of service for traffic operation.  Additional capacity is available in the roadways.  A traffic impact analysis for the project will be completed as part of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which will identify any roadway improvement requirement to maintain traffic flow at acceptable levels.  The project is being planned and designed to minimize new traffic generation.  Further, the addition of campus housing and the proposed transportation strategies strives to take a portion of the existing cars off the road.

Also, the county is studying improvements to Howell Mountain Rd. as part of a regional bike route.  Eco-Village bike paths and improvements to existing roads and trails will tie into this system.  Regional open space and trail networks spreading down from Rattlesnake Ridge will have through connections along the PUC Preserve, and a network of trail connections back into the Eco-Village and existing community.

Fiction:  There’s nothing that can be done to slow traffic on Howell Mountain Rd. as it passes through town.

Fact:  There are several effective, commonly used traffic improvements that will be implemented to slow traffic through the village, including narrowing of the roadway, adding a tree canopy and attractive landscaping, speed-reduction signage, highly visible crosswalks, increased law enforcement presence and other features.  These measures can be implemented to improve Howell Mountain Rd. without compromising the important function of the roadway or diverting traffic to other roads.

Fiction:  Through-traffic will be directed off Howell Mountain Rd. onto White Cottage Rd. and new residents will commute to work outside of Angwin.

Fact:  Traffic will absolutely not be diverted onto White Cottage Rd.  To assume that all new residents will commute out of town ignores some basic concepts. For example, one would have to assume that no residents will work at community businesses, commercial offices, home-based businesses, St. Helena Hospital or at PUC. It also doesn’t consider retired residents.

Fiction:  Nobody’s going to stop using their cars around town.

Fact:  Communities that develop easy, safe, convenient alternatives to auto vehicle travel, including pedestrian and bicycle paths, find that those options are often preferred by residents over vehicle travel.  A compact project with a mix of residential, retail, services and community uses, combined with an extensive network of safe, wide walking and bicycling paths throughout the Eco-Village and campus, realignment of campus streets, relocation of student parking, new landscaping and other urban design features, will work to discourage vehicle use and encourage walking and bicycling.  A fleet of electric share-cars and share bicycles stationed throughout the Eco-Village will be another environmentally friendly transportation option for short in-town trips.

Fiction:  Share-cars would be dangerous for small children, who could start the cars and drive them.

Fact:  Car share programs operate successfully across the United States, from large cities to small towns.  Car share programs are safe and secure.  We are unaware of any reports of small children driving the vehicles.

Fiction: There will be no parking near Village Square retail, making it impossible for the elderly, in particular, to access the grocery store and other services.

Fact:  There will be adequate parking available for the Angwin community to access the Village Square retail easily.  It is well understood that for those who have neither the desire nor ability to walk or bicycle, parking must and will be provided in the form of a safe, well-lighted underground garage, a parking lot, and on-street parking.  Also, shuttle busses will provide regularly scheduled in-town shuttle service for those who choose not to, or are unable to walk or drive.  What will not be developed are vast, unsightly asphalt parking lots. 

AIRPORT OPERATIONS PROTECTION & SAFETY

Fiction:  The airport will have to shut down because of noise complaints from people living in The Farm neighborhood.

Fact:  The Eco-Village will have no impact on airport operations.

Fiction:  Triad has offered to buy the airport at a high price that knocks the county out of purchasing it.

Fact:  Triad has made no offer to buy the airport, nor will it in the future.  PUC is committed to the ongoing operation of the airport.

SCHOOLS

Fiction:  The development will overcrowd and bankrupt our local schools.

Fact:  An analysis is underway of local elementary and high schools, both public and private, and will continue as a requirement of the EIR.  The Howell Mountain Elementary School in Angwin and St. Helena High School (both public) stand to benefit from real property tax increment that is expected to exceed cost impacts calculated from the numbers of new students to be generated by the Eco-Village.  A needs analysis is commencing in discussions with principals and board members representing all schools.