Second Wednesday Salon
January 16, 2008 Summary

Napa Valley College (NVC)

Today’s salon took place at the NVC campus.  The subject for the day was Measure L which will appear on the February ballot.  Measure L will ask Napa voters to approve a bond for 178 million dollars to finish projects that were part of Measure N in 2002, and to continue to update and modernize the NVC facilities for the future.

The day began at 3:30 with a walking tour of the campus by NVC president Dr. Chris McCarthy and his staff.  We were shown how the money has been spent from Measure N for projects like updating the gymnasium, the tennis courts, the theater, bathrooms, a new life sciences lab, and a state of the art cooling system and photovoltaic power system which is among the largest in the state.

After the walking tour, we sat down for a slide show.  This presentation illustrated how NVC arrived at the difficult point where they are now asking voters to shoulder another bond measure that was bigger than the original one which was supposed to fund all the improvements.  According to Dr. McCarthy, a perfect storm of financial factors have taken place since 2002.  Higher than expected construction inflation, building and labor costs, and cost overruns have led to the current dour fiscal situation.  However, the independent Financial Oversight Committee which is charged with overseeing Measure N bond monies has found no negligence or misappropriation of those funds.

A question and answer session followed the presentation.  Dr. McCarthy and his staff did a commendable job answering every question thoroughly and directly.  After the question and answer session, we were offered some lovely Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that was produced on campus by the students in the school viticulture program. 

 A Summary of the November Salon

Subject:  Planning Ahead for Napa’s Transportation Needs
Speaker:  Eliot Hurwitz, Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency

The meeting was held at Haven Napa Valley furniture store at 1307 First St. in downtown Napa.  Haven is a tasteful, well priced furniture and interior design store locally owned and operated by Michelle Hawkins.  Michelle greeted everyone and spoke about her business experiences in downtown Napa.  She said her first year was challenging amid all the changes taking place downtown, but that her second year in business has been steadily improving.  The interior design component of her business has kept her busy amid the ongoing construction in downtown Napa.  Michelle can be reached at 258-6333, or you can visit her website at www.havennapavalley.com

The Salon’s guest speaker was Eliot Hurwitz, who is the Transportation and Land Use Program Manager at the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency (NCTPA).  The NCTPA manages the VINE bus system, and is the countywide transportation planning agency. 

Over the last year and a half, Eliot has been collecting ideas and answering questions from community groups, businesses, and non profits throughout Napa County about Napa’s future transportation needs.  Many of these ideas and questions have been incorporated into the next planning document which will guide transportation issues in Napa for the next 30 years.  This document, called “Napa’s Transportation Future” addresses things like public transportation, bicycle lanes, commuting, street repair etc., so the ideas and questions raised were far reaching.

Some of the ideas and suggestions given to Eliot are listed below in no specific order:
• People wanted to know what’s being done about congestion along Hwy. 29 during commute hours. 
• Someone suggesting a dependable ride share van might be a good alternative to the VINE for many upvalley workers. 
• Another idea for tourists and locals was to link the Vallejo ferry with a smaller water taxi that could connect downtown Napa with San Francisco. 
• To reduce congestion and air pollution, someone recommend that the City coordinate their stop lights to better accommodate predictable daily variations in traffic patterns. 
• Using the existing rail lines to better serve tourists and local residents.
• Following the example of other communities around the world who have successful public transportation programs so we don’t have to reinvent something here
• A bike path that would stretch from Vallejo to Calistoga.

If you would like to add your comments and ideas to Napa’s transportation future, you can contact Eliot Hurwitz at 259-8631.  Or, you can join the NCTPA email distribution list to find out when another public meeting will be held in your area.  Check out the website at www.nctpa.net 

A Summary of the October Salon - by Joe Fischer

Many of you sent your regrets but wanted to know what we discussed. 

Barry Martin led off with a trip down memory lane to previous ‘blighted properties’ – the Hatt Building, the Winship Building, the Opera House, the structure currently housing Cole’s and Ubuntu. 

Next, he provided an overview of the downtown projects and flood control timelines.  Winter 2007 will see the Oxbow Market, the Main Street West property and the Zeller Building.  Napa Square and The Westin (135 rooms), are due for completion in 2008, the Inn At Town Center, now renamed the Avia (141 rooms) is due for a 2009 arrival along with the riverfront development by channel properties.   The Ritz at 350 rooms is uncertain, but more information is pending, and the property in the South Copia parking lot is still uncertain, but on the drawing board.

The Flood project is dragging on, with ultimate completion likely in 2014/2015.  The Napa Creek component, which was originally scheduled for 2013, appears to be moving up with concurrent work on the Oxbow.  The Oxbow bypass will create a public park.  The next phase in the Flood Project is raising the railroad tracks and installing new bridges over the river just north of 3rd street and over the bypass channel.   Because  Third Street, First Street, and Soscol will have to be raised to the new level of the RR tracks, look for street closures in the coming three years. 

The Blighted Properties list incorporated most of the top-of-mind properties people have complained about.  When we first started the research project, we thought that ‘it was time to do something,’ and that our research would lead to a push for a new ordinance or some other spurring activity.  The reality is that most of the ‘signature’ bad properties fall under the 2006 passed seismic retrofit ordinance (SRO) which requires that ‘final’ retrofit plans be submitted by May 2008 and the work completed by 2009.  The city and City Council has some discretion for extensions with good cause. 

George Altamura’s Merrill’s, Gordon Building on First, Uptown Theatre and La Bamba on Soscol were discussed.  The Altamuras have presented a mixed use development proposal for the Merrill’s building and approximately ½ of the Napa Town Center.   The Gordon Building is apparently being actively marketed for leasing.  The Uptown Theatre is slated for a 2008 opening according to George (See the spread in the October 16 Register).  The La Bamba has larger, Soscol corridor and Tulocay Creek flooding issues that must be resolved before any plans can be approved.

Muriel’s bar is on the SRO list with activity required by Spring 2008.  The same is the case with the ‘nastiest building award’ 530 Brown street property across from the courthouse.  Owned by a local family, they have discussed replacement plans with the city.  Other properties not on the SRO list are either formulating development plans, or are located where imminent development is likely to result in transforming the property.  In summary, most of the junk is temporal, but they all deserve continuing attention.  (Look for a related feature on the Salon’s upcoming website.) 

After some discussion, the most significant take-away from the evening was the following – We are in the middle of a tsunami of interest and activity for development projects.  We need to ride the storm and take advantage of the interest and get it done.  The last time we had this interest the economy went cold and we had to wait 7 years for it to heat up again. 

Two related points were made.  First, In the midst of the hurricane of interest, we need to demand quality in our public and city reviews of development proposals.  Jeff Doran said that when he was going through the process with his project on First, he ‘hated Cass Walker.’ But that evolved to admiration as she and staff pushed for improved design, higher quality and a better overall project. 

Second, we need to seriously rethink our planning department’s capacity for moving things through.  The current infrastructure according to some involved in the process is not adequate.  Ideally, the system is able to morph and deal with this avalanche of proposals – I call this make hay when the sun shines – then scale back down when the demand backs off.  This is dramatically different than a linear staffing model that plans for gradual growth instead of the bump we are obviously facing.   I think this will be a topic for a future Salon. 

Finally, we discussed the importance of being involved, monitoring different development proposals as they move through the system and weighing in.  Jeff Doran’s final comment in this vein was that the current Altamura design for First street falls short in quality and the kind of innovative design elements that need to be part of all future projects. 

Thanks for your interest and activism.