| Duane L. Cronk, Publisher | THE ANGWIN REPORTER | Mar 3, 2008 |
 |
|
About Angwin...
Angwin is a community of about 3200 residents on Howell Mountain. We are in a coastal range of northern California, about 70 mi. north of San Francisco.
The Village ranges from 1600 to 2200 ft. elevation, overlooking the scenic Napa Valley. It is surrounded by vineyards and forests.
Many Angwin residents work for Pacific Union College, a liberal arts college with a national reputation, or the nearby St. Helena Hospital.
|
|
|
|
|
2/14/2008
2/4/2008
12/2/2007
11/11/2007
7/14/2007
6/24/2007
5/9/2007
4/30/2007
4/11/2007
|
|
PUC defeats community Plan.. Temporarily
Urban Bubble to stay in the General Plan for now. College forbidden to develop ag. lands
|
|
The Napa County Board of Supervisors voted last week to keep the Angwin Urban Bubble in the new General Plan. The 3-2 vote was a defeat for the Angwin community, represented by Save Rural Angwin and its 1,000 supporters.
|
|
The action came as a surprise because supervisors had been sympathetic to the Angwin community's concerns. An advisory committee had voted 12 to 7 to take the agricultural lands out of the Urban Bubble. The Planning Commission had voted 3 to 2 to get rid of the Bubble. The Board of Supervisors were poised to prick the Angwin Bubble.
|
|
Then the roof fell in.
|
|
Everything changed. The College shouted: "religious discrimination" in the last days before the public hearing, and threatened a lawsuit. Adventists throughout Napa County received a letter from church officials charging that taking the agricultural lands out of the Urban Bubble would constitute an act of religious discrimination. They were urged to attend the hearing and protest.
|
|
It was a circus.
|
|
Pacific Union College shut down for the morning hearing and bussed several hundred teachers and students to the hearing. Church officials stood up to repeat the charge that denying the College the right to convert its agricultural land into housing subdivisions would be illegal. The barrage against the County turned into a marathon meeting..
|
|
The County attorney ruled that eliminating the Bubble did not deny anyone the right to worship as he pleased. But the Board wanted to avoid "even the perception" of discrimination. It moved to study all of the other 11 urban bubbles around the county and then put Angwin back on the table. That procedure would establish precedence and defeat the charge raised by the church leaders that dealing with Angwin first would amount to "singling it out."
|
|
Thus, the decision amounts to only a temporary vote for the College. Then the Angwin Urban Bubble will come back on the table, and the issue of religious discrimination will have been defeated. Meanwhile, a moratorium would be placed on the agricultural lands in the urban bubble until it comes up again, thus preventing the College from developing those parcels for what could be several years.
|
|
Bear in mind that all of the above applies to the writing of a new General Plan for the County. The PUC/Triad project (380 houses) is still under study and will not come before the public for another eight months
|