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Politics & Government

What Really Happened at the Napa Pipe Meeting?

Public and staff comments from Wednesday's special meeting of the Napa County Planning Commission. Next stop for Napa Pipe: the county board of supervisors.

Wednesday's special meeting of the Napa County Planning Commission stretched beyond its four-hour time slot with public comments by more than 30 people before the commissioners' deliberation and vote on the controversial Napa Pipe environmental impact report.

For an overview of the meeting, please see Split Vote Sends Napa Pipe to Supervisors. You can also watch the proceedings from start to finish at the countyofnapa.org website.

Here are several of the public, staff and commission comments from Wednesday's meeting, not in the order in which they were spoken:

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"This project is much too large for the county to get it wrong." —Brett Risley, trades union representative

"Doing nothing is not an option ... This site will intensify even if we do nothing." —Napa County Planning Director Hillary Gitelman

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"I'm watching this with bated breath and hoping it will be built before I am gone." —Joetta Bunter of Napa

"Is what we have in front of us the best use?" —Eve Kahn, Get a Grip on Growth

"This is an area that should remain light industrial." —Janet Mendelson of Napa

"We recently reached an agreement with Costco to place a store at the site ... We're proud of the association. We're very impressed with what we've learned about their management practices and how they treat their employees ... A document has been signed and a formal relationship has been entered into." —Applicant Keith Rogal of Napa Redevelopment Partners

 "We need to make sure our [Costco] members are comfortable going through the traffic also ... We're not the concrete tilt-up any more. We have different methods of developing a building and building for sustainability ... We can use materials that create the atmosphere you want." —Mike Dobrota, representing Costco

"Costco is the biggest retailer of wine in the world." —Roger Hartwell of Napa

"I think we have a perfect opportunity here to design something and build something people ... can be proud of." —Guy Piombo of Napa

"This is definitely an urban development ... I think this EIR should be recirculated." —Napa City Council candidate Bill Bopf

"This EIR has been circulated twice already." — Whit Manley, attorney for Napa Redevelopment Partners

"No amendment to the housing element is required: The whole site is in the element as housing even though only 20 acres is slated for rezoning." —Napa County Planning Director Hillary Gitelman

The Napa Valley Unified School District is "reasonably in agreement with the school idea" (K-8 serving 945 units) and "the district feels it has sufficient 9-12 space at the current high schools." —Don Evans, NVUSD

"I believe that revenues have been overstated ... There are too many unknowns." —Sandy Elles, Napa Valley Farm Bureau

"The city of Napa should control the development of this site ... the county has more lax standards and doesn't understand how a city operates." —Harold Kelly

"Our hope is that we can move pretty expeditiously from here on." —Napa County Planning Director Hillary Gitelman

Find all our Napa Pipe reporting, with links to other media, at our Napa Pipe topic page: napavalley.patch.com/topics/Napa-Pipe. Articles include:

  • County Holds Hearings on Napa Pipe
  • Comment Period Extended on Napa Pipe Report
  • Luce “Happy" to Keep Napa Pipe Industrial
  • New Napa Pipe Hearings Set
  • Where Do You Stand on Napa Pipe?
  • How Big Should Napa Pipe Be?
  • Was Law Broken at Napa Pipe Meeting?
  • Many Voices Expected at Napa Pipe Hearing
  • Napa Pipe Vote Postponed
  • Napa Pipe Plan Divides County Planners
  • Napa Pipe Hearings Canceled as Developers Revise Proposal
  • Napa Pipe Returns to Planning Commission
  • Split Vote Sends Napa Pipe to Supervisors

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