Solano 360 ALERT!

Meeting on Fairgrounds tonight at 5:30 PM -- 675 Texas St. Fairfield

By Dan Levin

2/11/13

HELP!  The Specific Plan has changed.  Please see document link below.   There are a lot of rewordings, many relevant to the planning commission.  Now the term "Main Street" is used.  Vallejo already has a real main street and it's where my office is located.   

Quick observations:  

* A lot of the original ideas from four years ago are returning, with more emphasis on retail and housing than family entertainment.  I think the County and its consultants have in mind a new urban development with retail/restaurants first floor and apartments/condos above.  Not a bad idea in theory, but completely untested near an amusement park---who in the world would want to live there?

* Nearly all control by Vallejo has been ripped out.  No joint development agreement is needed any more and the new wordings give the County authority to do just about anything as long the project "as a whole" conforms to guidelines which are now much looser.

* "Theme Park" is used for the first time in a definitive manner.   If the 30-acre EC parcel is being reserved for Six Flags, then the 2.5% entertainment tax is hugely important--who gets it?  

* Cost are surely different with the new description.  There's no way for the City to accurately predict services with the County having almost full discretion as to what goes in.  The police costs are surely higher with what's proposed, basically a new downtown, not family entertainment centers.

Does anyone know if changes like this can be made without another public review period?   We need help from an attorney who knows how this process is supposed to work.  This may be rapidly spinning out of control for Vallejo.

Document Link:

Interested Participants:

The Solano360 Committee meets Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. in the first floor multipurpose room of the County Administration Center, 675 Texas Street in Fairfield.  The agenda and attachments have been posted online athttp://www.solanocounty.com/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?blobid=14781. For additional project information, please visit the project website at www.solanocounty.com/solano360.

Thank you, and please contact Tom Sinclair at  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  if you have any questions.

Comments

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Ka-ching   |February.12.2013 What is not known is the TOTAL cost to taxpayers if County and COV Staff costs were totaled and published We might just have a revolt ! I suspect Staff produced such a long term time line for the project so Staff time could be charged to cost centers for decades so ensuring department profitability for entire careers when costs are spread out over time they receive less scrutiny from the Public this is like the Wilson Ave project where $ 18,000,000 was spent before one shovelful of dirt was moved Job security must be an element to this financial fiasco this whole mess could serve to promote legislation protecting taxpayers from financial abuse by local Governments "projects like this should be illegal" departments who willingly waste Public funds should have to pay it back or do jail time . Looks like every Solano City is in to this for over $ 1,000,000 each I wonder if they know what they have spent it on ? Properly operated County should be returning a surplus to the Cities every year instead of speculating with the public resources they have been entrusted with . Who the hell drafted this financial plan Berni Maydoff .

Smoke and Mirrors   |February.12.2013 Think of Solano 360 like the concept cars you see at a show. It look great but whats hits the streets and the final price is another story Even their case study was make believe. They even assume Caltran will cough up $28M for road improvements. If they dont we end up with a partially completed project that will be a drain on our finances and services.

wharf rat   |February.11.2013 Thanks again Dan ! Yes spun/spinning "like a Whirling Dervish" hidden between the lines and well concealed is the ABAG agenda - transit Village - high density housing , probably subsidised/market rate the retail can easily morph into residential "due to current market conditions" County is probably anticipating forming a Mello Roos district then feeding COV some crumbs for Public safety and infrastructure costs "every one gets a piece of the pie the HUD pie . The Sereno transit Village ended up with armed Guards on site as did 201 Maine I suspect this development will mirror those two . Relevant issues are many such as flood control (this is a flood prone area) also emergency services , Police and Fire are over taxed with our current population how will this be mitigated ? this whole thing has ABAG'S fingerprints all over it and smells like an urban containment zone , no real job creation just a big drain of tax dollars another ghetto funded by the taxpayers . This site has potential for 149.1 acres of residential development if multi story is built this would be a very HIGH density project with all the associated problems of this project type just how many units are proposed ? will County provide Fire and Police coverage ? will VUSD get screwed what about GVRD - Public Works - VSFCD - traffic mitigation who pays for all this COV max density per acre is 120 units or 250 People per acre with 149.1 acres of potential residential development we have the potential population increase of 37,275 or a population increase of 31 percent of 2012 population @ 115,942 I think a 31 percent population increase is good cause to question every aspect of this project and insist on a representitive EIR combined with a study of municipal costs per capita if they go up 31 percent we will be broke. To put this in scale Benicia population is 27,207 AM Can is 19,454 how the hell can we provide services to this development "WE can not" We will have to make huge investments in services and infrastructure . The above is based on POTENTIAL residential density of max COV density of 250 people per acre without accurate project disclosure data it is hard to nail it down but the scale is such that Residents should be very concerned with the potential impacts on our existing City . Is this a plan to build another City within Vallejo with it's own Main street maby a different name as well ?

Salty Dog   |February.11.2013 Replica or the Real Thing? This whole 360 thing is looking increasingly like desperation with a dash of dope smoking planning and a yearning for yet more of suburban sprawl and never ending strip malls ready to be serviced by that great American appendage, the automobile. As an antique fancier,and not far from one myself, I have learned to differentiate between hardwood and particle board; wrought iron and stamped tin; cut glass and formed glass. As the above writer points out, Vallejo already has a Main (Maine) street and the patina shows- old gardens and homes with tradition. The infrastructure is there, built be previous generations. The potential is huge for those willing to polish the brass. Why on God's green earth would anyone opt to fund long term, a plan that already is as obsolete as McMansions, strip malls and an over dependency on the auto. Put your money into a gem that already exists wanting, only in lack of attention. Just sayin.

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