Lewis Planned Communities Villages at Fairfield is a plan for building 2,327 homes and apartments on 433 acres
Article Last Updated: Friday, Aug 12, 2005 - 11:07:48 pm PDT
Development seeks to coexist with sensitive habitat
By Barry Eberling
FAIRFIELD - Building 2,327 homes and apartments on 433 acres that include wetlands and a rare flower takes a light touch.
Lewis Planned Communities thinks it has found the touch with its proposed Villages at Fairfield near Clay Bank Road. The project is one of the biggest remaining new developments allowed under the city's General Plan.
Now Lewis must convince the city Planning Commission. The commission will discuss the project at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the council chamber, 1000 Webster St.
People and agencies already were allowed to comment on the Villages at Fairfield draft environmental study. Fairfield on Tuesday released the comments and the responses that will be included in the final study.
A key issue is the presence of rare Contra Costa goldfield flowers at a vernal pool near a proposed shopping center. Northeast Fairfield has some of the most significant remaining goldfield populations in the world.
This particular population is about 100 flowers. Lewis plans to leave this land untouched, along with preserving other open space in the area.
But goldfields depend on insects and animals to spread their small seeds. The goldfields preserve will be surrounded by new homes, businesses and roads. The animals and insects might be unable to reach the flowers, state Department of Fish and Game Regional Manager Robert Floerke wrote.
A group of local environmentalists went further. They wanted more than a 9-acre preserve for the flower. They said the proposed 270-home, 89-acre neighborhood near the goldfields should be kept as open space, with other neighborhoods having denser housing.
Gerald Karr of the Napa Solano Audubon Society, Kathy Pratt of the Suisun Marsh Natural History Association, Ted Swiecki of the California Native Plant Society, John Hopkins of the Institute for Ecological Health and Cynthia Wilkerson of Defenders of Wildlife signed the letter. They are among those working on a habitat conservation plan for the region.
But these goldfields already have housing, Golden Hills school, a bus yard and the county jail nearby, the environmental study responded. Plus, new housing unrelated to the Villages is being built near the flowers. These developments already seriously compromise seed dispersal, it said.
The Villages is protecting the important biological resources, the study said. Leaving the entire planned neighborhood near the flower preserve undeveloped would not be a significant environmental benefit, it said.
Growth means more autos on local freeways. The local California Highway Patrol said it needs additional officers to respond to calls for service and enforcement generated by new developments such as the Villages.
The CHP requests six more officers and two more patrol vehicles, wrote Capt. S. Ward of the Solano CHP branch.
New developments don't pay a fee for more CHP services, the study said. The state will collect property taxes and sales taxes associated with the Villages to fund the CHP, it said.
More homes also concerns the Bureau of Reclamation. It got rights in the early 1960s to the McCoy basin near the site of the Villages. McCoy basin provides a place to put water when the Putah South Canal is drained for maintenance and repairs. The canal carries drinking water from Lake Berryessa.
Pavement from new neighborhoods has caused more runoff to McCoy basin, leaving it full year-round, wrote Michael Finnegan of the bureau. That significantly affects efforts to inspect and repair the canal, he wrote.
"Any additional runoff will only exacerbate the situation," he wrote.
But the soils at the Villages site already have high runoff, the study said. The Villages will have detention basins which will reduce flows to McCoy basin during storms, it said.
Since Finnegan wrote the letter, city and bureau officials have met and worked out this issue, city planner David Feinstein said.
The final environmental study can be seen at the Planning Department, 1000 Webster St.
Reach Barry Eberling at 425-4646 Ext. 232 or at beberling@dailyrepublic.net.
At a glance
Who: Fairfield Planning Commission
What: Proposed Villages at Fairfield development
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: Council chamber, 1000 Webster St.
Info: 428-7461
Development seeks to coexist with sensitive habitat
By Barry Eberling
FAIRFIELD - Building 2,327 homes and apartments on 433 acres that include wetlands and a rare flower takes a light touch.
Lewis Planned Communities thinks it has found the touch with its proposed Villages at Fairfield near Clay Bank Road. The project is one of the biggest remaining new developments allowed under the city's General Plan.
Now Lewis must convince the city Planning Commission. The commission will discuss the project at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the council chamber, 1000 Webster St.
People and agencies already were allowed to comment on the Villages at Fairfield draft environmental study. Fairfield on Tuesday released the comments and the responses that will be included in the final study.
A key issue is the presence of rare Contra Costa goldfield flowers at a vernal pool near a proposed shopping center. Northeast Fairfield has some of the most significant remaining goldfield populations in the world.
This particular population is about 100 flowers. Lewis plans to leave this land untouched, along with preserving other open space in the area.
But goldfields depend on insects and animals to spread their small seeds. The goldfields preserve will be surrounded by new homes, businesses and roads. The animals and insects might be unable to reach the flowers, state Department of Fish and Game Regional Manager Robert Floerke wrote.
A group of local environmentalists went further. They wanted more than a 9-acre preserve for the flower. They said the proposed 270-home, 89-acre neighborhood near the goldfields should be kept as open space, with other neighborhoods having denser housing.
Gerald Karr of the Napa Solano Audubon Society, Kathy Pratt of the Suisun Marsh Natural History Association, Ted Swiecki of the California Native Plant Society, John Hopkins of the Institute for Ecological Health and Cynthia Wilkerson of Defenders of Wildlife signed the letter. They are among those working on a habitat conservation plan for the region.
But these goldfields already have housing, Golden Hills school, a bus yard and the county jail nearby, the environmental study responded. Plus, new housing unrelated to the Villages is being built near the flowers. These developments already seriously compromise seed dispersal, it said.
The Villages is protecting the important biological resources, the study said. Leaving the entire planned neighborhood near the flower preserve undeveloped would not be a significant environmental benefit, it said.
Growth means more autos on local freeways. The local California Highway Patrol said it needs additional officers to respond to calls for service and enforcement generated by new developments such as the Villages.
The CHP requests six more officers and two more patrol vehicles, wrote Capt. S. Ward of the Solano CHP branch.
New developments don't pay a fee for more CHP services, the study said. The state will collect property taxes and sales taxes associated with the Villages to fund the CHP, it said.
More homes also concerns the Bureau of Reclamation. It got rights in the early 1960s to the McCoy basin near the site of the Villages. McCoy basin provides a place to put water when the Putah South Canal is drained for maintenance and repairs. The canal carries drinking water from Lake Berryessa.
Pavement from new neighborhoods has caused more runoff to McCoy basin, leaving it full year-round, wrote Michael Finnegan of the bureau. That significantly affects efforts to inspect and repair the canal, he wrote.
"Any additional runoff will only exacerbate the situation," he wrote.
But the soils at the Villages site already have high runoff, the study said. The Villages will have detention basins which will reduce flows to McCoy basin during storms, it said.
Since Finnegan wrote the letter, city and bureau officials have met and worked out this issue, city planner David Feinstein said.
The final environmental study can be seen at the Planning Department, 1000 Webster St.
Reach Barry Eberling at 425-4646 Ext. 232 or at beberling@dailyrepublic.net.
At a glance
Who: Fairfield Planning Commission
What: Proposed Villages at Fairfield development
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: Council chamber, 1000 Webster St.
Info: 428-7461
posted by Solano EDC at 9:31 AM
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