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Napa may make way for more 3-story structures
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CommentIn the Napa of the future, apartment projects increasingly will be three stories and areas now set aside for industrial or commercial use will be used for housing.
Those are likely changes as the city works to comply with state requirements intended to promote more affordable housing.
Those are likely changes as the city works to comply with state requirements intended to promote more affordable housing.
On Thursday night, residents who want to find out more about how the city maps out the future and who want to participate in the process can attend a three-hour workshop at City Hall.
The discussion will address the state laws, local conditions and other factors that go into planning for an area that has serious challenges when it comes to affordability. When local incomes are compared to local housing costs, Napa has some of the least affordable housing in the nation.
The discussion will address the state laws, local conditions and other factors that go into planning for an area that has serious challenges when it comes to affordability. When local incomes are compared to local housing costs, Napa has some of the least affordable housing in the nation.
Napa County ranks as the least affordable of 70 metropolitan areas nationwide, according to a survey by the National Association of Home Builders.
The city’s housing workshop is part of a year-long effort to update the city’s Housing Element, a document that every city is required by state law to develop in order to lay out how they will absorb their share of affordable homes. A draft Housing Element will be presented for public hearings early next year.
The city’s housing workshop is part of a year-long effort to update the city’s Housing Element, a document that every city is required by state law to develop in order to lay out how they will absorb their share of affordable homes. A draft Housing Element will be presented for public hearings early next year.
Currently, a citizens committee is considering minimum densities of 20 units per acre in the city as a way of encouraging housing for people of moderate and low incomes.
In a slow-growth area with high land costs like Napa, higher densities are a proven way of lowering the price of housing, said Marlene Demery, the city’s interim planning manager.
The Housing Element is a multi-faceted document intended to promote a healthy downtown, attractive neighborhoods, housing for people with special needs and greater choice of housing types, said Curtis Susuki, the committee co-chair.
The committee has worked hard to identify locations for higher density housing that will not be in conflict with existing neighborhoods, said Jean Hasser, the city’s senior planner.
Likely sites for multi-family housing of 20 or more units per acre include Gasser Foundation lands off Soscol Avenue; downtown, where mixed-use projects are being encouraged; the Soscol Avenue gateway area, once flood issues are solved; several properties on California Boulevard; and several scattered parcels now zoned for tourist commercial and industrial use.
River Park Center could include housing when it is commercially redeveloped, planners said.
The city’s nine-acre Corporation Yard on Jackson Street is a potential future housing site if the facility were ever moved. A 10-acre industrial parcel at the end of Kaiser Road is also a possibility if the county decides that housing is an appropriate use at the adjacent Napa Pipe property, planners said.
Napa already has experience with multi-family housing of 20 or more units per acre, Hasser said. Lincoln Gardens on California Boulevard is 20 units per acre, while Silverado Creek apartments on Villa Lane are 22 units per acre. The Riverfront mixed-use project on Main Street will have three floors of condos over stores with a density of 37 units per acre.
Because Napa has grown within its Rural Urban Limit for more than 30 years, it is a largely a built-out city, with pockets of vacant land, Hasser said. Increasingly, housing opportunities will be found by redeveloping residential and commercial properties, she said.
Higher densities will lower housing costs, giving people who grow up in Napa a chance to live here as adults, Demery said. The younger generation is more accepting of higher-density living, she said.
Currently, 68 percent of the city’s housing is single-family detached or attached units, while 27 percent is apartments and duplexes. Five percent is mobile homes.
Forty percent of Napa’s population is considered low income, with most unable to afford housing without spending more than the recommended one-third of their income, according to the city.
Compared to most communities, Napa has a good balance between jobs and housing, but this ratio doesn’t tell the full story, planners said. Large numbers of residents commute to jobs out of Napa in order to afford to live here while thousands more commute in to jobs that don’t pay enough for them to live here.
The workshop starts at 6:30 p.m. at Napa City Hall. The public is encouraged to come at 6 p.m. to inspect exhibits.
What
City housing workshop
When
Thursday, 6:30
Where
City Hall, 955 School St.
In a slow-growth area with high land costs like Napa, higher densities are a proven way of lowering the price of housing, said Marlene Demery, the city’s interim planning manager.
The Housing Element is a multi-faceted document intended to promote a healthy downtown, attractive neighborhoods, housing for people with special needs and greater choice of housing types, said Curtis Susuki, the committee co-chair.
The committee has worked hard to identify locations for higher density housing that will not be in conflict with existing neighborhoods, said Jean Hasser, the city’s senior planner.
Likely sites for multi-family housing of 20 or more units per acre include Gasser Foundation lands off Soscol Avenue; downtown, where mixed-use projects are being encouraged; the Soscol Avenue gateway area, once flood issues are solved; several properties on California Boulevard; and several scattered parcels now zoned for tourist commercial and industrial use.
River Park Center could include housing when it is commercially redeveloped, planners said.
The city’s nine-acre Corporation Yard on Jackson Street is a potential future housing site if the facility were ever moved. A 10-acre industrial parcel at the end of Kaiser Road is also a possibility if the county decides that housing is an appropriate use at the adjacent Napa Pipe property, planners said.
Napa already has experience with multi-family housing of 20 or more units per acre, Hasser said. Lincoln Gardens on California Boulevard is 20 units per acre, while Silverado Creek apartments on Villa Lane are 22 units per acre. The Riverfront mixed-use project on Main Street will have three floors of condos over stores with a density of 37 units per acre.
Because Napa has grown within its Rural Urban Limit for more than 30 years, it is a largely a built-out city, with pockets of vacant land, Hasser said. Increasingly, housing opportunities will be found by redeveloping residential and commercial properties, she said.
Higher densities will lower housing costs, giving people who grow up in Napa a chance to live here as adults, Demery said. The younger generation is more accepting of higher-density living, she said.
Currently, 68 percent of the city’s housing is single-family detached or attached units, while 27 percent is apartments and duplexes. Five percent is mobile homes.
Forty percent of Napa’s population is considered low income, with most unable to afford housing without spending more than the recommended one-third of their income, according to the city.
Compared to most communities, Napa has a good balance between jobs and housing, but this ratio doesn’t tell the full story, planners said. Large numbers of residents commute to jobs out of Napa in order to afford to live here while thousands more commute in to jobs that don’t pay enough for them to live here.
The workshop starts at 6:30 p.m. at Napa City Hall. The public is encouraged to come at 6 p.m. to inspect exhibits.
What
City housing workshop
When
Thursday, 6:30
Where
City Hall, 955 School St.
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make napa better wrote on Aug 6, 2008 3:15 AM:
There is no AFFORDABLE housing in Napa. We live in a 1 bedroom shack and pay 895- a month. It's rediculous! I think one of the terms of "affordable housing" for Napans should be just that, for Napans.
Not fly by nighters who have 10 people living in a 1 bedroom cause they can.
I think that one of the stipulations for affordable housing in Napa is that the tenants have to be able to PROVE that they have lived in Napa 5+ years. And even after that, have the landlords make sure that only the people on the lease live there.
That's fair, isn't it? "
make napa better wrote on Aug 6, 2008 4:08 AM:
NAPA66 wrote on Aug 6, 2008 7:54 AM:
marine1/1 wrote on Aug 6, 2008 8:31 AM:
Native74 wrote on Aug 6, 2008 8:53 AM:
SUSIE-Q wrote on Aug 6, 2008 9:10 AM:
chrisf wrote on Aug 6, 2008 9:38 AM:
If the City wants Builder / Developers to create such environments perhaps they should not make the process so convoluted and time consuming, which by the way adds to the expense of building which is directly affecting the sales price of the homes. "
marine1/1 wrote on Aug 6, 2008 11:50 AM:
MP wrote on Aug 6, 2008 12:57 PM:
chunk wrote on Aug 6, 2008 12:58 PM:
reader wrote on Aug 6, 2008 1:12 PM:
John Richards wrote on Aug 6, 2008 1:51 PM:
SouthNapa wrote on Aug 6, 2008 2:21 PM:
grannieaj wrote on Aug 6, 2008 2:50 PM:
nightwatchman wrote on Aug 6, 2008 3:21 PM:
14obama wrote on Aug 6, 2008 3:47 PM:
14obama wrote on Aug 6, 2008 3:57 PM:
14obama wrote on Aug 6, 2008 4:06 PM:
make napa better wrote on Aug 6, 2008 4:16 PM:
There is a skatepark. It's full of drug dealers and homeless. How about the city paying for a security guard for the skatepark we already have? "
14obama wrote on Aug 6, 2008 4:25 PM:
She's a perfect example of the "other kind of thinking", the kind that continues to destroy our old way of life.
I think the housing should be next to Jean Hasser's property. What do ya think,Jean ? "
abouttime wrote on Aug 6, 2008 4:47 PM:
We need to get way beyond thinking in terms of what Napa was and instead focus on what Napa is. Some of you old timers may not like it. Too bad. The times have changed and you can either change with it or move on.
We have great potential and great opportunity let's not squander it by always talking about how things used to be. "
Raven wrote on Aug 6, 2008 6:53 PM:
amazed wrote on Aug 6, 2008 8:10 PM:
cpslowine wrote on Aug 6, 2008 8:37 PM:
reason-ator wrote on Aug 6, 2008 8:52 PM:
Unfortunately, there are too many wealthy people ( and some not-so-wealthy people ) whose bread is buttered by the tourist industry, and so that's not going to be a popular option. "
abouttime wrote on Aug 6, 2008 10:29 PM:
reason-ator wrote on Aug 7, 2008 9:29 AM:
Now, with more tourists, we get more wineries that can make more money for their wine for themselves. We get more traffic going to those wineries, who don't pay for the damage to the roads, and then we get more drunk drivers leaving the wineries.
That just sounds terrific, and the people who make their living from thi$ are gonna want more of it. Those of us who lived here 40 years ago and commute out of minimum wage valley probably aren't quite so enamored with the wineries taxing us without paying us. "
14obama wrote on Aug 7, 2008 1:17 PM:
" If we had no tourists we'd have no economy, no agriculture and we'd be no different than places like Vallejo.
Sounds like someone who lives out a town or isn't affected by the infiltration of the large crowd of 'winos'. I wonder why there are so many newbies to Napa who relish the thought of tourism and the noise and pollution it brings. Sick people,I say ! "
14obama wrote on Aug 8, 2008 10:31 AM:
make napa better wrote on Aug 8, 2008 11:53 AM:
14obama wrote on Aug 9, 2008 10:27 AM:
14obama wrote on Aug 9, 2008 8:30 PM:
So,if I was homeless all I'd have to do is have my friends from under the bridge sign an affadavit that I've been under that same bridge all that time ?
I suppose That's simple enough ! "
make napa better wrote on Aug 10, 2008 7:31 PM:
Even homeless need ID's.
I take it you've never been homeless? "
missmarvelous wrote on Aug 13, 2008 6:55 AM:
Provide for your own! Everytime you all blog about something "distasteful" the City of Vallejo has to come up. Why do you think the city of Vallejo is in the condition it is in? From taking and housing all the poor and low-income from cites such as yours and other counties who dont want to address the fact that there is a need for low-income housing. The city of Vallejo should mandate that a low-income person be required to live in Vallejo for 5+ years as someone suggested Napans be required to use a section 8 voucher. We would have to send all the low income people back to their "home towns." Its very expensive to house low income people, section 8 vouchers dont cover the extra police it requires for the crimes committed in low income areas. Good luck with your three story projects. "
jwk wrote on Aug 13, 2008 7:57 AM:
plasticpinkflamingo wrote on Aug 13, 2008 2:32 PM:
I'm going to find a nice charcoal grey and pink 57 Pontiac Bonneville convertible, or a jet-black 58 Chevy Impala convertible (forget the 57, everybody has one of those) to drive around Napa, roll up some smokes in my t-shirt sleeve just to annoy the parents (even though I don't smoke) and pick up my date to the dance. Yes sir, I have the best of intentions for your daughter . . . I'm just not going to discuss them with you.
Unfortunately today we would probably be car-jacked before we got to our favorite 'makeout' spot.
I agree with jwk, there's plenty of expensive footwear, bling, electronic devices etc. owned by people who should make better choices. However, I am completely against legislating good sense. Let people make their own decision on how to live. Just don't try to make me feel guilty about what you choose. I'll do the same for you. "