Vacaville: At a Crossroads

Greenbelt Alliance * The Newswire
Volume 1, November 2002

Vacaville has an opportunity to protect its quality of life for the long-term. By expanding attractive and affordable housing choices; locating homes, stores, offices, and community amenities within convenient proximity of one another; increasing transportation choices; and valuing the farmland and open space that make the town unique, Vacaville can enhance the livability of its community. Greenbelt Alliance has presented such a vision for Vacaville's growth in the recently released report, "Vacaville at a Crossroads."

The current option for growth favored by Vacaville's Planning Commission would pave over farmlands resulting in more traffic gridlock and neglect of the city center. The City produced a draft vision for Vacaville's future in February 2002. This plan, entitled "Vision Statement: Vacaville 2025," proposes the annexation and development of over 4,000 acres of farmland and open space surrounding the city. This proposal is above and beyond the planned development of approximately 2,500 acres currently undeveloped within the present city limits. Together these proposed developments could cover over 6,500 acres, threatening the high quality farmlands and scenic valleys that make Vacaville unique. The City of Vacaville is expected to finalize its vision for Vacaville's future at the start of 2003. This vision will decide Vacaville's future course of development and will lead to an update of the City's General Plan.

The Greenbelt Alliance report addresses the sprawl development proposed by the City's draft "Vision Statement: Vacaville 2025", and emphasizes the high costs this sprawl development would have on the community. The report summarizes how the negative effects of this sprawl development will impact transportation, housing, the environment, public health, farming, taxpayers, businesses, residents of new sprawl developments, and residents of older neighborhoods. Additionally, the report presents a smart growth alternative and points out the many opportunities for redevelopment that already exist within the city boundary.

The report shows how redevelopment could support future housing and economic needs by focusing growth in existing sites in Central Vacaville, the Factory Outlets, the Nut Tree Core Area, the I-80/I-505 business park, North Village, the Rice-McMurty area, and other major streets within existing neighborhoods.

Vacaville has an opportunity to decide how it will grow. Rather than paving over agriculture and open space, the city should enact policies and laws that promote smart growth within the city, on vacant or redevelopable sites, thereby enhancing the community and preserving the farmlands and scenic valleys that give Vacaville its unique character. For more information, check out the report.

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