The Commons – The Referendum – What now?
On March 4, a referendum was filed with the Yountville Town Clerk seeking to reverse the zoning changes and the division of the Commons property into 18 separate parcels that the Town Council had recently approved.
This pushback from the community came together in less than a week, but the number of signatures on the referendum appears to reflect the frustration of both local businesses and residents.
The referendum, organized by Yountville resident Jessi Bugden, required signatures from 10 percent of the town’s registered voters, about 180 people. It was submitted with 235 signatures. The referendum has now been sent to the Napa County Clerk for signature verification. The county has 30 days to complete this process.
Once the signatures are verified, the Yountville Town Council must place the referendum on the agenda for its next council meeting. At that meeting, the council may vote to repeal the ordinance, thereby reversing the zoning changes approved in January. If they choose to repeal the ordinance, the town cannot reintroduce it for one year unless substantial changes are made.
If the council votes not to repeal it, the issue will be placed on the November ballot for voters to decide.
Alternatively, the council could call a special election before November, though doing so would likely be quite expensive for the town.
Although the Commons project has been discussed for many months, and the town has held more than 23 meetings on the topic, many businesses and residents feel their concerns have not been adequately considered. They point to several issues that they believe remain unresolved and unanswered, including the lack of adequate parking, the absence of a meaningful and thorough employee survey of local businesses, and the overall financial impact on the town. Critics say these concerns should have been addressed before the project moved into the design phase.
At the Feb. 17 study session, financial figures were presented to the community. The projected costs were higher than expected and appeared to galvanize public concern. According to the presentation, the development costs were so high that the town would only be able to build between one-quarter and one-third of the originally planned 120 units as currently designed. Even at that reduced scale, the town would need to take on long-term debt to finance construction; however, the Town Council seemed poised to move forward.
With the project now in limbo, a discussion of options may be on the next Town Council agenda. The next meeting will be on March 17, and the agenda and its supporting documents will be posted on the town website on Friday, March 13. Yountville Town Manager Brad Raulston was contacted and declined to comment.
A related story from Petaluma, reported by The Press Democrat, shows that projects like this can sometimes move forward without being stopped entirely. In that case, a citizens group filed a referendum challenging a development overlay and general plan amendment approved by the Petaluma City Council. These changes had increased the maximum floor area ratio and allowed a six-story hotel to be built. The group collected more than enough valid signatures to overturn the overlay and general plan amendments, effectively pausing the hotel project until the referendum could be voted on.
After hearing the community’s concerns, the hotel developers submitted revised plans for a four-story building that already complied with the site’s existing zoning rules. The new proposal was approved by the council on Feb. 24, eliminating the need for the referendum to go to the ballot and resolving the issue in a way that satisfied both sides.
