Much smaller 'Eco Village' seen for Angwin

NAPA – Pacific Union College’s proposed Eco Village in Angwin has scaled down from 1,600 units to 600 to 380, and it may scale back further after the environmental impact report is out.

Curt Johansen, executive vice president of Triad Communities, said that the draft EIR will be released for public comment in roughly 60 days.

“That document will be representative of what we believe will be the most sustainable community in the United States,” he said.

In addition to the current proposal, there will be several alternative projects.

One is from the group “Save Rural Angwin” and is a 191-unit version. Another from the county is called the Environmentally Superior plan and will be roughly 250 units.

The current proposal is for a compact, self-reliant village community of 380 residential units. It will have 70 acres of locally grown food, solar and geothermal power for new homes and businesses, rainwater harvesting for conservation and 100 percent wastewater reuse.

Of the 380 units, there will be more than 100 senior units. Twenty percent of the project is slated to be affordable for very low, low and moderate incomes.

Mr. Johansen expects the project to go up for a vote in the summer of 2010.

There are a number of environmental mitigations that have been planned. Traffic issues, water, energy, education, transit, food and jobs-to-housing linkage are all being addressed in the draft EIR.

These will hold for the alternative project from the county but not the smaller 191-unit project.

“The college is ... fully committed to the project and what it will do for the school in the future in terms of how colleges need to function to compete,” Mr. Johansen said.

“They want to green the campus and green the curriculum.”

Show Comment