Ask Copernicus 
Unanimous approval of the Walt Ranch development by the Napa County board of supervisors may be less of a victory for development than it appears, according to professionals hired to create and evaluate such plans.
Hall Brambletree, the real syndicate behind Walt Ranch, has already had the size of the project cut by half. Fourteen thousand trees may still be scheduled to come down, but other factors significantly weight the scales. What follows are excerpts from a number of conversations:
Backers of the project dug themselves a hole by denying the laws of physics. They know the end of is near and are looking for a way out. Four lawsuits are proceeding, including one by the Center for Biological Diversity that has never lost a suit. Litigation could go on for ten years…
This is a real estate deal under the cover of ‘ghost vines.’ Everyone knows that the infrastructure already done is to accommodate houses, which is clearly visible from the air. It’s a leverage deal. Hall is a billionaire and will eventually get some of what he wants, but that will be very different from what he wants right now…
This is a real estate deal under the cover of ‘ghost vines.’ Everyone knows that the infrastructure already done is to accommodate houses, which is clearly visible from the air. It’s a leverage deal. Hall is a billionaire and will eventually get some of what he wants, but that will be very different from what he wants right now…
CEQA [the California Environmental Quality Act] is the only chance environmentalists have. But it’s possible the state will get a precedent out of this - slapping a billionaire across the knuckles…
Wineries are eventually going to have to mitigate emissions, and this fight is helping get that need before the public, as well as the need to really compensate for trees cut down…
Wineries are eventually going to have to mitigate emissions, and this fight is helping get that need before the public, as well as the need to really compensate for trees cut down…
Depending on how this fight develops, it could destroy reputations. Many of these managers are incompetent, and that, too, will come out…
The landslide next to Walt in the spring of 2015 proved that the whole area’s unstable. If it had been just a local issue it could have been covered up, but Cal-Trans got involved. It still hasn’t been fixed and highlights all the potential disasters ahead. What the county did was desperate. Only one supervisor had the courage to question it, and that was incredibly weak. One idiot on the board even said walt Ranch would improve the environment...
The board's supposed to mitigate between
applicants and the public. They did that, but remember that the county didn’t approve the Walt Ranch EIR, they just didn’t object. If Walt Ranch loses the lawsuits, the county could still pull the imminent domain card, as was done with the Keystone pipeline. But that would create such bad blood that it would go on for years…
applicants and the public. They did that, but remember that the county didn’t approve the Walt Ranch EIR, they just didn’t object. If Walt Ranch loses the lawsuits, the county could still pull the imminent domain card, as was done with the Keystone pipeline. But that would create such bad blood that it would go on for years…
This fight reminds me of Copernicus arguing with the Vatican about whether or not the sun’s the center of the universe. The truth is obvious and will eventually come out.
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To order Napa:
With gratitude.
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