Lagoon Valley group works to preserve open space
VACAVILLE — Almost three years after it formed, a group dedicated to protecting Lagoon Valley from development has started collecting money to help in its efforts to buy land.
“We have gotten a couple of small grants,” said Lagoon Valley Conservancy member Marian Conning.
One is a private grant from a family foundation to help buy land and the other is from The Rose Foundation’s Northern California Environmental Grassroots Fund to be used to publicize the conservancy’s efforts.
The conservancy was formed out of The Friends of Lagoon Valley, which has battled for years to keep lower Lagoon Valley from being developed, first by Seattle-based Triad Communities and now by Standard Pacific Homes, which has its headquarters in Orange County.
Friends of Lagoon Valley delayed the developers’ efforts to turn much of lower Lagoon Valley into an upscale subdivision and commercial development. Then the worsening economy sank the housing market.
While Friends of Lagoon Valley still exists to deal with legal matters related to Lagoon Valley’s development, the conservancy has been casting about to see if it’s possible to acquire and turn the area south of Interstate 80 and west of Lagoon Valley Park into open space, according to conservancy member Elissa De Caro.
“This is a less confrontational and more cooperative effort,” De Caro said of the conservancy.
The conservancy has tried to work with Standard Pacific without luck so far, according to De Caro and Conning.
Calls to Standard Pacific Homes were not returned.
“They were not interested in selling land, but they did seem warmer to the idea of a land swap,” De Caro said.
“We have also joined the Bay Area Open Space Council and have made contact with potential funding sources such as the Trust for Public Land, The Nature Conservancy and The Coastal Conservancy,” Conning said.
Conservancy members hope these connections to the larger, better-established open space groups could translate into funds to buy, swap or get land donated.
Standard Pacific has done very little with the land in Lagoon Valley outside of a small amount of site preparation. It still needs to get some approval from regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before it can do anything that will affect the valley’s wetland areas.
In addition to acquiring the land, the conservancy has goals that include helping restore nearby Pena Adobe, creating an interpretive center at Pena Adobe, siting an environmental center near the lagoon and restoring the lagoon to a more natural habitat.
Conning expressed interest in exploring the possibilities of putting a solar farm where a former nursery stood, which would help generate income for further land purchases.
She said it remains the conservancy’s goal to preserve Lagoon Valley as a premiere gathering place for people from all over the country, while continuing to provide a breathing space on the freeway, a refuge for wildlife and an inspiration for generations to come.
For more information about the group, go to http://www.savelagoonvalley.org.
Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.
Short URL: http://www.dailyrepublic.com/?p=130620
Posted by Ian Thompson
on Jan 30 2012.
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[...] Lagoon Valley group works to preserve open space. Almost three years after it formed, a group dedicated to protecting Lagoon Valley from development has started collecting money to help in its efforts to buy land. (Daily Republic) [...]