We Love Calistoga
And we want to save the things that make it a wonderful place to live.
Preserve Rural Residential zoning in Calistoga.
We’re a group of concerned Calistogans who want to preserve Rural Residential zoning in Calistoga. The rural setting enhances and helps define Calistoga’s small town character and the quality of life that we love. There are several parcels zoned RR in Calistoga, some vacant and targeted for development. The Yellow Rose Ranch development is one that brought this group to action. As originally proposed, it meant more traffic, more cars, more congestion, and less small-town quality of life that we all love about Calistoga.
Yellow Rose Ranch, as originally proposed, included 121 homes and 50 duplexes on 46 acres that would have altered a rural setting on a gateway to Calistoga. It would have also created significant congestion at a critical intersection. This raises concern about fire safety, which has become an ongoing issue — particularly if there’s another evacuation because of a nearby fire, such as the evacuations that occurred during the 2020 Glass Fire, the 2017 Tubbs Fire, and the evacuation advisory issued during the 2019 Kincade Fire.
We urge you to get involved now--sign petitions, attend Planning Commission and City Council meetings, and tell these officials that you also are opposed to losing the rural character that we love about Calistoga.
What's at stake....
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loss of rural land to suburban developmentThe Yellow Rose RanchThe True Life Companies, based in San Ramon, California, proposed to develop the historic 46-acre Yellow Rose Ranch, which is currently zoned as Rural Residential (one home per acre), into dense suburban development at one of the gateways into Calistoga.
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Views of the Yellow Rose Ranch
What The True Life Companies originally proposed....
three development proposals
152 Homes on 46 Acres
Each proposal arranges 152 homes — 122 single-family residences and 30 duplexes — in different arrangements (not including any accessory dwelling units that may be added later).
The Three Development Plans
what that might look like
Another True Life Companies Home Development
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Perhaps the best way to get an idea of what these would look like is to take a look at another development designed by The True Life Companies. This is something like what the Yellow Rose Ranch might become, if this development is approved....
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why The True Life Companies' proposals don't work for Calistoga
Some of the reasons we oppose it...
- Rural character of the gateway to town, including views stretching towards Napa River and Blossom Creek of fields, Palisades, and Mt. St. Helena, would be affected. The zoning should NOT be changed from Rural Residential.
- The number of housing units does not fit current Rural Residential Zoning of one home per acre.
- Affordable housing needs are not met by homes in these proposals — these would not be in the market for most Calistogans.
- Safety considerations, especially wildland fire safety and emergency evacuation needs, are seriously impacted by development of this size.
- Traffic impact of the proposed development will not be alleviated by the addition of a traffic signal at the corner of Petrified Forest Road and Foothill Blvd.
- With a light at the corner, traffic will be 40% less congested than it is currently, if there is no development at Yellow Rose Ranch.
- With a light at the corner, traffic will be 20% more congested than it is currently, if the development at Yellow Rose Ranch is allowed to continue (without the addition of potential Accessory Dwelling Units).
- Water overuse
- Environmental impacts have not been studied
- Approval sets a precedent for other changes to surrounding rural properties, which would amplify the problems outlined above even further.
- Historical significance of the property, including the barn — the last remaining undeveloped portion of the Cyrus Ranch, originally established in 1849.
