Watershed Information Center & Conservancy of Napa County

Land Use Development Patterns
Existing Land Use
Potential Land Use Conflict Areas

Preservation of agriculture and open space lands is a high priority in Napa County’s current General Plan. According to the data collected through the digital land use database in GIS maintained by the County, Napa County consists of approximately 506,000 acres, 94% of which is unincorporated. The county assessor has designated a large portion of the land within Napa County as Rural Lands (50%); this designation includes non-farming and non-grazing operations such as vineyards, residential parcels larger than 10 acres with residences, and vacant residential parcels larger than 10 acres. Of these Rural Lands, 72% are vacant, largely because of steep terrain, mountain ridges, and narrow valleys. These natural features, in addition to the predominance of agricultural land uses, contribute to the County’s rural character.

Current land use patterns and projected land use trends have been analyzed in the report for twelve land use evaluation areas: Cities of (1) American Canyon, (2) Napa, (3) St. Helena, (4) Calistoga; (5) Town of Yountville; (6) Carneros/Napa River marshes/Jamieson/American Canyon-unincorporated; and (7) Napa Valley floor-unincorporated/western mountains area, (8) Livermore Ranch/Pope Valley/Knoxville area, (9) Angwin area, (10) eastern mountains-unincorporated/central interior valleys area, (11) southern interior valleys, and (12) Berryessa area. In addition, potential land use conflicts are analyzed.

LAND USE DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS

Historically, residential and commercial development in Napa County has generally occurred within the five incorporated areas of the County; unincorporated areas have generally remained predominantly agricultural, rural residential and open space. The County’s current General Plan directs development toward existing incorporated and urban areas. Recent agreements between the County and unincorporated areas allow for incorporated cities to provide the majority of the County’s new housing development. In addition, Measure A, approved in 1980 by voters and extended by the Board of Supervisors in 2004, and Measure J approved in 1990 extending until 2020, both limit the pace of market-rate housing development in the unincorporated County.

The vast majority of growth and development has occurred predominantly within the Cities of Napa and American Canyon, and the City of American Canyon has experienced the most significant growth and land conversion over the past decade. The majority of growth on the Napa Valley floor has also occurred within incorporated areas, particularly in the City of Napa. The Town of Yountville and the City of St. Helena have experienced limited growth. The City of Calistoga has experienced moderate growth in the past decade.

There has been very little development or growth within the unincorporated areas of the County over the past 15 years. In particular, there has been very little commercial development activity in these areas. The Napa County General Plan strongly emphasizes preservation of agriculture and open space resources. Current development patterns within the County are reflective of this, as described below.

• Carneros/Napa River Marshes/Jamieson/American Canyon-Unincorporated Evaluation Area. New development includes small areas of rural low-density residential development just outside the City of American Canyon’s planning area, and a large amount of industrial development between the City of Napa and the City of American Canyon.
• Napa Valley Floor/ Western Mountains Area. Both areas have experienced little or no development. Development of the Napa Valley floor has been primarily new wineries. The western mountains area has seen very limited development.
• Livermore Ranch/Pope Valley/Knoxville Area. This very rural area has seen only minimal recent development.
• Angwin Area. This area has experienced minimal recent development.
• Eastern Mountains-Unincorporated/Central Interior Valleys Area. This area is almost entirely undeveloped, and has remained so over the past decade.
• Southern Interior Valleys. This area does not contain any urban lands and has not undergone any major developments in the past decade.
• Berryessa Area. This area has consisted of mostly rural residential and agricultural land uses over the past decade.

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EXISTING LAND USE

Current land use information for this analysis was obtained through the Napa County land use which is based on parcel-level information obtained by the Napa County Assessor’s Office. Assessor’s data differs from other sources and uses definitions that differ from the zoning code definitions used the Napa County Conservation, Development and Planning Department. All data and conclusions presented should be viewed with this in mind.

The following land use categories are based on the existing General Plan land use designations, have been adapted and expanded for use in the BDR to provide an up-to-date and more thorough realistic analysis of the existing land use conditions within Napa County. Land use groups were defined as follows for conversion from Assessor’s Parcel data to the Napa County Land Use Database.

• Commercial
  • Parcels or portions of parcels of any size containing commercial uses including retail sales, offices and motels/ B&Bs as identified by the Napa Co Assessor
  • Vacant commercial parcels of any size as identified by the Napa Co Assessor
  • Parcels of any size containing commercial recreational uses
  
  
• Industrial
  • Parcels of any size containing industrial uses including warehousing as identified by the Napa Co Assessor
  • Parcels of any size in industrial areas containing wineries with approved production capacities of 25,000 gallons/yr or greater
  • Vacant industrial parcels of any size as identified by the Napa Co Assessor
  
  
• Public/Quasi-Public
  • Parcels of any size containing schools (both public and private), colleges, churches, railroads, substations, water treatment plants, water tanks, sewage treatment facilities, airports, etc as identified by the Napa Co Assessor
  • Vacant public/quasi-public parcels of any size as identified by the Napa Co Assessor
  
  
• Parks and Open Space
  • Publicly owned parcels of any size identified by Napa Co Assessor and the Land Trust of Napa County not committed to some other form of developed public use
  
  
• Urban/Suburban Residential
  • Residential parcels < 2 acres in size
  • Vacant residential parcels < 2 acres in size as identified by the Napa Co Assessor
  • Parcels < 2 acres in size with vineyard, orchard, and/or grazing use only
  • High-density residential parcels of any size as identified by the Napa Co Assessor
  • Vacant high density residential parcels of any size as identified by the Napa Co Assessor
  • 14 vacant high density affordable housing sites [per County ordinance #1246, establishing the AH affordable housing combination district, governed under Chapter 18.82 in the Napa County Code]
  
  
• Rural Residential
  • Residential parcels 2 to 10 acres in size
  • Vacant residential parcels 2 to 10 acres in size as identified by the Napa Co Assessor
  • Parcels 2 to 10 acres in size with vineyard, orchard, and/or grazing only
  
  
• Rural Lands
  • Non-farm and non-grazing land portions of parcels >10 acres in size that contain one or more residences and/or a winery
  • Vacant residential parcels >10 acres in size as identified by the Napa Co Assessor
  • Parcels >10 acres in size with secondary vineyard, orchard, and/or grazing use
  • Portions of 10-acre and larger parcels with secondary vineyard, orchard, and/or grazing use
  
  
• Farming
  • Parcels or portions of parcels containing vineyards and/or orchards totaling together 10 acres or more in extent
  • Parcels outside urban/suburban residential, commercial and industrial areas containing wineries with approved production capacities of 25,000 gallons/yr or greater
  • Parcels or portions of parcels containing 10 acres or more of unplanted potential vineyard
  
  
• Grazing
  • 40-acre and larger parcels or portions being grazed under Williamson Act Contract or as identified by the County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office
  
  

The table below provides a detailed land use breakdown for unincorporated areas. It includes a breakdown of land uses by land use category, and treats separately land that is currently developed from and land that is designated in that category but is currently vacant/ undeveloped. It is important to note that the Napa County GIS does not contain detailed land use information for areas within the five incorporated cities/towns within Napa County. Since data for the incorporated areas of the County is not available through the County’s GIS, data for these areas were collected through contacting city/town planning departments and using information from each incorporated area’s General Plan.

Napa County Land Use Summary (Unincorporated Areas)