Napa Happenings: SYAR, County meetings and community events

Last week, the group of Napa residents known as Stop Syar Expansion filed an appeal of the local court’s decision approving Napa County’s environmental impact report on the mining expansion just at the southern city limit of the City of Napa.

Syar Industries, which bought the mine in 1986, continues to operate an open pit surface mine despite its proximity to residential neighborhoods, the Napa State Hospital (its next door neighbor), schools and child care centers.

The Napa County Board of Supervisors adopted an environmental impact report that found there was no significant impact of the mining on the environment, let alone the nearby population. This strains credulity to the average person on the street.  Stop Syar Expansion filed a lawsuit under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) arguing the systemic and pervasive deficiencies in the County’s consultant’s environmental impact report (EIR). 

Noting that the EIR could have been done better, the Napa County Superior Court nonetheless approved the County’s decision and gave Syar Industries the green light to destroy more of our woodlands and wild areas (adjacent to Skyline Wilderness Park trails) because it can “mitigate” the loss mostly by reporting on paper to the County what it has done and not done to protect the environment.

While that may seem okay to some, the Stop Syar Expansion group does not agree, and continues to seek an operation which is actually healthy for our residents.  When asked why the neighborhood just north of the mine is one of the two unhealthiest in Napa County, government officials cited the area’s poverty level, dismissing the presence of airborne pollutants carried by the prevailing winds over the population.

We can and must do better than that.

Napa City Council – Next meeting is Tuesday, November 5, 2019, 3:30 pm. Location is Council Chambers, 955 School Street, Napa. There is no agenda posted yet, but check on this city site for updates. You can also catch up on issues by watching the streaming video during the meeting, or after, once the video is loaded to the site.

Napa City Planning Commission – Next meeting is Thursday, November 7, 2019, 5:30 pm. Location is Council Chambers, 955 School Street, Napa. Keep track of these meetings, and other commissions, here.

Napa County Board of Supervisors – Next two meetings are Tuesdays, November 12 & 19, 2019, 9 am. Location is 1195 Third Street, Suite 305, Napa, California 94559. Use this website to track agendas and videos of meetings.

Napa County Planning Commission – Next two meetings are Wednesdays, November 6 & 20, 2019, 9 am. Location is 1195 Third Street, Suite 305, Napa, California 94559. Follow their agendas, minutes and videos of meetings here.