Op-Ed: Housing in Yuba County foothills remains viable, valuable concept

By Gary Gallelli Sr.

As you may know, we have asked Yuba County voters who support Yuba Highlands to vote "no" Tuesday on Measure N. Asking for a "no" vote does not change our belief that the River Highlands Community Plan area is still the logical and best location for growth in Yuba County.

Located in the low foothills of Yuba County, well out of the flood plain, Yuba Highlands was set to become one of the county's primary economic engines and a major contributor to the long-term viability of Beale Air Force Base.

Yuba County needs to upgrade its roadways and traffic flow, improve schools and provide new amenities, parks and recreational areas. Yuba Highlands - and major projects like it - can offer a critical source of funds for Yuba County to meet these needs. Without projects like Yuba Highlands and its new jobs, new residents and new tax base, these improvements will not occur without higher taxes on existing residents.

Specifically, Yuba Highlands would have:

• Built at least two elementary schools and one middle school and contributed millions in new revenues to local school districts;

• Built a fire station and a sheriff's sub-station. More deputies, more firefighters, more paramedics and quicker response time for fire protection and police services;

• Paid for new wastewater treatment and water plants;

• Improved county roads.

In addition, the community would have been a major economic engine for Yuba County, creating 9,700 new jobs and generating an annual positive economic impact in excess of $840 million - a 40 percent increase over the total Yuba County industrial output in 2005.

A downsized Yuba Highlands will offer Beale much-needed housing and could help upgraded Beale's wastewater plant and cost-sharing on other infrastructure, which will help ensure the viability of Beale well into the future. Beale will not be closed or even threatened because of Yuba Highlands.

An official Pentagon study, part of the 2005 Base Realignment And Closure process, concluded that Yuba Highlands would not have encroached upon Beale. In fact, retired Air Force officers agreed that Yuba Highlands would have increased the quality of life for assigned personnel and their families and enhanced the long-term sustainability of the base.

Some argue that a project with so many benefits must come with a significant cost to the environment. Not true:

• Yuba Highlands will have a minimal impact on our local water supply. At completion, the community will use 3,500 acre-feet of water annually, less than a 1,700-acre rice farm. The water won't come from the Yuba River, but from an underground aquifer containing more than 1.5 million acre-feet of water that has been growing at 18,000 acre-feet per year.

• Yuba Highlands will set aside more than 30 percent of the site as open space, including walking and bike trails along 11.5 miles of seasonal creeks - far in excess of any other development area in Yuba County. The addition of a 450-foot buffer adjacent to Spenceville Wildlife Area addresses concerns raised by our initial project.

• The Yuba Highlands site is not located on prime agricultural land.

While we're making positive changes to the project based on community input, the main benefits of Yuba Highlands haven't changed. The project will allow Beale AFB to thrive while creating 10,000 new jobs and giving our families a beautiful new community to live in ... all outside a flood zone.

Gary Gallelli Sr. is the Yuba Highlands developer.