Delta protection panel rules against subdivision

In a vote that could have wider implications for homebuilding in the Central Valley, a state commission ruled Friday against plans for a 162-home subdivision near the Sacramento River town of Clarksburg.

The Delta Protection Commission sided with environmentalists and community activists in the ruling, which came after a nearly seven-hour hearing that began Thursday and concluded early Friday. Opponents had argued that approving the project could prompt development in the heart of California’s delta region that could accelerate the conversion of prime farmland into subdivisions and lead to the threat of catastrophic flooding.

Much of the land in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is behind aging earthen levees.

Friday’s decision involved a 105-acre industrial site in Clarksburg, a town once known for its beet-processing plant that lies along the Sacramento River about 15 miles south of the state capital.

It marked the first test of the Delta Protection Act, a 15-year-old law designed to keep about 500,000 acres safe from suburban development.

“The people of California want this area preserved and not spoiled with development,” said a member of Concerned Citizens of Clarksburg.

The commission is expected to send the project back to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors next month. The county board had changed local zoning laws last year to allow the housing project.

The property once was home to the Old Sugar Mill, a beet-processing plant that closed in 1993. Advocates supported the project as a way to bring life back to the town.

Clarksburg has undergone a mild resurgence since the mill was converted into a grape-crushing facility and tasting room for area wineries.

The mill’s developers have been working with local leaders for six years to add houses to the property, a venture that would more than double Clarksburg’s population.

The project is not dead, despite Friday’s vote. It could be scaled back and modified, said Linda Fiack, the commission’s executive director. The county could also appeal the decision in court.

Property owner John M. Carvalho Jr., a partner with Clarksburg Investments Partners LLC, said he would wait until the state commission completes its report next month before deciding what steps to take. “I’m extremely disappointed at the state,” Carvalho said. “There was a lot of confusion.”

County supervisors had said the land was exempt from the Delta Protection Act’s strict development rules because it was previously used for an industrial operation.

But commissioners said the housing project did not provide enough of a buffer to protect nearby agricultural land and was in an area that lacked sufficient infrastructure.

The commission also said the Sacramento River levee in that area did not provide sufficient flood protection for a large housing development.

Many delta levees were built in the 19th century to protect cropland.