Rockville Trails Estate, water district part ways

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Printed on: Tue, Nov 29, 2005

Rockville Trails Estate, water district part ways
By Barry Eberling


FAIRFIELD - Rockville Trails Estates will try to get water for its 370 proposed homes without the help or hindrance of the Solano Irrigation District.

The controversial project - formerly called White Wing Estates - is to be located on 1,580 acres. This land is amid the rural hills north of Rockville Hills Park.

One necessity is finding water to serve the proposed homes, if the project is to go forward.

SID in 1982 agreed to provide water for an earlier incarnation of the project. Now the two parties have agreed to cancel that deal.

Rockville Trails Estates will pay $49,000 for a district well on the land and the district will give no promises as to the quality or reliability of the water.

SID agrees it will take a neutral stance when the developer goes to the Solano County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. It will give no opinions on the condition of the well and it will not object to any attempt the developer might make to form a public district to provide water from the well or Vallejo.

"We part on friendly terms," said Jim Daniels, SID engineering and planning manager. "They go off and do their project. And the district is done with that."

Officials with Rockville Trails Estates could not be reached for comment on Monday.

The county Local Agency Formation Commission must review the agreement before this parting of ways becomes official.

Rockville Trails Estates is working on an environmental study for its proposed project. That study must be completed before the project goes to the county Planning Commission.

SID in September wanted the developer to do studies on the well. The district was uncertain how much water might be available.

Plus, SID found minerals in the well water, Daniels said. The district was uncertain how easy it might be to provide water to the proposed development, he said.

The agreement takes such concerns away from SID. The environmental study will look at these questions. Solano County will decide if the answers in the study are sufficient.

Rockville Trails Estates is to be more than homes. It is to include 810 acres of open space with trails open to the public.

Earlier versions of the project generated controversy. Such groups as the Green Valley Landowners Association opposed White Wing Estates in the early 1990s. County supervisors turned that project down.

Reach Barry Eberling at 425-4646 Ext. 232 or at beberling@dailyrepublic.net.