GENERAL DESCRIPTION

In February 1994, Gray & Reynolds entered into a ground lease with the State of California to develop a golf course on 66 acres of property owned by the State of California in the Town of Yountville. Four years later, in May of 1998, the ownership had successfully concluded its discretionary land use approvals and a full EIR, pulled building permits, and began the construction of the project.

The property is part of the Veterans Home of California. Because of the environmental sensitivity of the property's location (in the heart of the Napa Valley wine country), and certain volatile issues related to residence fees charged to the Veterans Home by the State which were leveraged against the development, and because of difficult water engineering solutions to dispose of effluent generated by an on-site treatment plan operated under a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) and a Discharge Permit from the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), very complicated legal, environmental, engineering and political issues had to be dealt with and solved by the developer and the State, working together as a team. State and Federal lawsuits were filed in order to stop the development, both of which lawsuits were settled in the State's and the developer's favor in late 1997.

The Veterans organizations were finally won over to the support of the project. Engineering problems were solved, providing for added capacity of the property and its Plant facilities to dispose of treated effluent, solving a critical long-range growth and planning problem of the Town of Yountville. Environmental habitat was greatly improved under agreements and permits with Fish & Game, Army Corps of Engineers, and RWQCB. The golf course project opened to the public in April, 1999.