General Plan could add to Suisun Valley's potential

General Plan could add to Suisun Valley's potential
By Barry Eberling | DAILY REPUBLIC | May 08, 2008

FAIRFIELD - Ron Lanza of Wooden Valley Winery looks at Mankas Corner and envisions even more there to help attract visitors to rural Suisun Valley.

Mankas Corner has a scattering of businesses, among them the Vintage Caffe restaurant. Lanza would like to see more attractions there, such as a gathering spot for farmers markets and festivals.

'Mankas Corner should be a hub for people to visit,' said Lanza, whose family has operated the Wooden Valley Winery about a mile away since 1955.

A Mankas Corner hub is part of the proposed Solano County General Plan special section on Suisun Valley. The stated goal is to keep the valley's rural charm but draw more visitors there to buy products from farmers and wineries.

Think Apple Hill in El Dorado County. Think Napa Valley a few decades ago, before corporations took over wineries and traffic jammed Highway 29. Those are the examples advocates of the plan use.

Seven business centers

A key proposal in the draft General Plan is to have seven so-called 'neighborhood agricultural centers' in the valley. These would be places with small hotels or bed-and-breakfasts, stores where people could buy sandwiches for picnics and other businesses related to agritourism.

Sites would be at Mankas Corner, Rockville Corner, the Iwama market, near historic Gomer School, Abernathy Road at the beginning of the proposed North Connector, Cordelia Road at Thomasson Lane and Morrison Lane.

The proposed General Plan doesn't state how big these business centers might be, but the total for all seven could not exceed 75 acres.

'Some could be 10 acres, some could be 15, depending on the situation,' county Program Manager Mike Yankovich said.

See the complete story at the Daily Republic Online.