Napa Planning Commissioner Paul Kelley announced Nov. 7 that he would resign next month after nearly 12 years in the role, marking another major change for the commission.

Kelley cited an increase in contentious “neighbor-versus-neighbor” projects as the reason for his departure from the commission, which advises the Napa City Council on development and decides specific land use actions. Residential and commercial projects go through the commission before reaching the council for final approval.

Commissioners recently mourned Bob Massaro, longtime Napan and commissioner since 2021, who died in May. And Gordon Huether, who served on the commission for two decades, will not seek to keep his seat once his term ends in December.

Kelley, whose last meeting will be Dec. 5, is an architect and one of two designated design professionals to serve on the commission, Huether being the other.

He said he struggled with the decision to resign for most of the year because serving on city commissions was an important part of his life. Kelley also served for seven years on the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission, which advises the City Council on issues related to the preservation of historic resources.

“I really enjoy working on projects and trying to help the community, help make it a better place,” Kelley said.

But he said the time seemed right to step aside. He recommended that fellow commissioner Lindsay Owen, a designer of residential and commercial projects, be designated a design professional. The board appointed her to Massaro’s seat in August.

Kelley said Massaro’s death made him think more deeply about resigning.

“I was reluctant to leave the commission because we didn’t have anyone representing the architectural community,” Kelley said at the Nov. 7 meeting. “But the board appointed Lindsey Owen and I think she’s going to do a wonderful job.”

Beverly Shotwell, appointed to the commission in 2022, would become the longest-serving current planning commissioner if reappointed to that seat early next year. Shotwell said during the meeting that she would not have served on the Cultural Heritage Commission and Planning Commission without Kelley’s encouragement.

The commission’s operations and expectations have evolved over the years, Kelley said, which contributed to his decision to resign. And this year, he sensed more projects could move toward litigation after City Council approval. He cited as an example a proposed daycare for the Alta Heights neighborhood, approved in May, and noted that other projects, like a proposed glamping resort, could follow a similar path.

“It feels like the projects are more controversial,” Kelley said. “And these are not the big projects. It’s truly neighbor against neighbor.

Kelley said planning commission meetings are often the first place the public comes together to share their thoughts on a project, including their frustrations. Commissioners often make recommendations to refine a project based on public feedback.

But the commission also has less discretion than before, Kelley said, because of state-imposed measures to require decision-making to be based on objective rather than subjective standards.

It can weigh on commissioners when they appear to have pleased no one at the end of a meeting, Kelley said.

“It’s almost like we’re doing an administrative check,” he said.

Kelley added that he feels like he accomplished what he came to the commission to do – but he’s going to miss it.

He recalled the difference he was able to make in 2013, at his first planning meeting, when he opposed a proposal to convert the Copia Building in the Oxbow District into office space. He pointed out that planning for the Copia project essentially indicated that it was intended to be “a public-commercial service and not an office space.”

“I’m glad it didn’t go through the bureaus,” Kelley said.

He also recalled working on the city’s general plan, which sets the city’s long-term goals and policy until 2040, and on the city’s housing element for 2031, as well as the project Napa Pipe redevelopment project which is expected to include 945 housing units.

Once these large planning projects are completed, the new commission will have time to grow and learn before taking on another equally heavy project, Kelley said.

He said he continues to push for a light rail project in Napa that would connect the growing Napa Pipe area in the south and Napa Valley College to the rest of the city.

“I don’t know if it’ll ever happen, but I keep talking about it,” Kelley said.

You can reach staff writer Edward Booth at 707-521-5281 or [email protected].