Land use regulations at the center of controversy

By JAY GOETTING, Register Staff Writer

Politics have entered the discussion of Napa County's road map to the future.

The citizen committee studying the county's general plan, taking part of a multi-year effort to update the key county document, has gotten to the hot-button topic of land use. The debate at last week's meeting ranged from how much regulation landowners should face to what would happen if the wine industry were to disappear from Napa County.

Following the steering committee meeting, the Napa County Planning Commission will take up the group's comments, which centered on agricultural preservation. Three basic assumptions are guiding the current general plan discussions:

* Growth belongs in already urbanized areas;

* Measure J, which requires a vote of the people anytime a change is proposed in county land designated for agriculture, will remain intact and probably be extended;

* The basics of the 1990 Winery Definition Ordinance, which guides the rules for development and activities at the county's wineries, will remain in place.

George Bachich, president of the Napa Valley Land Stewards Alliance and a member of the steering committee, called for "a stable regulatory environment and fair treatment of property owners." Those principles would be consistent, in Bachich's view, with the Land Stewards proposal on the June ballot, Measure A.

Measure A would compel the county to pay private landowners for any loss in value caused by new county regulations.

Committee colleague Mary Ellen Boyet countered Bachich on what he meant by stability, asking, "You mean it doesn't change?"

Stuart Smith, another committee member and Land Stewards member, complained that Napa County is so highly regulated it could eventually strangle the wine industry, but he was reminded that the great wine regions of France also have tight restrictions.

"Burgundy and Bordeaux are strangling to death because of regulations," said committee member Duane Wall.

Vintner Jon-Mark Chappellet, also a committee member, argued that a lot of regulation and protection of agriculture is appropriate, given the Napa Valley's unique standing in the world.

Committee member Debra Blodgett of Winegrowers of Napa County said the county's revised general plan should create policies to sustain the economic viability of the wine industry.

But Bachich urged that other commodities wait in the wings. "Wine will not always be king," he said.

Agricultural Commissioner Dave Whitmer, who is not on the committee, also approached the topic with caution. "The lack of economic diversity has created a very tenuous situation," he told the committee. "If the wine industry goes down, we have a very different ballgame."

Committee member Bob Torres of Sutter Home-Trinchero Family Estates stressed the importance of the wine industry. "If the wine industry goes, I'll guarantee the Napa Valley as we know it goes. If we want to preserve what we have, (the industry) needs to be elevated to another level."

Napa Valley Register Copyright © 2009