Dear Editor:
The proposed stream Setback Ordinance establishes a vast network of setbacks/wildlife corridors/riparian galleries (in effect, greenbelt easements) along every stream and dry wash in Napa County, from the bay to the ridge tops. Within these easements, property owners would be prohibited from using their land for most normal purposes. Although the staff presentation attempts to minimize the scale and impact of this new regulation, its true impact can only be described as colossal.
According to the staff report, this ordinance applies to over 3,000 miles of "streams" in Napa County. The width of the proposed easements along these streams varies from a minimum of 50 feet for class III streams, to a maximum of 300 feet for class I streams. Take a moment to let your mind fully comprehend what this means.
In terms of the area impacted, this is exactly equivalent in magnitude to obtaining the right of way for a transcontinental railroad, all crammed into one small California County. That is a hard concept to grasp, because it seems so unbelievable. So think it through carefully. A 50 foot wide easement 3,000 miles long would be sufficient to install a new high speed railway from San Francisco to New York. All shoehorned into Napa County.
A misprint, you say? A miscalculation, perhaps? If only it were so. The simple truth is that this ordinance represents the boldest and most colossal land grab in the history of California, perhaps in the history of the nation. What would ordinarily take years of negotiations with thousands of landowners and cost billions of dollars, Napa County hopes to accomplish by fiat, for free, with the simple stroke of a pen.
All citizens should be outraged, not just the 6,000 or so whose property will be taken. This is a travesty of unprecedented proportion, and needs to be met with uncompromising resistance. The Napa County Farm Bureau, and others acquiescing to this injustice should be ashamed. The extremists promoting it should be run out of town. All Napa County Citizens must attend the Board of Supervisors public hearing on Tuesday, December 10, 2002 at 10:30 am in Chardonnay Hall to protest this outrage.
George Bachich
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