The unspoken truth about the Stream Setback Ordinance is that it is an anti-farming ordinance. The impact of the ordinance (and its intent, if we accept that the "residential exemption" was actually intended to exempt residential uses) is basically to restrict farming. In fact, the setbacks along both sides of the vast network of so-called "streams" (3,200 miles of "streams" in Napa County, according to Planning Staff) effectively chop most rural parcels into fragments too small to farm. Although existing vineyards are exempt, new vineyards, for all practical purposes, are prohibited under the ordinance, as are most expansions of existing vineyards.
Most observers, especially the members of those organizations, would expect the Napa County Farm Bureau and the Napa Valley Grape Growers Association to rally against the passage of such an anti-farming ordinance. After all, Napa County proclaims itself to be an agricultural county, and the County General Plan lists Agriculture as the highest and best use for the land. And farming is the "magic" that is preventing Napa County from going the way of Santa Clara County. Furthermore, the Farm Bureau and its sister organization, the NVGGA, were organized for the purpose of championing agriculture. Yet the current Farm Bureau and NVGGA leaders are pushing this ordinance designed to discourage any new farms or expansion of existing farms.
Perhaps this is the reason Farm Bureau membership is declining. Perhaps the Farm Bureau leadership is confusing and alienating its members by supporting this anti-farming ordinance. The Farm Bureau members and NVGGA members who are also Napa Valley Land Stewards Alliance members say this is so, and that if those organizations' leaders remain so out of step with their members on this core issue, they should expect their membership to decline even further. Rumor has it that if it were not for their group insurance program, even more Farm Bureau members would be leaving.
The huge turnout and overwhelming public opposition at the Stream Setback hearings, the resounding success of the referendum against the ordinance, the declining membership at the Farm Bureau, and the rapidly growing membership of Napa Valley Land Stewards Alliance all indicate that the majority of land owners and voters are opposed to the Stream setback Ordinance. The Farm Bureau leadership should reevaluate its position and join the rest of us in opposing Measure P.
Napa Valley Land Stewards Alliance supports everyone's right to farm, and was organized to oppose the Stream Setback Ordinance (Measure P on the March ballot). People who oppose Measure P and who support Napa Valley Agriculture are standing up to be counted by joining the Land Stewards Alliance, both in person and through our website. The Land Stewards Alliance provides the platform and the opportunity to make yourself heard. Isn't it about time you joined the Land Stewards Alliance?
George Bachich, Sept. 18, 2003
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