Letters to the Editor 11-12-15

Water is the Core Issue but understated
EDITOR: Last evening my husband and I attended the Nov. 16th public meeting on the winery/event center issues held at the Glaser Center in Santa Rosa. Many hot issues centered on upholding the peaceful and serene rural character of our county, safety issues concerning driving and the need for better and wider roads to accommodate emergency vehicles. I would say 75 percent of the small family owned winery speakers centered their remarks on their overwhelming economic success through personal customer marketing their wine through their own custom winery events. Very few speakers addressed the issue of water but I was one of them.  Here is the concern I expressed at the microphone late in the evening after many people departed for home.
“I am here as a spokesperson for the longevity and sustainability of Sonoma County’s groundwater.  I am also a local author and illustrator of a children’s book written for all ages, “Saving Walter,” on how we all can learn to appreciate, value and conserve water that is so critical in this time of severe drought.  As you can well imagine, I am passionate about saving water and I am deeply concerned about the vast amount of water it takes to support our county’s wine production. Like it was stated in the film, “Russian River, All Rivers” there is no way of measuring or knowing how much or how little water reserve is available in our ground water aquifer.  So to allow thousands of gallons per day to be extracted for the production of wine could make this drought last indefinitely.  But there is an alternative method of growing vines.  It is a well known fact that for centuries the wine growers of Europe did not irrigate their vines.  It has been recently documented that the unirrigated vineyards’ yield may be slightly less but the quality of that wine retains the rich character of the region from which it is grown. Let us rethink the seriousness of this water issue and make the right decision for the right reason before it is too late.”
Paula Cumming Pearce
Sebastopol
On behalf of SANE
EDITOR: Tony Landucci’s article about the longstanding noise and other code violations by the Rotten Robbie carwash in Sebastopol contained several errors (“Neighbors make a stink over gas station,” Nov. 11).
Contrary to City Attorney McLaughlin’s claim, Sebastopol Alliance for Neighborhood Empowerment (“SANE”) is the principal plaintiff named in the legal complaint filed in April. Second, changes to the carwash entrance in 2014 involved extensive removal of landscaping protecting neighboring homes, which is required by Rotten Robbie’s use permit. In fact, Mr. McLaughlin advised Rotten Robbie to leave the “relatively large” tree in place because “its removal would leave a huge open area between the building and nearby residents.” The article also fails to mention that the City’s own noise study from earlier this year shows that the carwash continues to violate Sebastopol’s noise ordinance.
Mr. Landucci’s reporting on the City’s potential legal costs overlooks the fact that SANE is the only party to the lawsuit not benefiting financially from the carwash. However, the article does get one thing right: SANE, Rotten Robbie, and the City hope to resolve these issues without litigation, and have been meeting to address the carwash’s environmental impacts.”
Joseph Petta
Shute Mihaly & Weinberger, LLP
Attorneys for SANE