Castles under attack

The saying “a man’s home is his castle” is so old it predates gender correctness. It means that no matter how humble, unadorned or unesteemed a man’s (or woman’s) house might be, it is his to call her own. It is his to satisfy the needs for safe shelter, desired comfort and life’s big investment. No matter the physical address, it is where he is king (or queen.)
The old saying and the concept of a domestic kingdom is now being threatened in Sonoma County by many colliding factors, not the least of which is that even a modest home these days can cost more than a castle. The median cost of a house is $595,000 — and is much higher in places like Healdsburg and Sebastopol.
What’s more is that a family’s desire to live peaceably and safely in their selected neighborhood or semi-rural haven is also being upset by a commercial invasion of vacation rentals and marijuana growers.
Planning officials and elected leaders for Sonoma County and all local cities have some important decisions to make. A new “sharing economy” and the end of cannabis prohibition are forcing the rewriting of county and municipal zoning laws. Let’s hope these new property maps and ordinances will continue to protect a family’s personal property rights without everyone having to build moats, turrets or high castle walls.
We’re not sure this has gotten off to a good start. That’s mostly because local officials are racing to catch up to a “green rush” of thousands of marijuana grows already sprouting up inside garages, outdoor sheds and gutted houses.
In the wake of the passage of Prop. 64 by California voters allowing adult use and cultivation of marijuana, county planners this week held hearings on rules that would allow medical operations in rural residential zones. These are areas where property lines can be tight, with shared country lanes. They are dotted with small acreage plots or unincorporated residential pockets. County planners favor rules to allow commercial-sized cannabis operations on parcels as small as two acres. The county estimates that as many as 3,000 of these “cottage pot growers” already exist.
Meanwhile, the county’s nine cities are also racing to impose new zoning laws on interior and exterior cannabis gardens and update medical marijuana rules. Cloverdale has adopted some of the least restrictive rules while Healdsburg and Windsor have imposed temporary moratoriums as they sort through competing property uses and expectations.
Farther along, but no less unsettling to many homeowners, are the tentative revisions to laws governing vacation rental activity in previous residential-only neighborhoods.
Make no mistake, vacation rentals and marijuana are big tax revenue sources. The same elected officials now being tasked with setting new restrictions on these commercial ventures are not unaware of how much new tax revenue comes with the deal.
What is it worth to disrupt the solitude and security of thousands of rural property owners and neighborhood dwellers? What — or how many — non-residential activities should be allowed under these new zoning laws?
Vacation rentals appear to be here to stay. They already represent 42 percent of the county’s collected transient occupancy taxes. The many millions in anticipated tax revenues from marijuana also means major changes to our physical, social and economical landscapes.
There is still time to get these things right. And, a good first step would be protecting the original intent of the county’s rural residential zoning where today you need a special permit to raise more than 50 chickens or five pigs. Even garage sales are limited to just two days.
Sonoma County should continue to protect its rural and semi-rural residential kingdoms from noisy or noxious commercial invasions.
 — Rollie Atkinson