Letters to the Editor 7-23-15

Change coming at us
Editor: Speaking as a Healdsburg resident who has had a recent huge rent jump, I found myself thinking about the connection between your last two front page stories. The one was about the housing crisis most of us renters are struggling with and the other is about how powdery mildew is going to destroy a much larger than average percent of this year’s grape crop because there isn’t enough manpower to respond well. Well, there’s a connection between the two. How are the vineyard laborers supposed to live here with the crazy rents? That’s not all though, there won’t be good people to hire for tasting rooms and there won’t be waitpersons who can afford to live here. There won’t be anywhere for our twenty-somethings to move out to when they are ready. Also, the few remaining local renters stretched thin by budget busting rents, can’t help support local businesses when tourist season isn’t hopping. As the exodus of families pulls school enrollment down, we’ll see even more local change. Does Healdsburg want to be a town comprised of tourists, retired homeowners, vacation renters and second homes for millionaires? That’s what is coming at us right now.
Chris Saulsbury
Healdsburg
Crisis
Editor: To quote Gary Plass in Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle, “Healdsburg is not experiencing a crisis.” Mr. Plass, people are being forced out of their homes with nowhere to go. If that’s not a crisis, what is? Also, with the city streets in need of repairs and parking in the downtown area becoming a larger issue week by week, why are we spending $640,000 for an old gas station located on Healdsburg Avenue and Mill Street? It states that the property is not needed to construct the roundabout. Isn’t a half million dollars plus better spent where it is truly needed?
Ken Buchignani
Healdsburg
Grammar slip-up?
Editor: I’m left to assume that it was a slip-up during typesetting of last week’s article about Dr. Lori Rhodes, HHS’ new principal. Since she is “… particularly interested in the Accelerated English program …”, it’s highly unlikely that she actually said: “I’m really excited about … the school and where it’s at right now.”
Pat Abercrombie
Healdsburg
Right to farm or right to party?
Editor: Paraphrasing Larson’s sage advice: “Son, put down that high powered lawyer before you hurt someone!” By following incorrect legal advice, the wine industry is at most risk of hurting the goose who lays those glorious income streams. The Board of Supervisors tasked the county to develop regulations for permitting events countywide, with more restrictive guidelines in areas of over concentration, and the Planning Director convened a stakeholder group. Winery representatives at the July 8 Permit and Resource Management Department Advisory Group meeting concluded: “the residents need to be educated.” Earth to wine industry: a large number of the residents you clearly distain are the farmers growing your grapes. The residents are your early warning signal. Given those of us who live on ag zoned land have fundamental legal rights to grow crops and to the peaceful enjoyment of our homes, we are a tad irritated by your “Dinner and Dancing ‘til 10 to Save Ag” effort. Speakeasies masquerading as wineries are degrading our property values and destroying Sonoma County’s differentiating asset – rural character. Under California law, including the 1994 Zoning Code, building and operating a winery or conducting hospitality functions are not fundamental rights, they are privileges only granted via a conditional use permit. The county has every legal right to deny a use permit application and has an obligation both to write and enforce conditions that mitigate impacts on neighbors and the environment. True agriculture will survive – with or without the “Brides to Save Ag” relief effort. However, we are concerned about the fate of an industry that pays lawyers to rattle phantom sabers versus investing in the quality of its product.
Judith Olney, Westside Association to Save Agriculture, Healdsburg
Smart growth
Editor: I would like to commend Jay Beckwith on his guest commentary in this week’s Tribune. It’s so nice to hear positive and concrete solutions to our many pressing problems in Healdsburg. So often we ignore the more obvious solutions like promoting granny units and live/work lofts that can have significant impacts on our housing crisis. The time for villainizing the landlords and NIMBYs of our community should be put to rest. Our city council should prioritize and streamline its policies on infill projects that increase housing density and encourage smart growth.
Steven Ineich
Healdsburg
Defining sustainability
Editor: We hear a lot about sustainable winegrowing in Sonoma County. But what does that mean, and who vouches for it? The county’s vineyard ordinance (commonly called “VESCO”) sets minimal standards and does not ensure sustainability of soil and water resources. California winegrowers also have the “California Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Workbook,” from the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, Wine Institute and California Association of Winegrape Growers. This is a compendium of winegrowing practices, which guides winegrowers to evaluate their own methods and determine how sustainable they are. The 90 “Joint Committee” members, who provided “leadership and guidance” includes several highly-sustainable wine growers. Undoubtedly, the workbook is full of good information and if winegrowers truly implemented all or most of the recommended practices, they would move toward sustainability.  But to my knowledge, the workbook has not been peer reviewed to ensure that advocated practices truly are the most sustainable ones, supported by scientific data and observations. It acknowledges CalEPA input, but none from State Water Boards or NOAA fisheries. The winegrowers certify themselves, so there’s no check for a “sustainable” rating. Paul Hobbs, for example, claims his vineyards are sustainably farmed using this workbook. But the fact is that any set of practices which clear forests from hills, and laps across stream channels, or crowds to the top of stream banks, cannot expand unendingly and remain sustainable, no matter what practices are followed.
Jane Nielson, Ph.D., PG
Sebastopol