Bill Hocker | Nov 1, 2015

Glenn Schrueder sends this link:

Tom Wark, fermentationwineblog.com: Critics of The Napa Valley Wine Industry Are Losing Badly

Tom Wark is a wine marketer and publicist and he seems to think that the wine industry is in need of some in-your-face public relations work at the moment - which implies to me that the "critics of wineries" are not losing as badly as he claims. He bashes NapaVision2050 to make his points.

On the basis of the discussion at the bottom of the article, Rob McMillan on his Silicon Valley Bank Wine blog published Picking A Side In the Napa Winery Fight. After invoking NIMBYism (shorthand for the notion that defending one's community against development is less socially worthy than consuming it for profit) and proving that the vast majority of the population really likes the wine industry (no questions about the tourism industry apparently) he then takes a side:

"I am taking a seat on the side that protects the Valley from wanton growth, deforestation of the hillsides, unfettered growth in new wineries, ruination of streams and habitat, and the destruction of the nature and character of the regions in which we live. We don't need every winery approved without planning for infrastructure."

Sounds like he and NapaVision2050 are on the same side. Is Rob McMillan about to join the NIMBY army? Or does "planning for infrastructure" simply mean more roads to lubricate further development and diffuse NIMBY traffic angst?

He does zero in on the real issue driving the urbanization of Napa county: "its job growth more than tourism". To which I heartily agree. The real question should be how do we control job growth. Unfortunately the pro-growth side in the debate doesn't seem to see job growth as the problem to be solved, just the traffic it creates. More infrastructure and creative solutions needed.

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