Bill Hocker | Jan 3, 2016

Sign the petition to keep the vine trail out of the vineyards

Emily Turner's KPIX report on the Jan 5th meeting:
Battle Brewing Over ‘Vine Trail’ Bike, Foot Path Linking Vallejo To Calistoga
She notes that developer "McMinn says the 3 million visitors the trail will see every year won’t be a nuisance, and the intrusion, once finished will be worthwhile." Anyone interested in 3 million visitors in your backyard?

Articles:
NVR 1/7/16: County asks how Vine Trail, vineyards can both thrive
NVR 12/10/15: Is the Vine Trail compatible with growing grapes?

LTE responses:
Russ Oles: Keep Vine Trail on existing routes
Frank Sculatti: Concerned about 'problems' with Vine Trail (with response from developer)
Kathy Oles: Stop the rural Vine Trail route
George Watson: No Vine Trail on Ehlers Lane
Steven Burgess: Disappointed in Farm Bureau position

It is no longer just winery event centers and resorts and airbnb hotels beginning to encroach in residents' backyards, but the entirety of the tourism infrastructure.

The Vine Trail may serve the interests of locals and visitors alike, but let's not be naive - it is principally being developed as a tourist attraction. And as such it is a very clear, even archetypal, example of the continuing effort to transition the dominant economy of the county from agriculture to tourism. The Farm Bureau recognizes the long term threat to agricultural viability when land use decisions are made on the basis of what is best for tourism rather than what is best for agriculture.

Let the Vine Trail happen, but put the burden on the Trail developers to provide the mitigations necessary to prevent it from being a nuisance to farm families and to farming operations. The first mitigation should be not to run it through the vineyards. If the desire to provide a rural "experience" for visitors trumps the quiet enjoyment of property owners and their right to farm their land efficiently, then the future of the county as a place to engage in agriculture is doomed.

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