Dairyman Stalled, permit pulled

laguna 2 Dairyman Stalled & More

The Permit and Resource Management Department has withdrawn the Dairyman Winery and Event Center project application as a result of the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department formally affirming that the owner has no legal rights to cross the Joe Rodota trail for his intended purposes. The developer is appealing the decision, and has entered a lengthy, bureaucratic process with the County. We will remain vigilant and continue to monitor the project application and keep you posted!

PRSC is pleased that our year-long grassroots efforts to challenge this ill-conceived industrial-sized project provided the public support our county officials needed to uphold the General Plan and do what is right for the residents and public infrastructure. There has been a huge ongoing community backlash against this proposed development since it was unanimously opposed by the Sebastopol City Council last February. Thanks to our supporters for writing letters, emails, speaking up at community meetings and sending donations to support our work to Preserve Rural Sonoma County. We need your donations now more than ever.

Dairyman has been put to rest for the time being and we can now shift our focus to the other issues impacting rural Sonoma County.

A Coalition Forms – Representing over 10,000 Residents

In October, 2015, the founders of Preserve Rural Sonoma County joined with other long-standing community groups to form the PRSC Coalition to challenge developments such as Dairyman, among other out of scale proposals for winery/event centers on agricultural lands.

Realizing that the winery/event center over-development issue is systemic, we formed a Coalition with representatives from a myriad of environmental groups such as Sonoma County Conservation Action, Sierra Club, CAFF, Sonoma County Water Information Group, Rural Alliance, Greenbelt Alliance, Westside Community Association, Sonoma County Surfriders, Valley of the Moon Alliance, Sebastopol Tomorrow and several others to work together to advocate for zoning code standards that address the wine industry’s negative cumulative impacts. We have been meeting with county officials to highlight the costs and risks of unchecked development on ag lands and to share our research on the importance of maintaining the county’s primary asset, its rural character. We are also closely monitoring the Local Coastal Plan re-write to ensure that our coast will be protected as well, as it is being targeted for  large-scale winery development as well.

Our message is clear: rampant, inappropriate   development will spoil the quality of life for residents and degrade the Sonoma County brand for tourists.

Your Help Is Needed – Invest where you live!

If you’ve considered making a donation to PRSC, now is the time. We are making a short educational film about the impact of over-development in wine country, and need your help. Please help us reach more people in our community, and our officials, by sending your checks made out to Sonoma County Tomorrow, (our fiscal sponsor)  P.O. Box 983, Sebastopol, Cal. 95472. Donations are tax deductible and will help us make a greater impact. (You can also donate online via Paypal at our website below if you prefer.)

Thank you!

P.S. We are a 100{5fc40a96f14c4a6aa4c2a32569b0a57dcc67c0b31eb04c341474283f11b6cdd2} volunteer organization made up of many dedicated neighbors giving freely of their time and expertise to help protect our beautiful county. Your donations enable us to educate and mobilize the community to protect the region and quality of life we all cherish. Please be as generous as you can.

 

Padi Selwyn & Judith Olney, Co-Chairs

Neighbors to Preserve Rural Sonoma County  (PRSC)

 

 Donations can be made by sending your tax deductible checks made out to Sonoma County Tomorrow (our fiscal sponsor), c/o PRSC, P. O. Box 983, Sebastopol, Ca. 95473. Or donating online via Paypal  http://preserveruralsonomacounty.org/donate/ 

 

Visit our website at –  http://www.preserveruralsonomacounty.org

Like us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/preserveruralsonomacounty