Big Wine & Binge Tourism: March 17, 2020 – Winery Events Local Area Guidelines and Ordinance Update

March 17, 2020 – Winery Events Local Area Guidelines and Ordinance Update

Receive an update on the preparation of the areas of potential overconcentration guidelines for the Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Valley, and Westside Road areas, and discuss the proposed direction for completing the policy update for winery events. (ORD16-0001)

Show Less

Documents in PDF format:

  • Summary Report
  • Attachment 1 – Map of Winery Event Concentration Dry Creek Valley
  • Attachment 2 – Map of Winery Event Concentration Sonoma Valley
  • Attachment 3 – Map of Winery Event Concentration Westside Road
  • Attachment 4 – Sonoma Valley Recommendations
  • Attachment 5 – Dry Creek and Westside Recommendations
  • Attachment 6 – General Plan Policies

 

Big Wine & Binge Tourism Cost you:

Groundwater depletion

Winegrapes were not irrigated before 1970

Drinking water quality polluted with chemical runoff

Lack of diversity & monoculture-ask the Irish

Deforestation for the land rush-say NO to coastal pinot

Wildlife corridors fenced off, habitat diminished for animals.

Wineries have more rights than we do-look at Supervisor approvals

Millions of pounds of chemicals in vineyards yearly

-Sonoma, 2,211,222 (MILLION) pounds in 2014 (cdpr.ca.gov)

-Napa: 1,372,525 (MILLION ) pounds in 2014 (cdpr.ca.gov)

Cancer rates for kids highest in state for Napa, Sonoma #3 (see website: www.kidsdata.org)

Chemical pollution in air, soil and water

Tourism=death of local servicing business

Loss of Mom and Pop stores to tourism based business

Low wage industries, need 2 and 3 jobs to stay financially afloat

Hollowing out of neighborhoods

Communities fragmented by event centers, tasting rooms, vacation rentals in all zoning

Housing becomes an investment instead of a home

Unaffordable, high rents and lack of housing

Children and grandchildren move for lack of affordable housing

Safety: more rural roads used through neighborhoods used due to traffic congestion on regular routes

Roads and infrastructure crumbling, taxpayers pick up the tab

High rate of police calls from tourists, taxpayers pick up the tab

Paralyzing traffic and carbon pollution throughout county

Vineyard workers housing and health risks from chemical exposure

8 to 10,000 acres paved over for industrial ag production in So CO.

Wineries get Williamson Act tax breaks for not paving over ag lands and creating industrial business model in ag zones, process continues

General Plan 2020 predicted half the wineries we have now with over 70 new permits in the pipeline for rural Sonoma County