Neighbors fight Sonoma Coast vineyards

Ag development and reforestation plans draw local protest 

Sonoma County, Calif.—Two planned vineyard projects in western Sonoma County have met resistance from local residents who don’t want any development in the area. Napa’s Premier Pacific Vineyards and Artesa Vineyards have filed plans to create vineyards on land that is currently forested. The two are among the first large-scale “timberland to vineyard” projects proposed in the county. None have been approved yet, though some minor changes have been.

Both properties lie on the so-called “true Sonoma Coast,” an area close to the Pacific Ocean considered prime for growing premium Pinot Noir grapes. They are included in the Sonoma Coast American Viticultural Area, a huge AVA extending far from the Pacific Ocean to San Pablo Bay.

High-quality Pinot Noir grapes have been in great demand, although the cyclical nature of grapegrowing has temporarily created a surplus of some grapes in the last few years.

Premier Pacific’s plan is to carve 1,800 acres from a 20,000-acre plot to create Preservation Ranch. It would contain potentially about 1,100 acres of vineyards if fully developed, which might take a decade or more.

Artesa Vineyards of Napa County wants to plant 151 acres, scaled down from 171 after a Native American archeological site was discovered on the property.

Locals have raised objections ranging from disrespect for Indian sites to the possibility of erosion affecting fish to simple distaste for cutting any trees—even for replanting scrub trees with native redwoods and Douglas firs. Others worry about drawing water from the rivers—which the developers do not envision—or pesticides seeping into the watershed, a scenario that ignores modern sustainable vineyard management practices.

Not a simple plan
The proposed Premier Pacific plan is complex. In addition to setting aside 1,800 acres (9 %) for vineyards, it also proposes donating 220 acres to the existing 40-acre Soda Springs Reserve park, a 2,700-acre, permanently protected wildlife preserve, and 15,000 acres of sustainably managed timber forest.

In the process, it would reduce the present 160 legal parcels to 60, reducing the number of potential homes of the property to comply with the Sonoma General Plan. Premier Pacific also requested rezoning of various lands from "TP" —Timber Preserve District to "RRD"—Resources Rural Development or "PF"—Public Facilities zoning district and from "RRD" District to "TP" District. Premier Pacific wants to expand that to include other agriculture, notably grapevines.

The plan would also permanently prohibit building wineries or other development except ancillary farm buildings and housing.

Tom Adams from Premier Pacific Vineyards told Wines & Vines that due to unmanaged logging in the past, the land proposed for timber is now overgrown with undesirable tanoak, a tree of no commercial value and susceptible to sudden oak disease. Tanoak also shades and competes with native redwoods and Douglas firs.

The company proposed removing many of these undesirable trees and planting a million redwoods and firs to provide a revenue stream, including for potential acquisition by a conservation trust. Earlier efforts to acquire the land for such a trust weren’t feasible due to lack of potential revenue to pay for it. A larger, 24,000-acre part of the original property in the Garcia River watershed in nearby Mendocino County was acquired by the Nature Conservatory and the Conservation Fund and is now being managed as a working forest, selling carbon credits as well as replanting trees and potential future timber sales.

Restoration would also reduce fire hazard and increase the carbon storage capacity of the forest.

Improve 100 miles of roads
In addition, Premier Pacific plans to improve and pave 100 miles of substandard gravel and dirt roads that now release sediment into the property’s waterways. Adams said that would reduce sediment runoff by 75%. The area receives substantial rain in the winter, but all the proposed vineyards are above the frost line, so wouldn’t require water for sprinklers. Water would be collected from the land, not streams or wells.

Premier Pacific has offered to build a 5-mile public loop hiking trail on the property, accessible from outside the property.

Premier Pacific already has a 17-acre vineyard in the middle of the property, and Adams reported it is producing great Pinot Noir as well as a little Chardonnay.

He added that the Environmental Impact Report for the project is not yet complete, and the actual decision on the development could be two or three years away. It could take five to 10 more years after approval to plant and start harvesting grapes. He anticipated planting only a few hundred acres per year.

Premier Pacific Vineyards is not looking to sell off the individual parcels, although long term after it has developed the property, it might sell some, likely in groups. Adams pointed out that the company’s charter is to own, develop and manage vineyards, not sell home sites.

Open land suitable for vineyards in Sonoma County is now valued at $35,000 to $55,000: The Sonoma Coast is among the most expensive. A potential home site can add up to $3 million to the land.