Dear Friends,

I am reaching out to make sure you are keenly aware of the Water Quality and Tree Protection Ordinance (WQTPO).  The ordinance is on a fast track to be enacted and has great momentum. The Planning Commission approved it last week and forwarded it to the Board of Supervisors, where it is scheduled for enactment on March 26. 
 
After spending the last 2 weeks meeting with several groups representing different positions and serving on the Napa Valley Vintners task force on the WQTPO, I have a clear understanding of the impact the ordinance will have should it be enacted.  Bottom line, if you own land in the hillsides or the unincorporated areas of Napa County, the County will revoke your private property rights and, in turn, impact your property value.  

Key things to be aware of: 
·  All improvements (water tanks, houses, driveways, landscaping, vineyards, etc.) will be prohibited on slopes of 30% or more (16.7 degrees).  This means that all development will be prohibited on 172,000 acres or 32% of the 540,000 acres in Napa County.  
·  Minimum setbacks governing class 1 and class 2 streams will be mandated at 135 feet on either side of a class1 and 70 feet on either side of a class 2 stream.  The law will be expanded to include class 3 streams, not currently recognized by the county and defined as “any indentation that has moved sediment to a class 1 or class 2 stream” with a mandated setback of 30 feet on either side. 
·  Currently, the County requires preservation of 60% of tree canopy with a mandate to replant oak trees removed at a 2:1 ratio in municipal watershed zones.  The proposed WQTPO will go beyond the watershed and take in all unincorporated Napa Country. Canopy preservation would be expanded to 70% preservation with a 3:1 replanting ratio include replanting of not only oak trees but all trees (bay, manzanita, madrone, pine, eucalyptus, etc.) 
·  You are required to deed restrict or put a conservation easement on any land mitigated for replanting.  With an expansion in both preservation and mitigation, this will dramatically increase the number of acres that will become unusable due to required conservation easements or deed restrictions. 
·  Vegetation removal will be prohibited unless mandated by Cal-Fire or allowed by discretionary permit.   Any discretionary permit will require you to indemnify and defend the County against any lawsuits challenging your permit.
 
Here is a report created by PPI Engineering that illustrates the impact on hypothetical 10-acre parcels in the Western and Eastern hills. You will see that the proposed ordinance could reduce developable land from 7 acres to 2.1 acres with a conservation easement or deed restriction required on the 7.9 remaining acres.   
 
Napa County already has the most restrictive agricultural regulations in California.  Expanding these regulations further will make it extremely difficult for future generations to farm in our County. 
 
If you find this as alarming as I do and wish to avoid the unintended consequences of what is framed as being more environmentally sensitive, I urge you to phone or email to every member of the Board of Supervisors, Mike Thompson and Bill Dodd prior to their meeting on March 26 (Here is a sample letter to help you express your concerns about this ordinance).  Please ask that they delay voting on the ordinance to allow time to evaluate the financial impact the proposed ordinance will have on the Country and the individual landowner. This should be the most important factor in the decision-making process. 
 
Supervisor phone numbers and emails are below.  I have also included text for an email to get you started.
  
Should you wish to hold supervisors accountable for supporting agriculture, I recommend that you donate to the Political Action Campaign created by the Farm Bureau. This PAC will help ensure that we actively support candidates who demonstrate a firm policy commitment to agriculture and actively oppose those who demonstrate they lack that understanding. To contribute to the PAC contact the Farm Bureau office at (707) 224-5403 or email the office at info@napafarmbureau.org