| Grapes and Goats at Next RBDA Meeting
A new winery proposed for Redwood Meadows Ranch, the upscale, gated development on Bonny Doon Road near Smith Grade, and the long-awaited Master Plan for the Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc. (SCBI) goat pharm, will be the main topics at the Nov. 11 RBDA meeting. Redwood Meadows’ developer Bill Cunningham will be on hand to discuss his plans for the new winery and to answer questions. He has applied to the county to build a 15,000 square foot, 100,000 gallon facility with a second floor that can double as a site for social and business events for up to 250 people, and a separate 1800 square foot tasting room. The buildings will have a Tuscan look and won’t be visible from any home or road in Bonny Doon. Because the concept of what a winery is has changed in the years since it was defined in the General Plan, County Staff Planner Mike Ferry has asked for Planning Commission review of the proposal. This will likely happen in December. Cunningham has asked for permission to hold up to 12 events of 250 people, 24 events of up to 150 people, and unlimited events for up to 100 people. The county’s traffic experts have said the impact won’t be serious, and Cunningham has agreed to direct all traffic to the coast to minimize traffic on Bonny Doon roads. He has also agreed to have no outdoor amplified music at the events, and to use organic methods to grow his grapes. Most of them would have to be trucked in because the planned 20-acre vineyard can only support a 10,000 gallon winery. The county’s Ferry has also asked the Planning Commission to decide if the Open Space Agreement the land operates under is compatible with the larger facility. On Sept. 15, Santa Cruz Biotech finally filed its master plan for its goatgrown human antibodies facility on Back Ranch Road. The county has asked for additional information by December 15. Claiming to be a legitimate agricultural operation despite its feedlot-like appearance, over the last 3 years SCBI proceeded, without permits, to install about 1700 goats, barns and ancillary facilities on the coastside 208 acre former artichoke and cattle grazing property it owns, and another leased 100 acres. After a long battle, the Board of Supervisors decided to approve biomedical pharms on Commercial Agricultural land. Through a new ordinance they ordered SCBI to file a master plan for its operation so that the public and regulating agencies could have input. In the master plan, SCBI has asked for permission for 3500 to 4500 goats. Whether it can grow 40% of the goats’ feed, as the law requires, is being challenged by SOAL, Save Our Agricultural Lands. SOAL’s founder, Jonathan Wittwer, will be at the RBDA meeting to discuss objections to the master plan. These include questions about where SCBI will get enough water to grow fodder for that many goats, and how the permanent structures meet the law’s requirement that the land be able to be returned to farming if SCBI gives up its goats.
On Sept. 15, Santa Cruz Biotech finally filed its master plan for its goatgrown human antibodies facility on Back Ranch Road. The county has asked for additional information by December 15. Claiming to be a legitimate agricultural operation despite its feedlot-like appearance, over the last 3 years SCBI proceeded, without permits, to install about 1700 goats, barns and ancillary facilities on the coastside 208 acre former artichoke and cattle grazing property it owns, and another leased 100 acres. After a long battle, the Board of Supervisors decided to approve biomedical pharms on Commercial Agricultural land. Through a new ordinance they ordered SCBI to file a master plan for its operation so that the public and regulating agencies could have input. In the master plan, SCBI has asked for permission for 3500 to 4500 goats.
Whether it can grow 40% of the goats’ feed, as the law requires, is being
challenged by SOAL, Save Our Agricultural Lands. SOAL’s founder, Jonathan
Wittwer, will be at the RBDA meeting to discuss objections to the master
plan.
Don’t Let Lonestar Stripmine Bonny Doon! RMC Lonestar is exploring for limestone on residential properties it has purchased adjacent to Smith Grade. If it finds it, the company, a huge international conglomerate, will try to change the County General Plan and have the properties rezoned to allow a quarry. This would be the beginning of the end of Bonny Doon as we know it. Help the RBDA fight this by circulating the petition below and return it to us by Nov. 30. Please click here to access the petition information
More Lonestar Prospecting Already making us very nervous with their search for limestone on residential properties south of Smith Grade, RMC Lonestar has applied to drill more mineral test holes on land it owns north of Smith Grade along Reggiardo Creek, and in the 1,000 foot buffer zone it agreed to between the quarry and homes to the east. The county agreed to let Lonestar drill the test holes south of Smith Grade without going through the permit process, but it is balking at allowing them to do that again, saying the company should have asked for all the permits at once. How close an expanded quarry might be to Smith Grade was illustrated recently by the sight (and sound!) of Lonestar’s drilling rig on a hill (one of three that shield Bonny Doon from the quarry operations) on the former Sola property, a couple of hundred feet from the road. The new test hole requests make it all the clearer how far into residential areas Lonestar is willing to go.
Logging Rules Update About the time you read this, the state Board of Forestry will be considering whether to approve a new set of rules proposed by the Board of Supervisors to reduce the impact of logging on the environment and nearby homes. The hearing was scheduled for Nov.3 in Sacramento. If the board rejects the new rules, which were approved by a task force equally split betwen industry and community members, the supervisors are prepared to enact even tougher rules which were voted in years ago and made moot until a recent court decision revived them. The RBDA board supports the rules, whichprovide for:
While local loggers, especially Big Creek, have mostly logged responsibly, in recent years large out-of-county lumbering companies have bought up and logged thousands of Santa Cruz acres, with very mixed results. We feel that the Board of Forestry has little concern for the environment and neighboring home and property owners, and is largely a tool of the logging industry. The state Dept. of Forestry has a poor record of enforcing the provisions of timber harvest plans they approve, and are often deaf to complaints. Only through local control can the environment be better protected,
and a balance maintained between the rights of neighbors and timber parcel
owners. The more restrictive laws the county will enact if the Board
of Forestry rejects the rules package may ban logging on residential land,
but may allow residential parcels over 5 acres to be rezoned for logging.
Support Our Sponsors To help underwrite the cost of the Highlander, we will begin accepting support from businesses, For only $11 an issue you can get your message to 1100 Bonny Doon households, for a very reasonable penny each. However, we will only accept 6-issue, 1-year contracts. The RBDA reserves the right to reject sponsorships which may conflict with the RBDA’s goals of keeping Bonny Doon rural and natural. To be a sponsor, send your check for $66 to RBDA, 102 Sunlit Lane, Santa
Cruz, CA 95060. Include your business’s name, description (one line maximum,
about 10-15 words), address and phone.
Follow All the Action on
Up-to-date information on the various issues facing Bonny Doon, is available
at the RBDA Web site: www.bonnydoon.got.net.
Coast Dairies Sale Finalized Save the Redwoods League (STRL) closed its purchase of the Coast Dairies & Land property on Oct. 26. The beautiful 7,500-acre property stretches along the coast for 5 miles between Laguna and Scott creeks. It includes beaches, agricultural lands, and mountain forests. For a price of (reportedly) about $40 million, this huge piece of the North Coast will remain in open space, except for some parcels that have been leased, mostly near Davenport. Most of the money was donated by the Packard Foundation, and the rest came from a mix of state funds and other private donations. STRL turned over the land to the Trust for Public Land, a national organization which will manage it out of its San Francisco office. The process for recommending use of the vast property is still up in the air, although STRL has promised public input. It’s likely that a committee representing interested parties will be formed, and public meetings held. In the meantime, the present farming, grazing and recreational
uses will be continued, and no increased public access will be allowed
until a usage plan is in place.
The RBDA Needs You…
The expansion of the RMC Lonestar quarry into residential areas is the most serious threat to our community in many years. To keep it from happening we need your support: your continued membership in the RBDA, and donations for mailings, obtaining documents and possible legal fees. Don’t let your membership lapse at this crucial time. Also consider running for the RBDA Board. If you are interested, contact Board members Fred Bryck at 425-5476 or Mark Bedford at 458-0235.
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