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Trading an apple for an orange
by Brian Schmidt

Together with concerned neighbors on Skyline Boulevard, the Committee for Green Foothills appealed a grading permit for "storage caves" that could facilitate another new winery on Skyline, several miles north of the Highway 9 intersection. While the landowner planned some innovative and environmentally-appropriate vineyards for the land, we have concerns about both the particular location and the County planning that incorrectly postponed analysis of the planned winery.

The Committee and the neighbors negotiated with the landowner and were able to reach a settlement that allowed withdrawal of the appeal. While the inappropriate planning for the grading permit was not fixed, we reached a guarantee for a better process in the future, as well as deed restrictions that "lock in" organic farming on the property and protect the neighbors' wells from overdrafting. The landowner received certainty that it could begin constructing the storage caves.

What we received in the settlement is not what we were requesting in our appeal of the permit, but it is different in a way that we think is better. We traded an apple for an orange, and we believe it was a good deal. Presumably, the landowner thinks the same.