My neighbor is putting in vineyard.......what are my rights?

[quirkypixie]

I am thinking there is nothing I can do.....my neighbor is installing a vineyard, which is 20 feet away from my home.......I am very worried about spraying, and other assorted items they may treat the vineyard with. Is there anything I can do? What are my rights? Our property line is the city limit line for Sebatopol.....and we are on the county side, as is my neighbor.

[Braggi]

I am thinking there is nothing I can do....

I'm thinking you're right.

I would learn everything I could about organic and biodynamic vineyard methods and do what you can to educate your neighbor. Make sure your neighbor knows that certified organic grapes are worth more and that organic methods can produce higher profits than non organic.

Good luck. You have an uphill battle if a "vineyard management" company is involved since they can basically take over the land. Vineyard owners also have a lot of influence on politicians so the law is unlikely to be on your side.

Please keep us updated. I think your best policy will be to make good friends with your neighbor and try subtle influence over legal battling.

-Jeff

[shellebelle]

Well first I think I'd start conversation with the neighbor. If this is an organic experience you may be okay. But only conversation will tell.

I would also ask so how did you get this approved? How much will you be planting? Who is going to maintain the fence between us, what about dust, what about the extra wear and tear on the community road? And probably a few thousand more.

And all those types of questions. From what I can tell due to water regulations around the area anything that demands water seems to be controlled. So I think I would certainly ask about where the water is coming from and also where it will be running to!

Then I would call to a nice local Realtor to start (I like Suzanne Wandrei www.suzannewandrei.com (https://www.suzannewandrei.com/)) they usually know the ins and outs of the basic permits etc and can tell you how such a change will impact your future as a property owner. From there I'd follow whatever thoughts they have. If they say call code enforcement or call the water dept or who ever I would follow their advice to protect my investment both in family health/well being and my property value.


I am thinking there is nothing I can do.....my neighbor is installing a vineyard, which is 20 feet away from my home.......I am very worried about spraying, and other assorted items they may treat the vineyard with. Is there anything I can do? What are my rights? Our property line is the city limit line for Sebatopol.....and we are on the county side, as is my neighbor.

[JulieJess]

The MOST dangerous thing is the spraying. The first thing is to talk to them about WHAT they're using and ask them to give you 48 hours notice WHEN they're going to spray. If they won't, then call the County Ag Dept and they'll tell you. You do NOT want to be outside when they're spraying. (They wear bio-hazard suits; you don't.) They must tell the Ag Dept what they're using and when they're doing it, and they'll tell you. But they want you to try talking to them first. Hope you're not gardening...

Good luck


I am thinking there is nothing I can do.....my neighbor is installing a vineyard, which is 20 feet away from my home.......I am very worried about spraying, and other assorted items they may treat the vineyard with. Is there anything I can do? What are my rights? Our property line is the city limit line for Sebatopol.....and we are on the county side, as is my neighbor.

[Deborah1]

I share this concern, as I live next door to a large vineyard. I spoke to the County Ag Dept last year about notification requirements, and was told that the vineyard need notify us ONLY when using Fungicide sprays, if I remember correctly. For all other sprays, they must keep an application log, but are not required to give any advance notice. We leave our property whenever they start spraying next door (thankfully, it is not all that frequent)


The MOST dangerous thing is the spraying. The first thing is to talk to them about WHAT they're using and ask them to give you 48 hours notice WHEN they're going to spray. If they won't, then call the County Ag Dept and they'll tell you. You do NOT want to be outside when they're spraying. (They wear bio-hazard suits; you don't.) They must tell the Ag Dept what they're using and when they're doing it, and they'll tell you. But they want you to try talking to them first. Hope you're not gardening...

Good luck

[jofish]

For a bit different perspective, I had the good fortune to live for over 20 years in the country with major vineyards on three sides of our property. I found my wine grape growing neighbors to be easy to talk to, flexible, and sensitive about the impacts of their operations... We learned a lot about wine grape growing and enjoyed the seasonal changes and open space the vineyard offered.

This change may be an opportunity to:
* Meet your neighbor and find out what her/his goals and plans are.
* Learn about how grape growing works (there are good resources at https://www.sonomawinegrape.org/)
* Learn about sustainable wine growing programs (https://www.sustainablewinegrowing.org/)
* Consider how fortunate we are to live in an area where we still have agriculture (San Jose used to be called the Valley of the Hearts Delight...)
* Consider how to reframe your situation from what your rights are to how do we coexist in peace.


I am thinking there is nothing I can do.....my neighbor is installing a vineyard... Is there anything I can do? What are my rights?

[Waccomole]

would you feel similarly if an apple orchard were being planted. I recall the furor a decade back when a county ordnance prompted the transition to grapes. Chainsaws ran from sunup to sundown...and mis-information was equally rampant. Apples require 5 or more applications of pesticides whereas grapes typically are dusted with sulpher to prevent mildew. Of course, lot's of folks don't want to be inconvenienced by facts. The others who posted suggesting talking with and educating the neighbor are exactly right
Inquire first...the neightbor may be way ahead of you toward doing it right. There is a right to farm ordnance in the county..be happy it's not a hog farm upwind in August. Waccomole


I am thinking there is nothing I can do.....my neighbor is installing a vineyard, which is 20 feet away from my home.......I am very worried about spraying, and other assorted items they may treat the vineyard with. Is there anything I can do? What are my rights? Our property line is the city limit line for Sebatopol.....and we are on the county side, as is my neighbor.

[quirkypixie]

The company putting in a vineyard is a fairly large (albeit local) one.
I have spoken to him, and he won't spray for at least three years. However the spraying is not my only concern.
They plowed this week, and the amount of dust blowing around was horrendous! I couldn't even go outside. If they had just kindly used a water truck to soak it down a tad, it would have helped tremendously. I have grown up in the country, on dirt roads, and never had this amount of dust before.

I have lived in this area all my life, and I have to admit, it really pains me to see the land being used for the gluttony of the wine industry. Everywhere you look they are creating open field for their vineyards. Every year a percentage of the grapes either rot on the vine or sit and rot after harvest. Couldn't these be donated to shelters or given to the hungry? I just have a problem supporting an industry that seems to have no concept of waste.

[Lenny]

Expect to drill a deeper well. Grapes need water. Apples do not in our soil. Sorry......:2cents:

[In Wonderland]

Quirky Pixie, you have my deep sympathy.

The latest craze of being groovy and putting in vineyards is destroying the
ecology. Up in Lake County, there are pear orchards being axed every day.
And acres of so-called waste lands. (But really these are oxygen producing acres of scrub brush and huge trees!) Each time I am out in the road, I see more acreage falling to the monstrous mono-crop of grapes.

A Lake County writer puts it out on the sports pages of the local "Record Bee" that our deer population is suffering -we are currently losing about 15 per cent of the CA deer population EACH YEAR to this trend.

When you look at an orchard, there is plenty of provision for wild life. There are birds, bees, badgers, foxes, deer, rabbits, hare, skunk, possum etc.

Then comes the vineyards, and the land is uprooted. The barren landscape has these metal braces put out on it, with little whisps of grapeviners.

And the poor animals. They are driven out by the barrenness of this.
Not only that but the vintners divert the creeks from their traditional task of flowing into lakes to the task of watering their vines. And then the water that does flow from vineyard to the lakes carries pesticides!

Meanwhile every one screams at me because I occasionally eat meat!

CJD
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The company putting in a vineyard is a fairly large (albeit local) one.
I have spoken to him, and he won't spray for at least three years. However the spraying is not my only concern.
They plowed this week, and the amount of dust blowing around was horrendous! I couldn't even go outside. If they had just kindly used a water truck to soak it down a tad, it would have helped tremendously. I have grown up in the country, on dirt roads, and never had this amount of dust before.

I have lived in this area all my life, and I have to admit, it really pains me to see the land being used for the gluttony of the wine industry. Everywhere you look they are creating open field for their vineyards. Every year a percentage of the grapes either rot on the vine or sit and rot after harvest. Couldn't these be donated to shelters or given to the hungry? I just have a problem supporting an industry that seems to have no concept of waste.[/quote]

[nicofrog]

We live in a place where there was GOING to be a vineyard, but we are converting to a c.s.a.
the metal stakes were already in and it is a MAJOR hassle to remove them.
I hope the neighbor will consider cover-cropping, that is growing Fava,Bellbeans, and vetch etc. between the rows. he could also fertilize
with compost tea, and spray plants with worm tea!
We are in the beginning stages of setting up a large commercial composting site that will support this possibility .
I got dosed with a bunch of sulfur once, and as far as I can tell the effects were temporary. Still I'd suggest going away when they spray.
Good luck! Nicofrog