By Norman La Force
Since the passage of Alameda County Measure D, the voter-approved initiative protecting agricultural lands in Alameda County, the Sierra Club has been generally supportive of the County’s efforts to encourage the cultivation of grapes and olives through the enactment of regulations facilitating the production of wine and olive oil. In recent months, however, county staff have circulated proposed amendments to the zoning ordinance, adding microbrewing as a permitted use in agricultural areas, which we find to be inconsistent with the measure.
The Sierra Club attended public meetings and submitted written comments on the proposed amendments, raising issues regarding compliance with Measure D and procedural issues regarding the regulation of these uses.
On August 17, 2018 county staff released a revised draft ordinance. The latest draft only addresses one of our concerns regarding safe access on “narrow, dangerous and substandard” roads. It fails to address what we consider to be clear violations of the General Plan and Measure D by adding microbreweries as a permitted use without demonstrating any agricultural benefit to the county except for attempting to encourage the promotion of agricultural tourism.
We read the proposed amendment to the Zoning Ordinance as permitting an owner of any parcel of land within the A-Agricultural Zoning District to establish a microbrewery on that parcel without any requirement to use crops grown in the county in the production of beer. Further, a microbrewery would, by definition, be permitted to operate a retail tasting room for members of the public to sample and purchase beer on the site. Without a requirement that the production of beer be derivative from crops cultivated in Alameda County we believe this would permit the conversion of protected agricultural land to stand-alone commercial and retail uses without any benefit to agricultural production in Alameda County.
Like wine or olive oil, beer is derived from an agricultural commodity. Unlike wine or olive oil, there is no cultivation of crops in the county from which beer can be produced. The annual Alameda County Crop Report published by the Department of Agriculture – Weights & Measures reports significant acreage in production of red and white grapes and olive trees, but no acreage is reported for the production of barley, hops, or malt used in the production of beer.
Permitting the production of beer in the county without any nexus requirement with agricultural production would be similar to permitting the production of kombucha, an increasingly popular drink made from the fermentation of tea leaves, or a potato chip factory where there is no commercial cultivation of potatoes in the county. These commercial operations are more appropriate in cities. Having a nexus requirement in the Zoning Ordinance will increase the amount of cultivated acreage in the zoning district. Not requiring this nexus will reduce the amount of acreage in agricultural production through the conversion of land to commercial and retail uses, which is a violation of Measure D.
If the county desires to encourage agricultural tourism and small-scale beer production a separate, distinct section of the Zoning Ordinance would be needed for this use. The Zoning Ordinance would need to address the use in a discrete and separate manner, setting standards for this use. These standards would include the requirement that the production of beer is derived from crops cultivated in the county. And, if the microbrewery wishes to have a retail tasting room it can apply for this accessory, secondary use as a Conditionally Permitted use.
Additionally, suggested amendments to the ordinance are inadequate in addressing safe public access to a commercial use with a retail tasting room serving the public. The section minimally addresses access by the public and by public safety vehicles, including fire trucks. We would like to see this text be further amended to use language recommended by the Alameda County Fire Department that is consistent with that being used for other uses in the County.
The proposed addition of microbreweries as a permitted use brings potential impacts to Alameda County that require further study under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Photo courtesy Star5112 via Flickr Creative Commons.