Napa County decision on proposed Le Colline vineyard coming

Berry Eberling • 01.09.23

Aday of decision should finally be near for the proposed Le Colline vineyard in the mountains northeast of St. Helena near Angwin.

Removing forests to create vineyards is controversial in Napa County — some say county conservation laws protect the environment while allowing for agriculture, while others say those protections don't go far enough. The Le Colline project has the added wrinkle of abutting Linda Falls Preserve.

A 2019 draft environmental impact report by Analytical Environmental Services concluded all potential impacts from creating a Le Colline vineyard can be rendered “less than significant.” Some people and groups remained unconvinced.

Napa County recently released a final environmental impact report that responds to 100 comment letters. Interim Planning, Building and Environmental Services Director Brian Bordona or his designee will rule on the erosion control plan that the project requires.

They will announce a tentative decision this month, with a final decision to follow in 10 days. People who disagree with the outcome can appeal to the county Board of Supervisors, a county news release said.

Le Colline would remove about 25 acres of forest and 9 acres of grasslands on a 92-acre property, with 25 acres of vineyard to be planted. The land is located at 300 Cold Springs Road.

Next door is the 177-acre Linda Falls nature preserve owned by the Land Trust of Napa County. Among other things, it features trails through mixed hardwood-conifer forests and a waterfall where Conn Creek tumbles over volcanic rocks.

“The preserve has been a favorite hiking destination for many Napa County residents and visitors,” the Land Trust wrote in a 2019 letter commenting on the draft environmental report.

While not opposing the plan outright, the Land Trust expressed concerns with the project as proposed.

Developing vineyards within 105 feet of Conn Creek could impact high-priority species such as the yellow-legged frog. The project could also hurt native plant community restoration efforts through sedimentation and erosion, the letter said.

The Land Trust of Napa County and Hall family announced an agreement for the Land Trust to purchase Walt Ranch.

The Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District also had concerns about the proposed vineyard because of its nearness to the Linda Falls preserve. Both it and the Land Trust preferred shrinking the vineyard's size.

Kellie Anderson of the Linda Falls Alliance went further. She wrote that the site of Le Colline is biologically rich, geologically important, aesthetically valued, hydrologically fragile, and located next to the recreational wonders of Linda Falls.

Given that, the only justifiable outcome is no project and acquisition of the Le Colline land for permanent protection, she wrote in 2019.

The newly released final environmental report responds to these and the dozens of other comments almost four years later.

The project as proposed would maintain forestland and natural habitats on more than 60% of the property. That conserves the environment to the extent feasible while also meeting the goals of the property owner, the final report said.

“There are no significant and unavoidable impacts associated with the proposed project,” it said. “Accordingly, selection of a project alternative is not required to mitigate significant and unavoidable impacts.”

Attorney Tom Adams on behalf of applicant Dave DiCesaris said a smaller, 15-acre vineyard favored by some critics would not make money.

“This project is not a hobby,” Adams wrote in 2019. “It is a business that requires a significant investment made in reliance on loans and cash flow for it to be viable and to proceed to create jobs and generate tax revenue in the county.”

DiCesaris provided several pages of cost-and-expense estimates.

The final report responded that the California Environmental Quality Act doesn’t require the selection of an environmentally superior but uneconomical alternative. Adams' comments on economic viability will be considered when the county makes a decision on the project.

The Center for Biological Diversity criticized the 2019 draft environmental impact report on multiple fronts, such as for saying that creating a smaller vineyard to avoid cutting down forest could cause slightly more erosion and water quality impacts.

But the newly released final report holds its ground. The smaller project would mean less land that already has erosion would be subject to the erosion control plan, it answered. 

Residents can visit the county's Project Explorer at https://bit.ly/3C9MaE4 and look up Le Colline to see the final environmental impact report.

Le Colline also needs a timber conversion plan and timber harvest plan from Cal Fire because the conifers in the forest qualify as commercial timber species.

Cal Fire first requires the county to certify the environmental impact report, Bordona said. That will be decided along with the erosion control plan decision.

Le Colline is one of about 37 erosion control plan applications listed on the county's Project Explorer, though a couple are vineyard replants. Sizes range from less than an acre of disturbed land to 155 acres.

The projects total more than 600 acres of disturbed land, 100 acres of forest or woodlands removal, and 220 acres of grassland removal. However, that picture is incomplete, since a few projects on the website didn't include complete information.

Not every mountain vineyard project calls for forest or woodland removal. For example, one proposed on Mount Veeder is targeted for fallow pastureland.

The city of Napa frequently expresses concern when a proposed mountainous vineyard project is in the watershed for Lake Hennessey reservoir, as is the case with Le Colline. Le Colline's planners, in response, agreed to do water quality sampling and analysis.

Read on the  Napa Valley Register

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Napa grants tentative approval to Le Colline vineyard