April 2023

April 20, 2023, appearance at Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Meeting. Executive Director Dayna Ghirardelli commented on both the Local Coastal Plan (LCP) and the Well Ordinance agenda items. With regard to the LCP, Dayna stated that the current draft needed additional input from landowners and ag stakeholders and requested the agenda item be continued to a later date (it was).

December 2022

On November 22nd, we submitted a letter to Permit Sonoma expressing our concerns with several Notices of Violation posted on properties on Coleman Valley Road for their newly erected barbed wire fences used to keep cattle on the property and off of county roads. By all accounts, the fences are within the parameters of the Coastal Zone Ordinance, Chapter 26C, and exempt from the need for permits or further filing. We also noted the lack of acknowledgment and/or exception for livestock management in the Draft Sonoma Local Coastal Plan (LCP) where it states, “fences or walls shall be prohibited within riparian habitat and on bluffs, except where necessary for public safety, wildfire risk abatement, habitat protection, or restoration,” and suggested that it should reference and incorporate established best practices for livestock management and grazing that promote compliance with federal, state, and regional laws and further align with regulations addressing water quality and natural resources. Furthermore, we highlighted the provision within the draft regarding “wildlife-passable fencing” is not conducive to livestock management, is ultimately counterproductive and should be removed from the draft.