PFENDLER
RANCHES October 28, 1996 Mr. John Bucher Dear John, I enjoyed reading your recent article in the Farm News regarding the Green Belt Alliance and UGB Initiative. On a different subject, I would like to express my concern to you about the inroads the Bay Area Ridge Trail is attempting to make at the Open Space District. As you know, when the SCAPOSD was formed, there was a pledge that public access would uever be forced on ranchers as a condition of getting Open Space District funding. However, the Ridge Trail seems to be more and more involved in the Open Space District's business There have been several recent transactions involving large ranches in Southern Sonoma County in which the Open Space Disirict has told the applicants that the granting of public access across their property would greatly enhance their prospects. It is becoming increasingly clear that the goals of the Bay Area Ridge Trail are getting embedded in Open Space District policy, which was not the legislation nor the pledge made at the time by the politicians who wanted the support of the Sonoma County agricultural community. The Open Space District has reported that a number of ranchers have "volunteered" public access across their property. Common sense indicates that this is most unlikely. What has really happened is that the District has told ranchers in several instances who have applied for Open Space District funds that "volunteering" public access will be required to move to the top of the list. This is the same as requiring public access for Open Space District funding no matter how much smoke they blow around the issue. The Open Space District is a good concept, but it will fail without the support of the agricultural community in Sonoma County. I'm afraid that support will erode very quickly when the ranchers come to realize that the District is using our public tax money to fund a system of public trails across private ranches in Sonoma County.
cc: Mr, Lee Parker (handwritten on reverse: "David Hansen had his staff prepare this for his Farm Bureau meeting") COMPARISON OF IRREVOCABLE TRAIL OFFERS ON DIFFERENT TYPES OF COMPLETED AND PROPOSED DISTRICT EASEMENTS
Trail Easements on
lands purchased by District Sonoma
County Mr. Peter Pfendler RE: October 28, 1996 letter to John Bucher Dear Peter: I have recently received a copy of your letter sent to John Bucher at the Farm Bureau regarding the Open Space District and trails. I must say I am concerned about certain implications in the letter and disagree with some of the statements made. I would be willing to meet with you to discuss the District's policy regarding potential public access on properties with which the District is involved. I am unaware of any situations where the District has 'forced' public access on ranchers or other landowners over their properties. If you have specific information contrary to this, please let me know directly. Our selection process on what projects have priority is not contingent upon, nor is it based solely on whether trail opportunities are volunteered by the owner. Peter, because you and I have always had an open line of communication, I would like to discuss this matter with you. I have agreed to meet with the Farm Bureau Board to discuss this issue on the evening of November 21, and will contact you prior to that. Sincerely, c: Tom Schopflin, County Administrator DWH:cw PFENDLER
RANCHES November 19, 1996 VIA FED EX Dear John, In response to my letter to you dated October 28, 1996, David Hansen has written a letter to me dated November 14, 1996 {copies of both letters are enclosed). I am copying this letter to all those listed as receiving copies of David Hansen's letter. David Hansen's letter states that the Open Space District's selection process is not "based solely on whether trail opportunities are volunteered by the owner." That statement says a great deal about current OSD policy. At the time of the voter initiative that created SCAPOSD, the support of the agricultural community was solicited. There was a pledge and a promise that public access was not part of the deal, and that public access would never be required across private property to qualify for OSD funding. David Hansen's letter requests that I provide any specific information that I have regarding OSD attempts to "force" public access upon private ranchers or landowners. I will start with the situation with which I am most familiar -- my own. When my application for an open space easement on the Moon Ranch was scheduled for final OSD staff approval, David Hansen personally telephoned me and for the first time asked for public trail access. I have notes of that telephone call, which occurred on January 22, 1996. In that conversation, David Hansen told me that he "needed a plum" to recommend approval of the Moon Ranch easement, and said that he wanted public trail access to the lake in the center of the property. I responded that trail access was not part of the deal, and that the property would be unmarketable with a public trail through the center of it. I made written notes at the time of his phone call, because I was rather stunned that David Hansen would personally try to force public trail access upon a landowner in such an overt manner. While Mr. Hansen may feel that his comments were not intended to "force" public access, from a property owner's perspective his message was clearly perceived as pressure to chose between public access or risk losing District funding. The Bay Area Ridge Trail has a real problem in Sonoma County because their proposed unbroken trail must cross many miles of private ranches and dairy farms. The Ridge Trail concept is open public access for hikers, bikers and horses. When unpatrolled trails cross miles of private ranches, the problems are obvious. Liability, vandalism, poaching, marijuana cultivation, trespass, littering. drinking, drug use, fires and livestock disturbance are all too familiar to Sonoma County ranchers. Because of the unified opposition of the agricultural community, the Ridge Trail failed to get into Sonoma County's general plan in 1989. The Ridge Trail is now putting its efforts into trying to use Open Space District funds to buy a system of public trails across private rural property, They are currently focusing on trying to force a trail connection across private ranches on Sonoma Mountain. Every landowner on Sonoma Mountain who has dealt with the Open Space District has been forced to deal with the issue of the Ridge Trail. In one recent instance, a member of the District's advisory board made the approach to a major landowner on Sonoma Mountain, suggesting that the Open Space District would have great interest in purchasing an easement over his property, provided that he allowed Ridge Trail access. More recently, David Hansen personally drove to and met at the home of a landowner at the top of Sonoma Mountain Road who has an application for funding currently pending before the District. Mr. Hansen indicated to him that the District wants Ridge Trail access as part of the deal. The landowner has refused. Landowners with current applications at the Open Space District are understandably reluctant to come forward for fear of jeopardizing their applications. If the Farm Bureau wishes to conduct its own inquiry, it may wish to contact in a confidential manner those landowners who are currently dealing with the District, or who have dealt with the District in the past, particularly those owning property in areas of special interest to the Bay Area Ridge Trail. When the District's management tells applicants directly or by innuendo that they should expect to "volunteer" public access to increase their prospects of funding, that is the same as forcing them to accept public access as a condition of funding. One Open Space District staff member personally told me that landowners should consider themselves "in a beauty contest," and that applicants need to volunteer something to stand out from the crowd, specifically mentioning either public access or a bargain sale. The clear message is that unless they allow public access, certain landowners may not expect to get funding, or they can expect to get funding only at substantially less than their appraised values. The first mission of the District is agricultural preservation, Without an economically viable agricultural base, existing rural open space will inevitably be eroded by alternative land uses. The District's general manager has considerably more experience and background in public access advocacy than in commercial agriculture. The agricultural community needs to diligently monitor the policies of the District to ensure the integrity of the District's mission of agricultural and open space preservation. The last thing the ag community needs is the additional burden of public access trails across their private farms and ranches. To my knowledge. neither the Board of Supervisors nor the District's Authority Board has adopted any policy authorizing the use of OSD funds for Ridge Trail acquisitions. In the absence of any such policy, the efforts of the District to push Ridge Trail access over private property is misdirected. The Bay Area Ridge Trail is not based in Sonoma County and its mission has nothing to do with either agricultural preservation or open space. It has no business attempting to divert Sonoma County's open space public funds for its agenda. There has recently been an effort to get the local salaried employee of the Bay Area Ridge Trail appointed to the OSD Advisory Committee that recommends which transactions go forward for public funding. The Farm Bureau may wish to express its concern about this obvious conflict of interest to the County Board of Supervisors at this time. It is important that the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District succeed. That success depends directly upon the support of the agricultural community in Sonoma County, That support will disappear rapidly if the agricultural community sees that District money is being used to fund a system of public access trails across private ranches and farms in Sonoma County. Thank you.
cc: Tom Schopflin, County Administrator |
