LEX VINI

Deadline to Comment on Napa County’s New Draft Groundwater Sustainability Workplans is January 30, 2024

ATTENTION: The following proposed measures will impact existing groundwater pumpers in the Napa Valley Subbasin. Napa County’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) was approved by the California Department of Water Resources on January 26, 2023. The approved GSP identified the need to develop a Water Conservation Workplan and Groundwater Pumping Reduction Workplan. The GSP also identified […]

Deadline Is October 1, 2023 To Apply for Continuation Under Napa County’s Winery Waste Discharge Program

DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 1, 2023 TO APPLY FOR CONTINUATION UNDER NAPA COUNTY’S WINERY WASTE DISCHARGE PROGRAM The deadline to apply for Napa County’s Winery Waste Discharge Program was recently extended. For wineries currently enrolled in Napa County’s Winery Waste Discharge Program, the deadline to apply for continuation under the program is coming up on Sunday, […]

Deadline to Apply for Continuation Under Napa County’s Winery Waste Discharge Program

DEADLINE IS AUGUST 1, 2023 TO APPLY FOR CONTINUATION UNDER NAPA COUNTY’S WINERY WASTE DISCHARGE PROGRAM As California winery operators are likely aware, the new California Statewide General Waste Discharge Requirements for Winery Process Water Order requires compliance for most existing wineries beginning January 20, 2024. However, Napa County has arranged to continue its existing […]

Napa County Micro-Winery Ordinance Goes Into Effect May 5, 2022

On, April 5, 2022 the Napa County Board of Supervisors adopted a new “Micro-winery Ordinance”, allowing Napa Valley winegrape growers to produce and sell wine at their family farms. The Ordinance will go into effect May 5, 2022. The Ordinance will amend the Napa County Code to allow farmers to obtain a use permit for […]

Napa’s New Winery Compliance Rules Preceding Strict Enforcement

Earlier this month, the Napa County Board of Supervisors completed their review of the Agricultural Protection Advisory Committee’s (APAC) recommendations to improve agricultural protection, primarily by imposing new restrictions and limitations on wineries (See approved list of Board actions on APAC recommendations). One of the recommendations approved by the Board was to implement a phased, […]

Napa Lot Line Adjustments and Involuntary Mergers

By Tom Adams and Mark Phillips The Napa County Public Works Department is in the process of preparing amendments to the Subdivision and Zoning Ordinance as it relates to lot line adjustments and certificates of compliance. The changes originally proposed by staff were minor and did not warrant comments. However, during the “stakeholder” review of […]

Napa River’s Low Surface Flow Levels May Affect Napa Wineries & Vintners

Napa County’s agricultural water users rely on both groundwater and surface water flow to provide frost protection and irrigation. Similar to other areas of the state, it is anticipated that Napa vineyard owners will rely on groundwater resources to make up any shortfalls in surface water availability. Many vintners rely on the surface flows from […]

Napa County Winery Audits: What are the odds?

Each year Napa County sends out notices to 20 wineries that they have been selected to be subject to the annual winery audit for compliance with their individual use permits.  The County sent out its most recent notice on January 17, 2014 asking for information about annual production, visitation and custom crush activities.  The letter requests that […]

St. Helena City Council Rescinds Amendments to Small Winery Ordinance

St. Helena’s City Council unanimously voted to approve an emergency ordinance repealing recently passed amendments to the Small Winery Ordinance. We wrote about this matter earlier in the week. Tuesday’s vote prevents the amendments from being put on the November ballot as a referendum item, and effectively reopens debate regarding the proposed amendments.   A […]

St. Helena City Council Will Consider Rescinding Amendments to Small Winery Ordinance

St. Helena’s City Council will hold a hearing on Tuesday, February 11 to consider repealing amendments to the Small Winery Ordinance approved just a few weeks ago after a months-long process. From May – August 2013, the St. Helena Planning Commission held four hearings to consider amending provisions of the St. Helena Municipal Code that […]

New Legislation to Help California Grapegrowers Collect

To be a winegrape buyer you have to get a processors license from the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s market Enforcement Branch (the “MEB”).  When a buyer doesn’t pay for the grapes though, the seller can resort to a lawsuit or the seller can file a complaint with the MEB under the Processors Law. […]

Update on North Coast Frost Protection Rules

In February, we reported that regulations slated to be enforced against grape growers in the Russian River watershed during the frost protection season had been postponed pending court action on a legal dispute over their legitimacy.  We’ve been monitoring that case and wanted to provide readers an update as to status.  Currently, the case is […]

Courts Postpone Russian River Frost Protection Rules – For Now

Grape growers in the Russian River watershed were granted at least temporary relief from controversial new frost protection regulations earlier this month.  The regulations, originally due to be enforced starting March 15, were postponed by a Mendocino County judge pending the outcome of a trial on the merits set for March 23.  A similar action was filed […]

Aggressive State Stream Diversion Enforcement Comes to Napa River Watershed

A number of property owners in Napa County, including wineries, recently have received a form letter from the State Water Resources Control Board entitled, “NOTICE OF POTENTIAL UNAUTHORIZED DIVERSION AND USE OF WATER, AND FAILURE TO FILE A STATEMENT OF WATER DIVERSION AND USE FOR DIVERSION OF WATER IN NAPA COUNTY.” The letter states that the […]

Vineyard Property:The Not So Common Sense of Preventing Prescriptive Easments – Part II

This is the second part of a two part post discussing prescriptive easements. Last time we talked about how one of two neighbors (“Joe”) should be careful not to compromise or lose his claim to a prescriptive easement to continue using a road on his neighbor’s (“Jane’s”) property by using not so common, common sense. This time […]

Vineyard Property: The Not So Common Sense of Prescriptive Easements – Part I

This is the first part of a two part post discussing prescriptive easements. Common sense – that’s what guides most of us, most of the time, and that’s a good thing. However, when it comes to protecting property rights, common sense solutions can sometimes be dangerous. This is because some rules of property law are counterintuitive, […]

The Producer’s Lien: An Often Overlooked Legal Remedy in Grape Contract Disputes

In the wine industry, one of the most common legal disputes is breach of contract between grape growers and wineries.  Often times, grape growers are surprised to learn that, upon the delivery of grapes to a winery, they automatically have a statutory lien against any wine made from those grapes.  This lien, called a “producer’s […]

Avoiding Tax Reassessment in Transfer of Vineyard or Winery Properties

California real property is reassessed upon certain transfers causing higher (or lower) property taxes. Generally, a reassessment will occur when ownership of the property is transferred. Exclusions from reassessment are available for transfers of real property between spouses and between a parent and a child. Therefore, family owned vineyards and winery property may have been transferred down through […]

Fight Continues Over Lot-Line Adjustments in Napa County

The Sierra Club and a Napa resident have filed separate appeals of two Napa County Superior Court rulings that upheld Napa County’s policy on allowing “successive” lot-line adjustments involving four or fewer parcels. The County’s policy on lot-line adjustments first came under assault in connection with long-time grape grower and vintner, Will Nord, whose company, […]

Sonoma County Proposes Revisions to the Rules for Williamson Act Contracts

The Sonoma County Permit and Resource Management Department has drafted new rules to be applied to properties in Williamson Act agricultural preserve contracts.  The proposed 49 pages of rules will replace the existing seven pages of rules that were originally adopted in 1970.  Much of the new document clarifies existing state law and county policies, […]

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