Farmers Oppose Rural Land Initiative

Sonoma County's farming community has announced its oppositionto the Sierra Clubs' Rural Heritage Initiative, asserting that they werenot consulted in the development process and that the measure may havehidden consequences to the farming community. The initiative aims toprevent large-scale development on agricultural land by requiring voterapproval for changes in the general plan that would increase buildingrights or change farmland designations to other commercial uses. Criticspoint out that the initiative would result in a cost increase totaxpayers, for each change in the general plan could cost as much as$50,000. In addition, representative government is effectively disabledby taking land-use decisions away from county supervisors. Proponents ofthe measure contend that initiative would help preserve farmland andthat voters have a right to influence important land-use decisions.