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The Alameda County Board of Supervisors recently amended land-use policies to facilitate the development of visitor-serving establishments in unincorporated South Livermore Valley in an effort to encourage wine-related tourism as well as the expansion of vineyards and other cultivated agriculture.Â
More specifically, the changes allow for the clustering of buildings on parcels in the area as well as additional conditional uses including commercial establishments directly related to agriculture such as tasting rooms, inns and food and beverage stores, according to the amendments to the East County Area Plan.
Additionally, the amendments acknowledge sewer service as an alternative to septic service and adds requirements for clustering plans, Alameda County senior planner Ali Abbors said.
The supervisors approved relevant policy changes at their May 8 and June 5 meetings through General Plan amendments to the ECAP — encompassing 418 square miles of eastern Alameda County including the cities of Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, a portion of Hayward as well as surrounding unincorporated areas — as well as amendments to the Alameda County General Ordinance Code.Â
A corresponding addendum to the 1993 South Livermore Valley Area Plan environmental impact report was also approved to address the proposed amendments and related changes to county zoning ordinance.
“These amendments are critical to the long-term success of Livermore Valley’s wine industry and the local economy,” Tri-Valley Conservancy Executive Director Rebecca Spector said in a statement. “They create the conditions for sustainable economic growth while ensuring that the land remains protected and in agriculture for generations to come.”
The decision follows “Realizing the Heritage: Grape Growing and Winemaking in the Livermore Valley”, a 2022 study that features an economic analysis of winegrape and wine production in the Livermore Valley.
Authored by University of California, Davis professors James T. Lapsley and Daniel A. Sumner, the study received funding from groups including the Tri-Valley Conservancy, a nonprofit land trust dedicated to protecting and advocating for agricultural land and open space in the Bay Area.
Among the report’s findings is a suggestion that zoning and other public infrastructure accommodating to agri-tourism lends well to a tourism-based industry.
According to the report, “The Livermore Valley winegrape industry will thrive if it can keep costs under control relative to other coastal regions, if it can improve yields in the next generation of vineyards and if it can maintain or improve demand by expanding its reputation in the national market or in the local market for vine tourism.”
Also during 2022, the county’s planning staff received a letter from TVC proposing amendments to ECAP and the county zoning ordinance aiming to promote development of economically sustainable agricultural operations in the South Livermore Valley, the board’s May 8 report states. The proposed amendments were later revised.
A primary objective of the amendments was to allow for the clustering of buildings on parcels in the SLVAP to facilitate the development of visitor-serving commercial facilities, the report states.
According to one ECAP amendment, an applicant may submit a clustering plan to the county for any parcel of at least 40 acres or for two or more adjoining parcels whose combined area totals at least 40 acres.
At least 90% of the acreage of parcels containing visitor-serving commercial uses must be planted and maintained with cultivated agriculture for as long as the visitor-serving commercial uses are in operation. No planting requirement would apply to parcels that do not have a visitor-serving commercial use.
Within each 20-acre increment of a parcel or parcels, the applicant is entitled to one homesite, including one residential unit and residential accessory uses; one 2-acre building envelope; and visitor-serving commercial uses not exceeding 20,000 square feet.
A net increase of 150,000 square feet of new visitor-serving commercial space within the vineyard area of South Livermore is permitted within the EIR addendum.
Proposed developments are still subject to the county review.
Planning staff determined that the board could approve the proposed amendments without a ballot measure because the amendments would not change ECAP policies or programs that were added or modified by Measure D.
The voter-approved law from 2000 aims at “preserving and enhancing agriculture and agricultural lands, and protecting the natural qualities, the wildlife habitats, the watersheds and the beautiful open space of Alameda County from excessive, badly located and harmful development”, the county planning department told the board in a May 1 letter. Measure D 2022, further amended ECAP to increase the floor area ratio allowed for agricultural buildings on property designated as large parcel agriculture, the letter states.
“We want to realize the full potential of Livermore Valley as a world-class wine region,” Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association Executive Director Brandi Lombardi said in a statement. “These zoning changes support the vitality of mid-sized wineries, which are critical to our area, and strengthen our rural economy. Most importantly, they keep agriculture at the heart of South Livermore.”
