Sonoma County's Vineyard Vacation Rental Cottages Face Potential Ban

Fancy a weekend in a cozy vintage Northern California wine country cottage nestled amongst the dense vines of a rural vineyard? Think again, for this quintessential Sonoma County sortee might well be a thing of the past if the powers-that-be in zoning decide to axe such romantic notions of rustic mini-break bounty.

For word is out amongst economically hard-pressed grape growers in the county that Sonoma County's Permit and Resource Management Department might have taken a notion to ban vacation cottage rentals on Land Intensive Agricultural (LIA) and Land Extensive Agricultural (LEA) zoned parcels - the vast majority of which are regional vineyards.

Sonoma County Winegrape Commission and the County's Tourism Board share concern for the many enterprising grape growers who have come to rely upon the extra income of small, vacation properties.

"We know that some grape growers depend upon renting a cottage on their land to keep afloat and these rentals seldom pose any problem to neighbors, so we are opposing the elimination of these rentals," says Green Certified Russian River Getaway's owner and Sonoma County Tourism Board member Camille LeGrand.

Mark Matson, owner of Birdsong Properties in Healdsburg has been designated as point person for vineyard vacation property owners, groups and organizations who have an interest in opposing the Permit and Resource Management Department's potential move.

As recession times continue to wreak havoc with wine sales, vineyard owners are becoming increasingly creative in diversifying their business models to attract visitors and maintain profitability. The welcoming nature of Sonoma County is enriched by authentic, one-of-a-kind hospitality. Like the simple B&B in much of Europe, a bed for the night on a privately owned property offers a pleasant repose for the traveler and a few extra pennies for the host.

Frequent reports of wild, unregulated, wine country vacation home issues aside, what is the problem with a small, carefully monitored rental cottage in an otherwise isolated spot?

Comments

[lara.knutson@gmail.com]

I don't understand the reasoning behind the ban?

[Frances]

I know there has been quite a lot of controversy over large party groups renting wine country properties and raising the roof with all sorts of shenanigans but I don't think that's the case with vineyard vacation cottages per se. I'm not sure why the permit people are pursuing this - seems against the grain (or should I say, the vine) here in wine country.