Second stop-work order placed on Justin Vineyard expansion
Pictured left is a shot from Google Maps in 2015, and on the right is a shot taken by Matt Trevison in his plane a few weeks ago.
Company repeatedly violated permit terms and conditions, resource district says
–Estate Vineyards LLC, owned by The Wonderful Company, received a second stop-work order for its Justin Winery expansion project in westside Paso Robles where hundreds of oak trees have been removed.
The Upper Salinas-Las Tablas Resource Conservation District issued the stop-work order to Estate Vineyards LLC, which owns the property at 750 Sleepy Farm Road, terminating a work agreement it had issued to the property owners allowing them to build a agricultural pond. The company repeatedly violated the terms of the permit, according to Upper Salinas-Las Tablas Resource Conservation District Executive Director Devin Best.
Best said the owners committed three violations of the pond construction permit:
1) The company had failed to tell the agency when they planned to start construction,
2) The company failed to publicly post the work permit before work started,
3) The company failed to notify the agency of tree removal so nesting bird surveys for could be conducted.
San Luis Obispo County Code Enforcement visited the 375-acre property last week, located at 750 Sleepy Farm Road, and also issued a stop-work order on the project because of grading violations, according to San Luis Obispo County Planning and Building Department Director James A. Bergman.
No more Justin wine for my family……
I hope the county has some balls and revokes and then denies all permits for them. They have demonstrated their unwillingness to adhere to good land use practices and follow the rules/laws.
I agree with both you guys.
You know, there should be absolutely no further permits issued for projects that will result in the use of large amounts of water. I can't water my 12X20 for lawn, how much water is that compared to irrigation and the pond Justin's project will use.
You haven't seen anything yet. Justin had full permission to do this work, they just forgot a couple details. There are more of these permitted projects in the pipe. Enjoy this area while you can. Its just a matter of time.
"Justin had full permission to do this work, they just forgot a couple details." We see this below. This demostrates to me that the "permission" process is flawed. Big farming is going to suck all the water out of this county and leve us "high and dry". It was good to see 200+ concerned citizens at Nature's Touch in Templeton. Their collective mood was far from happy.
I saw it coming and got out of the hellhole that is north San Luis Obispo Co. There is no area in the wine production business that produces more ordinary wine dressed up as premium product. There are a few wineries producing excellent wines, but the majority is plain old plonk.
The sad thing is Paso is changing in all ways, it's not a small town atmosphere anymore…call it whatever you want…the vineyards/wineries have priority because they bring in revenue…the restaurants are outpricing, so the locals can't eat out as often…there's hotels going up all around the edge of town…why?….the city is catering to the tourists…who bring in revenue…all the locals are being pushed away. I've only been here 8 years, and I can see big changes and where Paso is headed…"hello, big city lights!"
Restoration? Why do they still have a permit to operate a business?
This is so disgusting and so unnecessary. I will boycott Estate Vineyards and all of their subsidiaries forever.
Indeed the process is flawed. A couple of things are very clear. First, had Justin remembered to dot every "I" and cross every "T" on the details, the County wouldn't have anything to to compell them to quit their activities. The county is super business-friendly and ordinarily couldn't care less about environmental issues (see their do-nothing-about-the-water policy). Secondly, it's obvious the County was taken by surprise at the level of outcry over the Justin situation. They had to do some quick back-peddling to save face – thus, the second stop order, which occurred after the story broke. I hope the Supervisors take heed of this and weigh the rights of neighbors more carefully in the future before granting big money the right to do anything they want to do.
Art Nathan true to my alma mater your snot-ball attitude really has nothing to do with the issue at hand here and all about your opinion of the region's wine quality…c'mon man!
It's the same bitter-sweet relationship that all the locals have eventually experienced in No. Cal starting with Napa in the 70's…. Good for property values, but then there's the increase in taxes, traffic, cost of living, etc., etc….
It's the same bitter-sweet relationship that all the locals have eventually experienced in No. Cal starting with Napa in the 70's…. Good for property values, but then there's the increase in taxes, traffic, cost of living, etc., etc….
Given that The Wonderful Company makes much of their commitment to "sustainability" and that tree removal and erosion from grading steep slopes are such hot button issues, one would think before removing so many trees or disturbing the soil every "i" would be dotted and "t" crossed before moving ahead. Doing a project like this correctly is an expensive proposition and there can be strong pressures to cut corners. The new problem is stopping the project now might be worse for the environment than going ahead. Maybe putting the agencies between a rock and a hard place was the plan from the beginning. I suppose the owner could be asked to replant the oaks, install silt fences, and seed with a cover crop, but that doesn't happen very often.
makes me ill thinking about the environmental impact of this action – and what's to come!
makes me ill thinking about the environmental impact of this action – and what's to come!
Ouch Ouch ouch!
First of all… shame on Justin wines….we should all boycoutt them. Greed drives this type of activity. Second, shame on the SLO Permit approval process. This should have never been approved in the first place…..we need to change our permit standards to maintain our landscape~
In my county of Calaveras, we had a developer turn an olive orchard into a golf course under the guise of "ag tourism." Their thinking being when traveling in their carts, the golfers could admire the old trees and find respect for them. Also a project that took more and more water from a limited aquifer. It took perhaps two years and multiple, expensive lawsuits to shut them down because it was not stopped early on. In that time, the developers also managed to get some support from local groups including the local police union so we became a county divided. There is a place for all when permits are pulled and rules followed. I hope that you can learn from our very costly mistake and address early on.
Boycott !
or they're just corporate hypocrites that use the "sustainability" label for marketing purposes like so many other buzz words…
From my understanding, Justin has been ordered to plant 500 oak seedlings. Unfortunately, it will take 50 years for those seedling to make an impact on our community.
If you google the Resnicks you will find anything but sustainability. Look at what happened to the Kern County locals and Fijians…buying bottled water since theirs in owned by Resnick companies. Get ready!
Exactly!! How frustrating for us peon "home owners"
I wholeheartedly agree
I wholeheartedly agree
No more Justin wine for my family……
I hope the county has some balls and revokes and then denies all permits for them. They have demonstrated their unwillingness to adhere to good land use practices and follow the rules/laws.
I agree with both you guys.
You know, there should be absolutely no further permits issued for projects that will result in the use of large amounts of water. I can't water my 12X20 for lawn, how much water is that compared to irrigation and the pond Justin's project will use.
You haven't seen anything yet. Justin had full permission to do this work, they just forgot a couple details. There are more of these permitted projects in the pipe. Enjoy this area while you can. Its just a matter of time.
"Justin had full permission to do this work, they just forgot a couple details." We see this below. This demostrates to me that the "permission" process is flawed. Big farming is going to suck all the water out of this county and leve us "high and dry". It was good to see 200+ concerned citizens at Nature's Touch in Templeton. Their collective mood was far from happy.
I saw it coming and got out of the hellhole that is north San Luis Obispo Co. There is no area in the wine production business that produces more ordinary wine dressed up as premium product. There are a few wineries producing excellent wines, but the majority is plain old plonk.
The sad thing is Paso is changing in all ways, it's not a small town atmosphere anymore…call it whatever you want…the vineyards/wineries have priority because they bring in revenue…the restaurants are outpricing, so the locals can't eat out as often…there's hotels going up all around the edge of town…why?….the city is catering to the tourists…who bring in revenue…all the locals are being pushed away. I've only been here 8 years, and I can see big changes and where Paso is headed…"hello, big city lights!"
Restoration? Why do they still have a permit to operate a business?
This is so disgusting and so unnecessary. I will boycott Estate Vineyards and all of their subsidiaries forever.
Indeed the process is flawed. A couple of things are very clear. First, had Justin remembered to dot every "I" and cross every "T" on the details, the County wouldn't have anything to to compell them to quit their activities. The county is super business-friendly and ordinarily couldn't care less about environmental issues (see their do-nothing-about-the-water policy). Secondly, it's obvious the County was taken by surprise at the level of outcry over the Justin situation. They had to do some quick back-peddling to save face – thus, the second stop order, which occurred after the story broke. I hope the Supervisors take heed of this and weigh the rights of neighbors more carefully in the future before granting big money the right to do anything they want to do.
Art Nathan true to my alma mater your snot-ball attitude really has nothing to do with the issue at hand here and all about your opinion of the region's wine quality…c'mon man!
It's the same bitter-sweet relationship that all the locals have eventually experienced in No. Cal starting with Napa in the 70's…. Good for property values, but then there's the increase in taxes, traffic, cost of living, etc., etc….
It's the same bitter-sweet relationship that all the locals have eventually experienced in No. Cal starting with Napa in the 70's…. Good for property values, but then there's the increase in taxes, traffic, cost of living, etc., etc….
Given that The Wonderful Company makes much of their commitment to "sustainability" and that tree removal and erosion from grading steep slopes are such hot button issues, one would think before removing so many trees or disturbing the soil every "i" would be dotted and "t" crossed before moving ahead. Doing a project like this correctly is an expensive proposition and there can be strong pressures to cut corners. The new problem is stopping the project now might be worse for the environment than going ahead. Maybe putting the agencies between a rock and a hard place was the plan from the beginning. I suppose the owner could be asked to replant the oaks, install silt fences, and seed with a cover crop, but that doesn't happen very often.
makes me ill thinking about the environmental impact of this action – and what's to come!
makes me ill thinking about the environmental impact of this action – and what's to come!
Ouch Ouch ouch!
First of all… shame on Justin wines….we should all boycoutt them. Greed drives this type of activity. Second, shame on the SLO Permit approval process. This should have never been approved in the first place…..we need to change our permit standards to maintain our landscape~
In my county of Calaveras, we had a developer turn an olive orchard into a golf course under the guise of "ag tourism." Their thinking being when traveling in their carts, the golfers could admire the old trees and find respect for them. Also a project that took more and more water from a limited aquifer. It took perhaps two years and multiple, expensive lawsuits to shut them down because it was not stopped early on. In that time, the developers also managed to get some support from local groups including the local police union so we became a county divided. There is a place for all when permits are pulled and rules followed. I hope that you can learn from our very costly mistake and address early on.
Boycott !
or they're just corporate hypocrites that use the "sustainability" label for marketing purposes like so many other buzz words…
From my understanding, Justin has been ordered to plant 500 oak seedlings. Unfortunately, it will take 50 years for those seedling to make an impact on our community.
If you google the Resnicks you will find anything but sustainability. Look at what happened to the Kern County locals and Fijians…buying bottled water since theirs in owned by Resnick companies. Get ready!
Exactly!! How frustrating for us peon "home owners"
I wholeheartedly agree
I wholeheartedly agree