July 22, 2008
Opinion: “State money trumps ag interests for county”
At the Zamora meeting on July 15, we learned that the county General Services suggested the sites for the proposed re-entry facility.
I am a third generation small farmer in Yolo County. The county does not allow a farmer to split a parcel from his land, even to sell to the farmer's child. The zoning laws and ordinances responsible are said to be in existence to protect the county's agricultural lands. But apparently it is a different situation if the county is offered money from the state.
The county appears to be very willing to let a landowner split a piece of land and remove it entirely from agriculture in order to provide a prison site. Isn't this exactly what the zoning laws were designed to prevent - a landowner dramatically changing the use of his land, and in so doing affecting the use of and reducing the value of adjacent properties…?
LINK - DailyDemocrat.com
