Lake County Record-Bee

Court ruling: A win for Six Sigma

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

John Jensen - Record-Bee staff

LOWER LAKE -- In legal courts, the spirit of law can be overruled by the letter of the law. Six Sigma Ranch in Lower Lake has gotten the go-ahead to develop approximately 109 acres of vineyard.

On Wednesday, Judge Robert Crone overturned a temporary restraining order against the vineyard development that was filed last month by Forest Unlimited and Concerned Citizens of Coon Flat and Jerusalem Grade Roads (CCCFJGR). Crone additionally denied a preliminary injunction to halt development altogether on the ranch, owned by Kaj Ahlmann.

The CCCFJGR filed their complaint based on concerns over the vineyard's potential water usage and the preservation of oak woodlands.

However, Crone decided the issue based more upon the merits of the case and the likelihood of Six Sigma prevailing in court in the future, said County Assistant Resource Planner Kyrsten Shields.

Additionally, Crone concluded that Ahlmann would suffer greater harm through the injunction than would the petitioners.

The documents also state the basis for dissolving the restraining order was that CCCFJGR could not provide properly "authenticated supporting documents and establish the qualification of their experts in areas such as oak woodlands."

It is expected that a challenge to the project itself will occur in late spring or early summer, Shields added. The ruling will allow Ahlmann to proceed with his plans to establish the vineyard.

Ahlmann said Monday he is pleased and not surprised at the ruling. "From day one I've felt it was pretty straight forward," he said.

He added that he had taken care of "all the mitigation you could imagine" in an effort to appease his neighbors. He was concerned that the approach taken by CCCFJGR was "completely out of balance" and bordered on the absurd.

For Ahlmann, the issue boils down to just one thing. "A farmer just wants to farm his farm," he said.

CCCFJGR is not done fighting, though the group has taken a bruising in court.

"It's just troubling that so much of this can happen and there don't seem to be many public protections," Alicia Farnsworth of Vineyard Watch said by phone from Tucson on Monday."This is a disappointment. We were hoping for more water monitoring at least." CCCFJGR had hoped that neighbor's wells would be monitored, too, said Farnsworth.

The monitoring will include only Ahlmann's wells and for a period of two years, according to earlier court documents.

CCCFJGR has been opposed to the development since the initial study comment period in August 2003, "when only people within 600 feet of the project were notified in writing and many of us only had 11 days to read the first initial study document and respond to it by the deadline," according to the Vineyard Watch Web site.

For Jackson Morgan, another neighbor of Six Sigma not involved with CCCFJGR, the real issue is not just the introduction of a new vineyard but the collateral damage of unrestrained growth in Lake County.

Morgan, who lives within a quarter mile of the proposed vineyard, is concerned about how the county proceeds with development.

"As I understand it the county has absolute responsibility to protect households of pre-existing residents," he said.

Morgan explained he doesn't believe that it matters one bit whether a vineyard or a housing development goes in since any kind of additional development will impact the quality of life for current residents.

"What comes next? How many more vineyards? Groundwater goes down when vineyards go in and pre-existing places will face water problems," he warned.