The reason new suburbanites don't understand farmers in his city, said third- generation Brentwood farmer Tom Bloomfield, is that where a homeowner sees a picturesque vineyard, the farmer sees his retirement nest egg.
It's the age-old conflict in Brentwood: One family's view is another's business.
That face-off is dividing Brentwood, as California's fastest-growing city is grappling with how to maintain its rural character for new cul-de-sac-ers, while helping its farmers stay afloat. And the balancing act is teetering lately.
Farmers are ripping a new plan that's intended to help them withstand the pressure to sell their land to developers.
A year in the making, the plan would require developers to pay a $5,000 fee for each acre of land they pave. That money would go into a trust that would be used to buy permanent easements on farmland in and around Brentwood, making the land unavailable for development forever.
Saying they'd be more hurt than helped if the City Council approves the Agriculture Enterprise Program next week, several farmers who worked on the 21-person panel that wrote the plan say it is being rushed to the council for political reasons. All but one of the farmers on the panel opposed the proposal, which could save up to 3,000 acres in and around the city.
``The City Council has got blood on their hands from approving all these new homes, and they're trying to wash it off with my dirt,'' said Bloomfield, whose family has grown grapes and other crops in Brentwood since the mid- 1940s. ``They've got these environmentalists on their backs, and they hope this makes them go away.''
But given the trend toward tighter growth restrictions in Contra Costa County, the future doesn't hold a lot of financial promise for more development here, said community development director Mitch Oshinsky.
So while other California cities have solved this dilemma by creating ballot initiatives or simply rezoning agricultural land, Oshinsky said, ``Brentwood has tried to take the kinder, gentler route in getting the farmers some compensation for their land.''
But farmers say permanently removing development rights would devalue their land because the only people interested in buying it would be the new land trust. Some would prefer that the easements be renewable every 10 to 20 years.
``This plan assumes that people are interested in buying farmland in Brentwood, and that children are interested in taking over their parents' farms,'' said Sarah Mora, executive secretary of the Contra Costa Farm Bureau, which has not taken a position on the proposal. ``And neither is happening here.''
If Brentwood residents want to live in a rural-flavored community, farmers say all locals should pay to help agriculture survive. Yet the idea of a public subsidy is one of several points that never made it into the plan approved 4 to 1 by the city's Planning Commission. It is scheduled to come before the City Council November 14.
``If you really believe in something, you put your money into it,'' said third-generation farmer Mark Dwelley. ``A lot of people want the view, but they don't want to pay for it.''
Nevertheless, environmentalists praised the proposal - especially since it comes from Brentwood, long seen as the Bay Area's poster child for sprawl development. Approximately 5,000 homes have been approved but not yet built in the 21,000-resident community that some planners believe could double in size within a decade.
``Finally, Brentwood is doing something to curb sprawl,'' said Evelyn Stivers of the Greenbelt Alliance, and a member of the committee that wrote the report.
Stivers said farmers shouldn't be worried about their land values dropping. She pointed to $25 million in state funds available to buy up land, as well as untold millions in private foundation money that could augment the proposed East Contra Costa Agricultural Land Trust.
There are more than 1,000 land trusts nationwide, the most notable being the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, which has preserved over 30,000 acres on 43 family farms over the past 20 years. But despite its storied history, the trust is searching for new ways to raise money, and has just begun a $10 million fund-raising campaign.
The 3-year-old Agricultural Trust of Contra Costa County has contributed to only one land acquisition -- a 1,000-acre plot near Marsh Creek Road. There is $350,000 left in the trust, which relies on donations since it has no continuing funding mechanism; so far, it has only received $3,000 in donations. County Agriculture Commissioner Ed Meyer foresees no competition between the two trusts.
The good news for Brentwood is that a national conference of major corporate supporters for such land trusts is coming to Oakland in March. John Chapman, chairman of the board of trustees for the East Bay Community Foundation -- and a member of the Brentwood panel -- is also in charge of site visits for the group of visiting heavy-hitters. ``And I will ensure that Brentwood will be put before them,'' he said.
Money aside, though, a voluntary program in Brentwood won't preserve any open space if land owners aren't interested in selling.
``Right now, I don't know of many who would support it,'' Dwelley said.
Some farmers say the proposal wouldn't change anything -- other than Brentwood's image as one of California's fastest-growing cities. Some think the city is pushing the plan so a regional land use board will believe that the city is trying to protect farmland, and allow it to break the newly-minted urban limit line and bring more houses in town. The city is suing Contra Costa County over its decision to pull in the line.
The Farm Bureau's Mora thinks the city could do more for farmers by enforcing its Right-to-Farm Ordinance and educating new residents about the manure-and-tractor-in-traffic realities of living in a farm town.
However, even the plan's staunchest opponents say it offers much to be salvaged.
Several farmers praised the report's proposal to allow land owners/developers to transfer agricultural ``credits'' to other parts of town. Here, a developer would accept a permanent restriction on building on farmland in exchange for being able to build higher densities elsewhere in the city. The committee just needs more time to work out ideas like that, said Ron Nunn, a longtime resident who is the rare combination of farmer and developer. Nunn farms 2,500 acres and co-developed Summerset, the Brentwood senior community that will have 2,000 units when built out.
Nunn favors a middle ground: Start by saving farms along the main roads into town -- Highway 4, Vasco Road, Marsh Creek Road -- that will give newcomers a sense of country living. If that works, then branch out.
But first, the city has to convince farmers to give up their nest eggs.
``Farmers think in the long- term,'' Dwelley said. ``When we plant a tree, we think of what will be there in 20 or 30 years. But this plan shows that a lot of people are thinking in the short-term.''
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