Ruling allows Mendocino County vineyard fans to keep running while lawsuit proceeds

A Mendocino County lawsuit aimed at reducing the noise generated by frost-protection fans in Anderson Valley vineyards may proceed, but the fans are allowed to whir while the case is litigated, a judge ruled Friday.

Mendocino County Judge Richard Henderson denied both the plaintiff’s request seeking to immediately halt the machines and the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case.

The lawsuit, filed by Anderson Valley resident Mark Scaramella, demands that the county enforce its noise ordinance standards on agricultural operations. It named as defendants Mendocino County’s elected supervisors, the agricultural commissioner and the planning director. Scaramella’s nearest farming neighbors, the owners of the fans in question - Pennyroyal Farms, Foursight Wines and V. Sattui Winery - were named as parties in the case.

County officials say farming operations are exempt from the noise ordinance under “right to farm” regulations aimed at protecting agricultural operations from people who move to rural areas, then complain about farming operations and try to have them halted or altered.

In denying the restraining order seeking to have the fans shut off, Henderson ensured the fans could run an estimated 10 additional nights this spring. Weighing the complaints of neighbors with the needs of wine grape growers, Henderson wrote “the prohibition against the use of agricultural fans during the balance of the frost season could result in losses measured in the tens of millions of dollars.”

Henderson also found the lawsuit lacked crucial data measuring the volume of the fans. Without measurements, in decibels, the court could not rule on whether the noise ordinance is being exceeded, Henderson said.

Scaramella and his attorney, Rod Jones, contend the burden of obtaining that information should lie with the county. Jones said he will ask Henderson to modify his ruling to include requiring the county to collect that data.

Friday’s hearing was attended by more than a dozen ranchers from throughout the county.

“The right to farm ordinance is important for all of us,” Potter Valley rancher Janet Pauli said, explaining the show of support.

The noise debate reached a boiling point in the Anderson Valley last year, when the drought led farmers to increasingly turn to fans for frost protection.

Fans have been utilized for decades, but for years stood mostly dormant because farmers prefer to use water, which offers superior protection from frost by encasing budding plants in ice. The use of fans - which raise temperatures by mixing in warmer air layers - recently surged, as winegrape growers seek to conserve precious water supplies and to comply with new state regulations restricting water use for frost protection.

Scaramella said the increase in fan use made living conditions at his home unbearable. He has compared the noise to helicopters hovering over his home.

He said he appreciates that farmers are reducing their water use but the fans needn’t be so loud. There are models available that create less noise and vibrations and ways to quiet other fans, Scaramella said.

The case is scheduled for its next court appearance May 15.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MendoReporter