Napa County to Decide Fate of Controversial Vineyard Project

[ The Walt Ranch project will add 209 acres of vineyards within a 316-acre property in the Atlas Peak appellation of eastern Napa County. ]


NAPA, Calif.— The Napa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider the controversial Le Colline vineyard project proposed in Angwin. The vineyard conversion project would destroy 28 acres of forest and shrublands, block a crucial wildlife corridor and increase wildfire risk and could pollute a nearby creek and lake that supply Napa’s drinking water.

“A new vineyard operation, particularly one that would harm the natural ecology of the land and surrounding community, must comply with the law. Even in wine country,” said Frances Tinney, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “There would be real damage from cutting down trees and chaparral for an agricultural operation so close to Conn Creek. Supervisors need to carefully consider how to reduce these environmental harms before greenlighting another project that will permanently scar a special part of the Angwin community.”

The county planning division approved Le Colline in March. The board will consider the Center’s appeal, which says the project approval violated the California Environmental Quality Act.

What: Napa County Board of Supervisors meeting to consider Le Colline Vineyard project.

When: 9 a.m., Tuesday, August 15

Where: Napa County Board of Supervisors chambers, 1195 Third St., Suite 305, Napa, CA, 94559

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@NapaCounty/streams

Who: Center attorney Frances Tinney and Center scientist Tiffany Yap will be at the meeting and available for interviews.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
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