Ventura County must accommodate a variety of sometimes competing land uses. In these cases care must be taken not to subvert the overall county General Plan with regard to agriculture lands. VCFB supports the maintenance of parcel sizes in agricultural zoned areas that provide realistic economic units for commercial agricultural production. Once established, deviation from General Plan property sizes should not be allowed. Efforts to reduce parcel sizes and provide for the division of agricultural lands into smaller units are not in the interest of long-term agriculture and should be scrutinized very carefully in the planning process.
Viable agriculture means profitable agriculture.
Agriculture in Ventura County is characterized by a growing interface with the urban community. It is important that agriculture have at its disposal the tools, cultural practices, and infrastructure necessary to produce crops that can succeed in a competitive marketplace. At the same time it is important that farmers be good neighbors to their urban neighbors. To protect agriculture's growing space and to insulate farmers from nuisances that can arise from the urban dwellers lack of understanding about necessary cultural practices, VCFB strongly urges that county government and cities adopt comprehensive right to farm ordinances. These ordinances should not only recognize basic farm practices but also the need for related farm services such as transportation and packing house facilities.