County Inspections of Farm Buildings Halted

Saying unreasonable government regulations are hurting Ventura County’s No. 1 industry, local Farm Bureau Director Rex Laird on Wednesday hailed a county decision to halt building code investigations of about 100 farms.

But one official is upset that County Administrator Lin Koester acted without the Board of Supervisor’s approval when he ordered building inspectors last week to cease investigations of farms, fruit stands and nurseries.

“Any policy change, even if it’s an emergency, should always come before the board,” board Chairman John K. Flynn said. “Some changes need to be made, but my quarrel is the way it needs to be done. These are public matters, we’re a public agency and we are servants to the people. We do things in public.”

Koester said he considered the issue urgent because the board has given top priority to protecting the area’s $1.2-billion-a-year farming industry, which employs about 20,000 people during peak periods.

“This was not done in a vacuum,” Koester said. “This was done with considerable forethought.”

Koester made the decision to halt investigations Dec. 22, following a meeting four days earlier with Supervisor Judy Mikels and the owner of a tree farm near Moorpark who has made campaign contributions to Mikels. Several farm industry representatives also attended the meeting.

Growers and county officials say farmers are struggling to deal with regulations, paying up to thousands of dollars to put in new buildings and being forced to get permits for tiny storage sheds and other basic structures.

“To me, the [building code] regulations seem overly restrictive,” Koester said. “It was the right decision for agriculture in Ventura County.”

Oxnard flower grower Wim Zwinkels is one of many farmers who say county regulations are strangling their businesses. He said he has paid between $60,000 and $70,000 in building and permit fees to keep his farm running over the last nine years.

“The county doesn’t seem to understand a nursery is a growing operation,” he said. “You need more growing space for a freezer or a cooler, but every time you have to go through the permits and zoning clearance.”

Pointing to a case he dealt with this week, Laird said the time has come for county officials to loosen the regulations.

After learning that it would cost $205 in permit fees to relocate a wind fan, a lemon grower came to the Farm Bureau for help, Laird said. The Farm Bureau lobbied successfully to have the permits issued in one day, rather than the standard one to two weeks. But the fees still had to be paid.

“That’s a classic case,” Laird said.

Meanwhile, Mikels defended her intervention on behalf of John Boething, the owner of Boething Treeland nursery near Moorpark. Boething and other employees of his Woodland Hills-based Boething Phreelance Farms Inc. have made approximately $2,300 in contributions to Mikels since 1994, county records show.

Mikels said she was giving no favors to Boething.

“I really resent that inference,” Mikels said Wednesday. “He’s my constituent. This is a blanket thing, for all the agricultural industry.”

Boething could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Mikels said his case illustrates the problems with the county’s farm building regulations. Boething, she said, has spent thousands of dollars to meet many unnecessary requirements.

During an eight-year struggle with the county code department, Boething has had to get permits to build a manure shed, shade structures, small houses for his guard dogs and covers for outdoor telephones, officials said.

None of those structures seems to need any kind of regulation, Mikels said.

Instead, Mikels believes the county needs to roll back regulations on those kinds of farm buildings. She said the county should focus on overseeing buildings where farm workers regularly work, such as offices and cutting sheds.

“We seem to be talking out two sides of our mouth,” Mikels said. “We love agriculture and want to keep it alive, but we’re applying urban standards to the agricultural community.”

Supervisors Kathy Long, Frank Schillo and Flynn joined Mikels in saying that a review of farm building regulations is in order. Supervisor Susan Lacey did not return phone calls.

Schillo said that the county has already taken steps to ease some regulations, such as those prohibiting farmers from running accounting operations out of their homes.

Long, Schillo and Mikels said Koester acted properly by enacting the freeze on farm investigations.

County Counsel Jim McBride agreed. As the supervisor of all county departments, including the building and safety agency, the chief administrator has the authority to put such investigations on hold, McBride said.

Koester’s order means that growers across the county under investigation for putting up unauthorized sheds, shade equipment and other structures will not have to make any changes--at least until supervisors review county regulations on farm buildings. The order has no effect on health and safety inspections, which target issues such as unsanitary water and septic tank leaks.

Koester said he will bring the issue of farm building codes to the board for full discussion Feb. 24. A full review of the county’s building codes is expected in July.

Before the board’s February meeting, officials expect to release a study comparing Ventura County’s farm building regulations with other counties across the state.