Secretive California Olive Grower Doesn't Want Any Overflights

The owner of an 80-acre olive farm near Santa Rosa, California is continuing to pursue a 2009 lawsuit which has grounded most ballooning activities in the region, as well as pest control and other aviation activities.

File Photo

JCM Farming incorporated filed the lawsuit against 15 defendants, only two of which remain, in Riverside Superior Court. The other 13 have agreed to JCM's demands, had judgements entered against them, or gone out of business. JCM has also threatened to sue anyone who allows balloons to take of or land from their property, and customers of the balloon companies.

The Dessert Sun reports that JCM contends the balloons and other companies, such as one which drops sterile insects on farmland for pest control, create a nuisance by flying to low over the farm. JCM's attorney claims they are violating the law and creating a danger. But the FAA has twice investigated JCM's claims and found them to be without merit. The agency has officially closed the matter, which caused JCM to name the FAA in the lawsuit, as well as the USDA which operates the pest control flights.

At the center of the controversy is a compound at the center of the olive grove, which resembles a fortress, with walls 24 feet high and 4 feet thick. There are warnings posted about guard dogs, armed security guards, and "no exit." Attorneys for those named in the suit say that the operation is not an ordinary olive farm, based on the compound at its center. Court documents show that JCM has applied for a private helipad, and permission for several flights per day from the farm ... a matter which is still pending before the County Planning Commission.

The paper reports that the owners of the farm have also sued over their neighbor's barking dogs, as well as contractors which worked on construction of the compound.

FAA regulations require aircraft to fly at a minimum altitude of 500 feet over the highest obstacle on the ground, and 1,000 feet over "congested areas." The FAA does not consider the area around the "Oasis Ranch" to be congested. Balloonists prefer the valley for it's calm winds and nearly-ideal ballooning conditions.

JCM's lawyers contend that the noise from the burners on the "low-flying" balloons violates the county's noise ordinance. (We wonder if they think the "several flights per day" from the private helipad will not do so, ed.) They also cite privacy issues.

But attorneys for those still in the fight against JCM say the airspace is not theirs to regulate, that like a highway, it belongs to the public.

FMI: www.riverside.courts.ca.gov