Article 2. Formation Of Districts of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 4. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 12. >> Article 2.

Proceedings for the formation of a district within any county shall be commenced by a petition that is either of the following:
  (a) Signed by 50 percent or more of the growers who own 65 percent or more of the affected land.
  (b) Signed by 65 percent or more of the growers who own 50 percent or more of the affected land. The petition shall be addressed to, and filed with, the board of supervisors of the county.

The petition may be filed in sections, each of which shall comply with all the requirements for a petition, except that a section need not contain the total number of signatures required for the petition.

Signatures to the petition may be withdrawn at any time before it has been acted upon by filing with the clerk of the board of supervisors a declaration signed by the petitioner that states that it is the intention of the petitioner to withdraw his or her signature from the petition.

(a) The petition shall state the name of the proposed district and shall set forth its boundaries or describe the lands to be included.
  (b) It is a sufficient designation of the boundaries of a proposed district to recite that all the grape acreage in the county is to be included in the district, or that all the grape acreage in a designated area within the county is to be included in the district.
  (c) If either designation is used, the outside boundary of the area so designated is the boundary of the district, and the district shall include all area within the outside boundary.

(a) Upon the presentation and filing of a petition, the board of supervisors shall refer the petition to the county agricultural commissioner for the preparation of a register of owners of winegrape acreage within the proposed district, and for an investigation and report.
  (b) The agricultural commissioner shall create a register of all winegrape acreage owners within the proposed district describing the net acreage of land devoted to the growing of winegrapes by each grower. The commissioner shall file with the register a report and recommendation to the board of supervisors on whether conditions of the phylloxera or other pest or disease warrant the board of supervisors proceeding with the organization of the district.

(a) The board of supervisors shall fix a time and place for the hearing of the petition.
  (b) The hearing shall not be less than 20 days, or more than 40 days, after the filing of the petition with the board of supervisors.
  (c) The board of supervisors shall order the clerk of the board of supervisors to give notice of the time and place fixed for the hearing upon the petition.

The notice of hearing shall do all of the following:
  (a) State the name of the district and that it is being formed for the control of winegrape pests and diseases.
  (b) State the petition is available for inspection at the office of the clerk of the board of supervisors.
  (c) Designate the boundaries of the proposed district in substantially the same way that they are described in the petition.
  (d) State the time and place for the hearing.
  (e) State that at the hearing protests will be considered by the board of supervisors.
  (f) State that requests in writing for the exclusion of lands from, or the inclusion of lands in, the proposed district, will be heard and considered by the board of supervisors.

Notice of the hearing shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the district.

The notice shall be published once a week for two successive weeks prior to the date set for the hearing.

At the hearing, the report of the county agricultural commissioner shall be received. Protests may be made orally or in writing by any person interested in the formation of the proposed district. Any protest that pertains to the regularity or sufficiency of the proceedings shall be in writing and shall clearly set forth the irregularities and defects to which objection is made. All written protests shall be filed with the clerk of the board of supervisors on or before the time fixed for the final hearing. The hearing may be continued from time to time, not to exceed 60 days.

At the hearing, any owner of winegrape acreage in the proposed district may present to the board of supervisors a request, in writing, for the exclusion of that land or any part of that land from the proposed district upon a showing that the land or part of that land will not be benefited by the activities of the proposed district. Factors that the board of supervisors may consider in its determination to exclude shall include an affidavit from the landowner stating that the land has already been affected by phylloxera or other winegrape plant pests or diseases and the winegrape plants have been removed from the land, that more than 66 percent of the subject parcel is planted with non-vinifera-crossed rootstock, including, but not limited to, St. George, S04, 5C, or 5BB rootstock, or that the subject parcel does not have a pest or disease problem that can be controlled by the district. Any owner of winegrape acreage outside the proposed district may present to the board of supervisors a request in writing for inclusion of that land in the proposed district.

If the board of supervisors determines that the petition does not comply with the requirements of law, the matter may be dismissed without prejudice to present a new petition covering the same matter. A finding by the board of supervisors in favor of the sufficiency of the petition and notice is final and conclusive against all persons except the state in a proceeding brought by the Attorney General within one year of the date of the making of the order establishing and describing the boundaries of the district.

(a) If the board of supervisors determines that the project is feasible and in the interest of the winegrape growers of the county, the board of supervisors shall, by order entered in its minutes, declare the district duly organized under the name designated in the petition for the formation of the district.
  (b) The order shall describe the territory included in the district and, if the board of supervisors does not exclude or include land pursuant to Section 6223, it is a sufficient description of the territory to describe the boundaries in substantially the same way as they are described in the petition.
  (c) A copy of the order duly certified by the clerk of the board of supervisors shall be filed for record in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the district is situated.

(a) In determining the boundaries of the district, the board of supervisors shall exclude from the district any winegrape acreage that it finds will not be benefited by the proposed project, and it may include in the district any lands that it finds will be benefited if it also finds it will be in the interest of the district to include these lands. The inclusion may be upon application of the owner or, without the owner's application, upon giving the owner notice of the proposed inclusion and an opportunity for a hearing on the inclusion.
  (b) Notice of inclusion shall be mailed, postage prepaid, by the clerk of the board of supervisors, to the address of the owner of the land as shown by the last equalized county assessment roll, and to any person that has filed with the clerk that person's name and address and description of land in which he or she has either a legal or equitable interest. The notice shall describe the land proposed to be included, and shall state the time and place at which objections to the inclusion will be heard.