Stanislaus County farmers raise concerns over industrial operations in agricultural zones
They are worried about environmental hazards from the potential dumping and trucking operations that could impact their land and livelihoods.
Almond farmer Christine Gemperle said she had to build a fence after her neighbor moved in and started a trucking operation, dumping asphalt onto her property.
"Somebody was driving on our road here, and they were dumping asphalt on the property next door. And I think they thought my road was actually their road, and they had just bought the property and were moving, I guess, moving in stuff. And I said, 'You can't use this road. This is private property.' And the guy didn't care," Gemperle said.
CBS13 reached out to Stanislaus County regarding the status of that operation.
"There is an open code enforcement case on this property," the county said in a reply. "The site does not have a use permit or a home occupation business license to allow the parking of trucks on-site."
But Stanislaus County Supervisor Vito Chiesa said the current language for industrial operations isn't firm enough to provide severe enough consequences to deter this type of activity.
"We've been increasing the fines, but we have to stay within the lawful limit," Chiesa said. "We can't just say we're going to get $10,000 fines a day because it's written in the state code, and we're trying to work through all that."
Chiesa said the county is actively working on rewriting the language to stop industrial activity from happening in agricultural zones.
"The last thing I want is soil contaminated with asphalt," Gemperle said.
The county and local farmers said this isn't the only property where this is happening. In 2024, the county had 21 code-related complaints and opened 13 code enforcement cases. All were on industrial operations happening in agricultural areas.
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