Limoneira hopes agritourism in Santa Paula will help sell crops, houses

Limoneira Co. wants to use agritourism to sell Santa Paula -- and, by extension, itself, since Limoneira is planning a large residential development on the east end of town.

"This is the most beautiful place in the world, and the way to get people interested in this town and this area is to bring them in and show them the agriculture," Limoneira CEO Harold Edwards said. "To be blunt about it really, it's a way to bring people in to sell them houses."

Edwards' company has envisioned an agricultural tourism operation for years, and now it's close to a reality. Today, the Ventura County Planning Commission is scheduled to vote on a permit that would allow Limoneira to operate hot air balloon rides, tours of its orchards and packing houses, bicycle tours of its property, and catered lunches and dinners in the orchards. The company was recently granted a separate permit to hold weddings, banquets and other special events.

Limoneira is Ventura County's biggest grower, and if its permit is approved, it will become the second one in the county with a major agritourism operation. Underwood Farms runs tours, petting zoos, a harvest festival and other activities out of its Moorpark and Somis locations.

Limoneira has been dabbling in agritourism since 2005, Edwards said, including a period of more than a year when a hot-air balloon company regularly launched tours from its property.

But in 2007, county officials told the company it couldn't continue without a permit, said Pat Richards, a manager in the county Planning Department. Limoneira shut down the tours and submitted its application.

The permit falls under a county zoning ordinance that applies specifically to "agricultural promotional uses," including agritourism. Since Limoneira's plans don't involve building anything or taking any land out of farming, Edwards said, he expected the application to sail through.

"From our standpoint, it's been excessively long and excessively expensive," he said.

Limoneira has spent $73,000 pursuing the permit, he said, with $50,000 of that going to a consultant to help navigate the county's process.

"Because it was brand new, nobody knew what to do," he said. "I think we paid a penalty for being innovative."

Richards acknowledged "agricultural promotion uses are not something we see all the time," but denied the county was dragging its feet on Limoneira's application.

It took some time to work with the Federal Aviation Administration and Santa Paula Airport to make sure the sky would be clear for the balloons, Richards said. In addition to agritourism and weddings, Limoneira has been seeking permits for a farmworker housing development on its property, and Richards said the combination of all of those tasks could have slowed things down.

Underwood Farms owner Craig Underwood said his agritourism permit took even longer -- about four years -- and cost $30,000 to $40,000. It's been worth it, he said. Underwood Farms' produce stands and agritourism operations now account for about a third of the company's revenue.

If Limoneira gets its agritourism permit, Edwards said, he hopes to see "a yellow school bus of kids here every day." The rest of the clientele will probably be day-trippers from Los Angeles and tourists visiting the region from all over the world, he said.

Limoneira doesn't expect the tours themselves to be very profitable, but they'll contribute to the company's long-term plans in both agriculture and real estate development.

"It's a part of the overall branding strategy of the company," Edwards said. "If we're going to continue to be a predominately agricultural valley here, we're going to have to educate people on what that means."

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