Local farmer Bruce Fry passionate about his vision for Lodi-Stockton farm zone

Fifth-generation farmer Bruce Fry has been a leader in the Armstrong Road agricultural zone. His family's ranch, the Mohr-Fry Ranch, is located on West Lane just north of Armstrong. Also pictured with Fry is his 2-year-old lab, Summer. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

Local farmer Bruce Fry passionate about his vision for Lodi-Stockton farm zone

By Maggie Creamer
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Saturday, January 3, 2009 5:53 AM PST

Comments (28 comment(s))

While walking through rows of Old Vine Zinfandel vines, Bruce Fry talks about it taking more then zoning changes to preserve the agricultural area between Lodi and Stockton.

"The community needs to support local agriculture. They have to support us, or it's not going to be here," said Fry, vice president of operations for Mohr-Fry Ranches.

It has been 15 years or more since people started debating a greenbelt, community separator, ag cluster zone or one of the other names used to describe an area south of the city around Armstrong Road, between Highway 99 and Interstate 5.

Fry has emerged as a leader for 169 property owners who have voiced concerns about preserving agriculture land and maintaining their property rights. Fry has been credited with drafting the compromise plan that appears to be a roadmap toward creating a greenbelt, or "ag cluster zone," as Fry calls it.

His desire to be involved and his knowledge of both agriculture and governmental entities are two reasons he has become a main contact for the city and county.

But he won't tell you that. With a grin, he will simply say, "I just got the short straw, I guess."

"He has been the one link that has had the persistence and determination to put something together that is a compromise property owners can live with," said Lodi Councilwoman Susan Hitchcock.

A passion for farming

Fry started working on the ag cluster zone plan when he realized the city planned to create a community separator that would include some of his family's property.

Ag zone by the numbers

3,079 acres
169 property owners
223 parcels
615 possible building permits
1,724 possible population growth

The plan

The agriculture cluster zone would preserve farmland in the area while still allowing some development. Here are the details:

For every five acres of farmland an owner would receive one residential building permit. In order to qualify for this, a owner would need a minimum of 10 acres.

All residential lots in the area will be clustered. This allows for additional housing, but still keeps large areas of the farmland intact.

All building sites will be greater than one acre but fewer than five acres.

What has happened with the plan?

San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors had requested that Lodi provide the no more than $500,000 necessary to seek rezoning for the zone. The city approved the financing in November and has included the cluster zone in the General Plan.

Next step?

Before the process can move forward, the county and city have to draft a memorandum of understanding, to decide who will be responsible for what aspects of the rezoning and to acknowledge that Lodi will pay for the expenses.

News-Sentinel staff

He wanted to get involved to not only protect his own property, but to make sure land for agriculture is preserved in that area.

"I learned from my dad. If you want something done, you need to volunteer and help with it," he said.

The city and property owners have compromised on the basics of a plan that will preserve farmland in the area but still allow for some development.

As he called to his yellow Labrador retriever, Summer, while at his family's farm along Armstrong Road, Fry showed off the Old Vine Zinfandel his family inherited when they bought the farm. He works with his father and two aunts to grow wine grapes and cherries. Out of three boys, he was the one who inherited his dad's passion for farming.

"Since I was a little kid, I was out there playing with my Tonka toys in the orchard and around the vineyard, so I always knew I wanted to be in agriculture and be in farming," Fry said.

Fry attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and graduated in '95. He spent his summers working on the farm. When he graduated on a Friday, he wasted no time and went to work that Monday, he said.

Fry is the fifth generation of the Mohr and Fry families. One of the great parts of his job is that he gets to work with his family every day, he said. It is rare for farms to make it to the fifth generation because there are many challenges, like estate taxes, that can make it not profitable.

His passion for farming is in his blood, he said, which helps with the often long hours and hard work.

"It's fun because you're dealing with mother nature, and that's different every day, every year," he said. "There's nothing repetitive."

And he takes a keen interest in not only his farm, but in preserving agriculture in the U.S. He is involved in many local and statewide agricultural organizations.

"When a consumer is at a grocery store buying that bottle of wine, yeah, you'd like them to pick a Lodi wine first, but if they don't, hopefully, they'll pick a California wine," he said. "If not, hopefully, they'll pick a wine from Washington or Oregon or one from the United States."

A staring point

When Fry speaks to the council or has meetings with leaders, he brings all his knowledge on agriculture to explain his concerns in a way everyone can understand.

He keeps folders stuffed full of information on the ag cluster zone and has the patience to sit through General Plan meetings to make sure the property owners are represented.

But while he has a room-filling laugh, he is not a loudmouth, Hitchcock said.

"He comes at it from a quiet, deliberate and analytical point of view, yet he obviously — and it shows when he speaks — he has a deep love in his life for farming and grape growers," Hitchcock said.

He has kept the other property owners informed through a quarterly newsletter. He said his main goal differs from some who want to see Stockton and Lodi separated. He mainly wants the zone to preserve the farmland.

"Growth is going to happen no matter what," he said. "But if ag is not viable, it's going to disappear."

Fry prefers the land be called an ag cluster zone because agriculture is a business, and the term "greenbelt" could mean anything from open space to a community park.

One of the hopes land owners have for the zone is that it will help promote Lodi as a tourist destination.

Fry envisions more marketing of the area and possibly a winery row, where people come for tasting.

"It's not just Lodi, but other states have these little wine districts, and people want to support those and are interested in their stories because most of them are family run," he said.

In November, the City Council voted to spend up to $500,000 to seek rezones along the corridor. Any zoning change will be decided by the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.

It was helpful to have someone who owns property in the area to act as a liaison, Hitchcock said, because it helped build trust between the city and the farmers.

"In order for people to trust you, they have to know that you say what you mean and you mean what you say, and you follow through," she said.

The county supervisors are now working on an agreement with Lodi to decide how a process for rezoning would work and who is responsible for each aspect of it, said county supervisor Ken Vogel, who represents the Lodi area.

"Bruce has commitment," Vogel said. "He's always willing to listen and personable. He doesn't come across as confrontational or combative."

While property owners are not completely happy with the compromise, Fry said he thinks the "skeleton plan" is a good starting point.

"The best solution is when both parties are unhappy," he said.

Hitchcock agreed, saying she originally envisioned a greenbelt stretching from Haney Lane to Eight Mile Road.

She said it is hard to comment on the plan because the devil is in the details and it still has a long way to go before it is complete. Still, she is glad the city has somewhere to start and credits Fry for the compromise.

"He's done what no one else has been able to accomplish," she said

Reader Feedback

MadMan wrote on Jan 9, 2009 4:02 PM:

" I am not looking to develop, so 5 acres is NOT "better than nothing" to me. 5 acre plots all over Armstrong means more people, more homes, and more traffic. No thank you. "

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