Michael Ballard has owned Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards in Saratoga since 1996 and, since 2013, has had his vineyard manager's family living in an RV on the property. After a 2017 inspection, Santa Clara County deemed it illegal for the family to reside there and began issuing fines surpassing $120,000. Ballard argues the county's strict enforcement overlooks the larger issue of homelessness affecting many in the area.
Ballard expressed frustration, questioning the county's approach: 'Nobody ever addressed the elephant in the room which was 'Well, what's going to happen to the Martinez family when we get rid of the trailer?' They have no home so we're going to make a family homeless that you can enforce an ordinance when there are hundreds if not thousands of people living in RVs all over the county...'
Martinez, who has worked at the vineyard for over 20 years, emphasized his family's connection to the area, stating that his children attend local schools and he enjoys working at the vineyard. He voiced a willingness to leave to resolve this issue, though Ballard firmly rejected this solution, asserting, 'No, we’re going to fight for them to stay.'
Despite plans to construct an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) to provide a permanent home for the Martinez family, the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays. 'We just kept trying to explain look, we’re doing the best that we can do but somebody rational look at these set of circumstances and tell us what else should we do?'
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