WINERY ORDINANCE AMENDMENT: PUBLIC REVIEW ENDS NOVEMBER 23

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East County News Service

November 7, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – The 45-day review period for public comments on proposed changes to the County’s Tiered Winery Ordinance ends November 23rd

In 2010, Supervisors established a Tiered Winery Ordinance. A key component of it was creation of a Boutique Winery tier, which allowed for tasting rooms in conjunction with ongoing agricultural vineyard operations. Since its adoption, a number of issues have arisen that affect implementation of the ordinance. Planning & Development Services (PDS) held workshops on January 17, 2014 and July 1, 2015  to gather information and comments to utilize in formulating the proposed amendments to the Tiered Winery Ordinance. See our prior coverage of the July hearing here, when some wineries voiced alarm over proposals they feared could put some wineries out of business, while others voiced support for suggestions such as limiting food offerings and sharply restricting entertaining at smaller wineries. 

One set of stakeholders whose voices have been largely ignored thus far have been consumers--the wine tasting public who may want to weigh in on whether they want to hear music at weekend wine tastings or be able to savor food along with wine when visiting local wineries. 

PDS has prepared draft Ordinance amendments  aimed at resolving discrepancies with existing ordinance language. According to DPS, these amendments would not change the purpose or intent of the Ordinance, but have been proposed to eliminate any ambiguity in the requirements for different winery types and to strengthen the County’s ability to document compliance with the Ordinance.

This draft document is available on the PDS website here.

Written (or email) comments on the proposed draft ordinance must be received no later than Monday, November 23, 2015 at 4:00 p.mFor additional information, please contact Heather Lingelser at (858) 495-5802 or by e-mail at heather.lingelser@sdcounty.ca.gov

To view the documents associated with the adoption of the Tiered Winery Ordinance, click here.

Feel free to call or email Heather Lingelser if you would like to be added to our stakeholder list to receive future notifications.


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