County to tighten reins on Valley winery events

Residents of the Sonoma Valley frustrated by slack county-wide regulation of winery events may soon be able to apply their own stricter set of rules to control noise, parking, hours of operation, frequency and other conditions, under revisions being developed by PRMD in their on-going examination of winery event management.

Areas of the Russian River appellation along Westside Road, the Dry Creek Valley north of Healdsburg, and the Sonoma Valley including the Kenwood area and Carneros, are the regions specifically called out for “siting criteria and standards” in the resolution, adopted at the Board of Supervisors meeting Oct. 11.

The resolution followed over two years of internal discussion, six months of community workshops, a public hearing in late 2015 and a lively study session before the Board of Supervisors last July. In the resolution, the Board voted to direct PRMD to come up with draft ordinances amending the County Planning Code to regulate the winery industry’s event, tasting room and food service guidelines.

“This was pretty simply a work plan, a very general work plan for the timing and some of the issues that PRMD will be proposing solutions for,” said 1st District Supervisor Susan Gorin.

The measure was on the consent calendar, and generated very little board or public discussion. It was an anticipated “next step” in the process of re-evaluating winery event regulation.

The action did not itself codify any changes to county code, but rather allocated the funds – an additional $68,272 on top of the already-budged $96,510 – to complete PRMD’s policy analysis and the drafting of ordinance revisions.

The code revisions will be presented for consideration by the Planning Commission in a public hearing, probably in the spring, “depending on the length of time the planning commission takes to deliberate,” said Gorin.

Recommendations from the Planning Commission must be the source of code revisions, according to county code, that the Board of Supervisors must then approve them to become law.

The amendments are expected to codify changes to winery events and food service and allow tasting rooms in Industrial Park zones where wine is being processed (such as the Eighth Street East corridor in Sonoma), where they are not currently allowed. More site-specific guidelines could be applied to areas of “over-concentration” of winery events, identified by PRMD as West Dry Creek, Westside Road and Sonoma Valley.

“We took a similar approach with vacation rentals, allowing them in some geographic areas and prohibiting them in others, even if the zoning was the same,” said Tennis Wick, the PRMD director. Identifying the specific areas of over-concentration that can be regulated will be part of the process underway, said Wick.

Among the concerns that could be addressed in the new regulations, according to the summary report that accompanied the resolution, are minimum parcel size, minimum site area for outdoor events, amplified sound and setbacks for noise, parking management, peak hour limitations and a viable 24/7 complaint contact procedure.

Incentivizing local foods and produce in tasting rooms and requiring or prioritizing local fruit for custom crush can also be addressed.

The goal is to find a workable solution to an issue which has divided the county – especially in the 1st District – over the explosion of winery events.

While the wine industry is acknowledged to be the largest sector of the county economy, supporting 54,000 jobs and having a total economic impact of $13.4 billion, its increased reliance on tourist promotional activities have antagonized many residents who find traffic, noise, public intoxication and other impacts have a negative effect on neighborhoods.

The unanimous vote came with little discussion among the supervisors themselves, and only one comment from the public was voiced, and that in favor of proposed code revisions.

“I was satisfied that it was general enough to deal with some of the specific concerns that we have in the Sonoma Valley,” said Gorin, characterizing it as the to-be-expected next step in the process of re-evaluating winery events in Sonoma County.

Wick stated that the process would create countywide definitions and zoning authorization for events, allowing the communities most affected to generate their own solutions for operational and developmental criteria for new wineries. “Finally, enforcement will be more effective,” he said.

Contact Christian at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.