Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/480754
18 WINES&VINES April 2015 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS N apa, Calif.—More than 400 people crowded a school auditorium March 10 for an unprecedented meeting to discuss new development in Napa County, par- ticularly wineries. The joint meeting of the Napa County Board of Supervisors and county Planning Commis- sion also included representatives of local wine and hospitality groups, leaders in the wine businesses and individual citizens. Together, the Napa Valley Grapegrowers, the Winegrowers of Napa County (a lobbying group) and the Napa Valley Vintners encour- aged the county to enforce existing regulations and follow through on its General Plan policies. Some recent surveys of wineries found wide- spread violations of visitor and production rules, for example. A joint statement from the three groups read: "We believe that unrealistic winery ap- plications, shored up by the excessive use of variances, should be denied. "We do not favor or encourage a morato- rium. Strict oversight of existing procedures, paired with fewer cre- ative solutions to non- conforming parcels, will go a long way toward diminishing community and indus- try concerns." The groups noted that there has been dis- cussion of establishing guidelines or using a "conceptual matrix" when balancing parcel size or acreage with production and visitation and offered to help the Planning Department establish these guidelines. Likewise, the Farm Bureau requested win- ery guidelines related to production level and location. It also echoed many individual speak- ers who suggested larger minimum parcels for wineries, better analysis of grape supply vs. production and a preference for estate wineries and those using 100% Napa County grapes. Vintner Michael Mondavi, among others, pointed out the need for wineries to be able to welcome visitors due to the difficulty of small and new wineries obtaining effective distribution. At the close of the summit, supervisors and commissioners moved to approve these recom- mendations by the staff: • Direct staff to establish an ad hoc committee to review the Winery Definition Ordinance. It will include four wine industry repre- sentatives among 13 other stakeholders. • Form a Board of Supervisors committee to plan a forum with the cities to address re- gional land-use issues. • Direct staff to revise the circulation element of the General Plan. • Direct staff to complete the Climate Action Plan. Perhaps the best summary of the issue was by supervisor Keith Caldwell: "There's not a huge issue with the creation of new wineries up to now, but perhaps we should look at how many more do we need? And how many acres of vineyard should be removed to build wineries?" — Paul Franson How Many Wineries Are Enough? "Strict oversight of existing procedures... will go a long way toward diminishing community and industry concerns." —Joint statement from the Napa Valley Grapegrowers, Winegrowers of Napa County and Napa Valley Vintners