Amador County – The Amador County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Tuesday to discuss a recommended wine tasting room ordinance amendment that is aimed at preserving the rural look and feel of county winery rows.

The planning commission will consider a proposed ordinance amending Title 19 zoning of the Amador County code to allow for tasting rooms meeting the standards set forth in the ordinance, under a duplicate Alcohol Beverage Control license for wineries with their master license located in Amador County. Part of it would make the licensee “subject to first obtaining a staff-issued use permit” in agriculture zones, and “subject to first obtaining a user permit from the Planning Commission” in Rural 1A zones.

The ordinance was based on recommendations made by the “Winery Ordinance Review Committee,” which was chaired by Supervisor Ted Novelli and vice-chairwoman Jane O’Riordan. The committee met seven times since December 2009, and meetings were well attended by Amador County vintners and growers.

A recommendation report date February 2011 noted the need for protecting against wine tasting room operators from outside the area, and also preserving the rural agricultural look and feel. The committee was formed to review county code “as it relates to defining and regulating wineries,” to see if the existing winery definition is adequate, and to make recommendations and create awareness of the impact of changes.

The committee included Supervisor Brian Oneto, and vintners and/or growers Jim Gullett, Jeff Runquist, Paul Sobon, Charlie Spinetta, Jill Tanis and Art Toy, as well as citizens Mike Kerrigan and David Richards, and county planner Heather Anderson.

It looked at federal law and other counties’ ordinances, and in its recommendation overview said focus evolved to duplicate licenses, seen as tools “by which a California winery may have a ‘second’ tasting room not co-located with the winery.” It “allows an out-of-area winery to operate a tasting room,” that is, a “sales facility, remotely.” It also was seen as giving “limited community investment,” and as a consensus was a “real issue” to the committee.

The committee recommended code change to “prevent sales-only facilities in agricultural areas” by allowing tasting room duplicate licenses for in-county wineries only in agriculture and Rural 1A zones. It also recommended a staff permit for duplicate licenses for in-county wineries.

Another recommendation was requiring 10-acres lot sizes for commercial buildings in Ag and R1A zones, and also requiring 50-foot setbacks for commercial buildings in Ag and R1A zones, both with the idea to preserve the rural look and reduce the “strip mall effect.”

Another recommendation was to have a use permit for tasting rooms in R1A zones when locating a sales facility on small or neighborhood parcels, to “assure public input on tasting rooms in residential areas.”

The planning commission meets 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.