Supervisor Sets Record Straight On Proposed Winery Code Changes

SOUTHOLD, NY — Residents and winery owners with concerns about the proposed changes to Southold Town's winery code have taken to social media to speak out — and Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell is aiming to set the record straight.

A public hearing on the proposed changes will be held Tuesday at Southold Town Hall at 7:30 p.m.

The "dramatic change to code as related to wineries . . . will effectively shut down our industry," business owner Alie Shaper, who operates the wine-tasting room Peconic Cellar Door in Peconic, said on Facebook.

According to the proposed code changes, a winery must be located on at least 10 acres of land under vine, a winery must use no less than 80% of only its own grapes, grown on land it owns to make and sell its wine, and a winery must be sited on land additional to the 10 acres of vines.

"For one, my winery will be immediately out of compliance with this law. It could mean that I would be forced to shut down my company, because I do not own any land or grow my own grapes. I purchase every single grape I use to make my wines," Shaper wrote. "My manufacturing license address is in Mattituck, within Southold Town. Everything that I've worked for for nearly 12 years would suddenly become illegal in Southold Town. There goes my livelihood, my job, the food on my table. I am not the only winery that purchases all of its grapes; that's how many of us get started in the industry, so that we can start small and test the market with minimal investment risk. All of those producers could be immediately non-compliant as well," she said.

In addition, Shaper said the code does not reflect "reality in any wine region of the world," where wineries buy grapes from separate entities. And, she said the 10-acre rule is "excessively prohibitive," especially to young business owners starting out.

When asked about the concerns voiced, Russell said it's clear that the first part of the discussion during the hearing Tuesday will be explaining what the changes actually are and what impacts they may have.

"The person that posted it may be unaware that her tasting room is in a commercial building and is completely unaffected by these amendments," he said.

Then, he added that the current code does not require that an individual must plant vines to build a winery in the town's agricultural conservation zone.

"These amendments will ensure that you must. I don't think that it's unfair for the public to expect that if you want a winery, you really need to grow grapes," Russell said.

Second, he said, "Objections to the 10 acre requirement come from a lack of understanding that the current code already requires it. The only difference now is, you actually have to grow grapes."

In addition, Russell said, the requirement for processing 80% of product grown on-site is already in the code.

"Last year, the board adopted a new definition of 'agricultural processing'. That was the requirement that was codified. Everyone, including people associated with the wine industry, supported it at the time. I suppose it's easy to support a new rule but, then oppose it when you realize it may actually pertain to you."

He added, "Knee-jerk reactions are to be expected from time to time. It's unfortunate, however, when they aren't based on facts."

On Tuesday, Russell discussed the concerns at his "State of the Town" address, hosted by the North Fork Chamber of Commerce at Peconic Landing in Greenport.

The goal, Russell said, is to clarify points in the code, including that 10 acres of vines would be needed, with an additional 2 acres for a winery.

A second "contentious" issue that Russell believes will get much of the focus at Tuesday's hearing is the point that 80% of anything used for agricultural processing must be grown on site.

"That way you don't have someone that does an end run around zoning," Russell said. "The idea was to allow processing directly related to the industry."

One issue, the supervisor said, that requires all processing on site might need rethinking; with new models, some processing is done elsewhere, Russell said. There might be a provision to allow some of the processing to take place at another location as long as some takes place on site, he said.

Russell also spent a good portion of Tuesday's presentation discussing zoning in Southold Town.

He referenced Southold Farm + Cellar; Regan and Carey Meador moved their business to Texas and put their home and farm on the market after a decision in March, 2016 by the Southold Zoning Board of Appeals to deny a variance they'd requested.

"Tonight the Southold Town Zoning Board of Appeals saw fit to deny us a variance from a very recent interpretation of their bulk schedule. This effectively means that Southold Farm + Cellar will cease to exist as many of you have come to know us; our property is effectively closed to the public. Our hearts are broken, to say the least, we do not know what will come next or how/if we will be able carry on, but we will certainly let you know when we do," Regan and Carey Meador wrote on Facebook at the time.

The battles had been constant: In February, 2016, the Meadors received notice that they must appear before the New York State Liquor Authority at a hearing to determine whether their liquor license would be revoked or canceled.

The Meadors had their tasting room shut down in 2015 by Southold Town code enforcement because they opened without necessary approvals, the town said.

The winery had a certificate of occupancy for a single family dwelling and an open permit for a farm stand, according to Michael Verity, Southold's chief building inspector, who sent out code enforcement to their business.

"They do not have the certificates to do what they're doing or approval from other agencies," Verity said.

"There was so much human cry over a stop work order over a winery in Southold," Russell said Monday. "They got a permit for a farmstand and they built a winery."

Russell said the family posted photos of their children on Facebook that elicited a strong emotional response from residents.

Meanwhile, the supervisor said, another resident was operating a small engine repair shop out of his garage. "He was quiet and he didn't bother the neighbors, but he wasn't allowed to do it in a residential zone," Russell said.

And so, at the same time the town was dealing with the Meador issue, "I had to knock on this man's door in Mattituck. He was just trying to pay his bills and raise his family. And he's as important to me, every bit as important," as the family shown in the Facebook flurry of posts, Russell said.

The bottom line, Russell said, is zoning. The Meadors simply didn't have the zoning for what they wanted to accomplish; had they purchased an additional 2-acre lot for the winery, it would have complied with town code.

"The zoning board of appeals does not make decisions based on whether or not they like the applicants," Russell said. "They don't have the right to do that. They have to look at it objectively. Zoning is zoning."

The 2-acre requirment for a winery, Russell said, "is not murky," and has been part of the code since the 1980s. When the former Meador parcel was initially sold, 2 acres were carved out for a potential winery but the Meadors did not "buy the parcel where the winery was supposed to go," Russell said. "They did a nice job there but people need to go back and look at the entirety of the situation."

He added, "People say 'Southold is the land of no." But on the flip side, Russell said, people want to live in Southold because years have been spent trying to maintain the area's character and integrity. "They love the area because it hasn't changed," Russell said.

Zoning is the tool used to ensure that the area remains true to its legacy and does not change too much, Russell said.

"Southold is not the land of 'no.' It's, 'Not here' and 'Yes, here,'" he said.

Patch photo by Lisa Finn.